(C) INSIGHTS INTO IRAN'S PRESS TV FROM ITS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 000077

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR TU
SUBJECT: (C) INSIGHTS INTO IRAN'S PRESS TV FROM ITS
ISTANBUL CORRESPONDENT

REF: 2007 IRPO DUBAI 0069

Classified By: Acting Consul-General Sandra Oudkirk; reason 1.5 (d)


1. (C/NOFORN) Summary: Iranian news channel Press TV's
Istanbul correspondent, a UK national, told us that the
editors in Tehran do not dictate reporting topics or
editorial line, but have set some reporting redlines (e.g.,
no PJAK or gas cut-off stories, no scenes of Turks drinking
alcohol). The only explicit instruction is "to portray Islam
as a religion of peace". Press TV suffers from a tight
budget that generally precludes the correspondent's travel
beyond Istanbul, though it has enough funds not to need
revenue from advertising. She has chafed under Press TV's
requirement that female reporters must wear a headscarf on
air; her recent refusal to do so prompted Tehran to modify
the headscarf requirement for female reporters; now they must
wear hats. She claimed Press TV's owner, IRIB, allows Press
TV some autonomy. She described the editorial board are
mostly young, English-speaking, and urbane. Comment: While
candidly criticizing aspects of Press TV, its Istanbul
correspondent genuinely sees Press TV as a credible 24 hour
news-channel trying its best to operate in a complex
political environment. She insisted that the day Tehran
tries to micromanage her stories is the day she will resign.
Given the correspondent's willingness to be candid about
Press TV, we will stay in occasional off-the-record contact
with her absent instructions otherwise. End Summary.


2. (C/NOFORN) Consulate Istanbul "Iran Watcher" met February
7 with Iranian Press TV's Istanbul correspondent to solicit
her experiences as a reporter for an Iranian media outlet.
Press TV's Istanbul correspondent is a UK national (please
protect) who has lived in Istanbul since 2002 and worked as a
reporter for Al-Jazeera and France's "France 24" news channel
before starting with Press TV in summer 2007, shortly after
Press TV's launch. Before agreeing to work for Press TV the
correspondent said she reviewed initial Press TV reporting.
Seeing a report from inside Iran that acknowledged wide-scale
public anger over the GOI's June 2007 decision to impose
petrol rationing persuaded her that Press TV was open to
balanced, credible reporting. (Poloff noted however that
Press TV is not broadcast inside Iran.) She welcomed the
opportunity to explain her reasoning for working for Press
TV, and was candid in discussing the pros and cons of doing
so, but asked that this off-the-record contact with a U.S.
diplomat be held in confidence to protect her job security.

The Pros and Cons of Professional Autonomy
--------------


3. (C/NOFORN) The correspondent said Press TV's editorial
desk in Tehran does not exercise daily or explicit control
over her reporting, and does not dictate specific editorial
lines or specific topics to report. That said, when she met
recently with Press TV's visiting editor-in-chief, he
discouraged reporting on issues that would be "sensitive to
Iran" such as the PJAK, Iran's cut-off of gas supplies to
Turkey, or scenes showing Turks drinking alcohol. The
correspondent also understands that she should avoid
reporting stories critical of the Iranian regime. She
asserted, however, that Press TV has never instructed her to
report critically of the United States. The only explicit
instruction she has received is to try to portray Islam as a
tolerant and peaceful religion. As an example of her
autonomy in deciding what stories to report, she recalled
that when Hamas and other extremists groups held the "Al
Quds" conference in Istanbul in November 2007, she declined
Press TV's request to cover it, telling them that she did not
have enough background in Middle East issues. They accepted
her request without complaint and instead sent their Cairo
correspondent to cover it. She further asserted that Press
TV's "understaffed and overworked" editorial board does not
have time to dictate stories or editorial lines to her,
having its hands full simply trying to stay on top of all the
English-language reporting coming in from its 40
correspondents. Adding to their burden, she noted candidly,
is the fact that many of her Press TV colleagues in other
countries have never worked in journalism before and "have
not yet learned how to write or report with basic
professional competence."


4. (C/NOFORN) In summer 2007 she signed an annual contract
to work for Press TV, written in FARSI and consistent with
Iranian contract law (though she is paid in Turkish lira),
and plans to renew it this summer, but does not rule out
returning to Al Jazeera if a significantly better salary is
offered. She bemoaned the lower salary scale at Press TV
compared to Al Jazeera, assessing the low salary scale and
indeed "penurious operating conditions" as a bureaucratic
cost that Press TV pays for its editorial autonomy from its
GOI owner, the Iranian Republic of Iran Broadcasting company
(IRIB). Although neither Al Jazeera nor Press TV solicit
advertising, Al Jazeera benefits from being funded by the
Emir of Qatar (from whom it receives at least $40 million
annually, she estimated),whereas Press TV's annual budget is
about $27 million. She noted that this was still sufficient
funding to free Press TV from the need to solicit
advertising, thus also freeing Press TV from the need to
monitor -- or even care about -- viewer ratings. As a
result, she said that neither she nor Press TV HQ in Tehran
have any idea of the size of the viewing audience in Turkey
or anywhere else. She was very curious whether poloff knew
how large the U.S. viewing audience was. Poloff replied that
based on anecdotal information that the U.S. audience was
likely "very small."


5. (C/NOFORN) Press TV's annual funding is also not
sufficient to pay her transportation expenses outside of
Istanbul, which has forced her occasionally to use taped
footage, for example of Turkey's national assembly in Ankara
for a recent story on Turkey's head scarf debate. She also
finds herself currently in a debate with Press TV
headquarters about whether a separate Ankara correspondent is
needed ("they have an unqualified recent university graduate
in mind, because she speaks fluent English and reads a
teleprompter well") or whether they would instead be willing
to fund her to travel there several times annually. She
acknowledged that Press TV headquarters has flagged for her
the possibility of a visit to Ankara in March by Iranian
President Ahmadinejad, but they told her that in that event
Press TV would probably send its senior correspondent from
Tehran.


6. (C/NOFORN) The correspondent speculated that many Iranian
decision-makers remain only vaguely aware of Press TV's
existence. As one example, when she was reporting on the
November 2007 "Iraq and Neighbors" Ministerial in Istanbul,
she wanted to join other Iranian media representatives at a
press conference for Iranian press given by Foreign Minister
Mottaki. Iranian security refused to allow her in until an
IRIB official explained that Press TV was an Iranian outlet.
She said that even FM Mottaki seemed unaware of Press TV's
affiliation when he granted her a five minute
English-language interview.

The Challenges confronting a Westerner reporting for Iran
-------------- --------------



7. (C/NOFORN) Reporting for an Iranian news outlet has
proven more challenging for reasons relating to "daily life"
than for reasons relating to geopolitics, she explained. Her
contract stipulated than she must wear a head scarf for any
on-air reporting, a requirement she reluctantly accepted, and
dealt with in part by avoiding unnecessary on-air reporting.
However, she increasingly found herself targeted for verbal
abuse when reporting while wearing a headscarf, especially
when reporting from crowded areas in Istanbul such as the
pedestrian shopping street Istiklal Caddesi. She said some
extremely conservative Turkish Muslims have criticized her, a
non-Muslim, for "patronizing" Islam by wearing the headscarf
under "false premises", while secular Turks have criticized
her for "selling out to the Islamists." She said felt most
uncomfortable at a February 2 anti-headscarf rally in
Istanbul's Taksim Square, where some in the crowd were
chanting "Turkey is not Iran" while staring at her. The next
day she informed Press TV headquarters saying that she will
no longer wear a headscarf on-air. They agreed and modified
the requirement for Press TV's female reporters, who now must
wear a hat while on-air. She said she plans to buy a number
of new hats this week and send the bill to Tehran.


8. (C/NOFORN) According to the correspondent, most of the
Press TV editorial staff in Tehran are in their 30's and
relatively urbane. Many of them speak basic English, have
traveled extensively in Europe, and think of themselves as
journalists first and Iranian government employees a distant
second. At a recent meeting with several of them in
Istanbul, she was surprised that none of them were willing to
shake hands with her, but amused that they were making jokes
with each other about President Ahmadinejad (in FARSI,
thinking she would not understand them). She added that
while in Istanbul, they offered her a job as a desk editor in
Tehran. She turned it down, explaining candidly that she
enjoys life in Istanbul and would probably be miserable
living in Tehran. "They all wistfully agreed."


9. (C/NOFORN) Comment: Press TV's Istanbul correspondent
took pains several times to highlight her prior journalist
credentials and insisted that she is committed to reporting
fairly and objectively even while in Press TV's employ.
Despite her candid criticism of some aspects of working for
Press TV she genuinely believes that Press TV has a role to
positive play as a credible 24-hour global news channel, even
while it operates in "a complex political environment." She
said Press TV wants to fill a niche similar to Al Jazeera --
as a non-western outlet reporting on aspects of stories that
CNN and BBC are "too large and too western" to get. On the
other hand, she also insisted that if Press TV's "editorial
hands-off" policy ever changes and Tehran tries to
micromanage her stories, she would resign immediately.
Absent instructions to the contrary, we intend to stay in
occasional off-the-record contact with her, especially in any
cases where we or Washington believes her reporting on issues
of importance to the USG has strayed from neutral objectivity
and/or where a factual briefing on USG policy may help inform
her future reporting for Press TV. End comment.
WIENER