May 5, 2008 7:46 AM

Senator Blasts Sponsorship of Anti-American Radio

Oh, what a mess. The U.S. can’t get good publicity in Iran — even when it’s footing the bill. Or at least that’s the main point in a scathing letter written by Tom Coburn, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which runs, among other things, Voice of America. In an […]

Coburn Oh, what a mess. The U.S. can't get good publicity in Iran -- even when it's footing the bill. Or at least that's the main point in a scathing letter written by Tom Coburn, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which runs, among other things, Voice of America. In an detailed five-page letter obtained by Mountain Runner, Coburn runs through a litany of problems with VOA's Farsi service:

The lack or transparency, accountability, and guidance at the BBG has lead to counterproductive broadcasts and misguided policies. For example, on December 4th , 2007, VOA Persian TV coverage of the 2007 national Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report 011 lran's nuclear program included a pre-taped interview with a well-known anti-U.S. professor from Tehran University, Sadegh Ziba Kalam. According to Iran analysts, Professor Kalam has a long history of being an apologist for the regime. The VOA interviewer editorialized in the question by saying, Now that it is proven Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons programs since 2003, is it still justified to seek a third round of sanctions? In response, the professor defended the position of the Islamic Republic-that sanctions were not justified. Knowing the position of the interviewee, the reporter paved the way for this entire segment of VOA Persian TV to undermine U.S. policy on Iran. There was no rebuttal, challenge, or "effective presentation of the policies of the U.S. government" presented in the segment as required by law.
The next day, VOA again undermined U.S. policy by devoting an entire news article to repeat the claims made by Iran's President Ahmadinejad that the NIE proved Iran was victorious over the Unitcd States • He declared the report substantiates the regime's denial of developing nuclear weapon capabilities. VOA failed to rebut these claims with informed, U.S. viewpoints or quotes from the NIE, such as the acknowledgment that Iran is currently enriching uranium, a necessary step towards nuclear weaponization.
A few months prior, VOA came under scrutiny for similar reports that failed to balance inflammatory statements made at the United Nations by representatives of the Burmese and Iranian regimes. More recently, on March 10th , 2008, VOA issued an article, "Sanctions Often Fail to Hit Foreign Policy Targets." The article was devoted entirely to a hostile viewpoint on U.S. sanctions policy which is used to help apply pressure to regimes such as Iran, Burma, and Cuba. When these types of problems have been brought to the attention of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the typical response is denial or a defense of the policy or content. For example, we recently shared concerns about VOA's "terrorists are freedom fighters" policy with the current chairman of the BBG, James Glassman. Mr. Glassman did not consider this to be a serious problem. In an Internet post made in January on the official YOA News blog4 , Don Benson, the VOA Central News Division editor, declared the official policy of VOA to ban the label "terrorists" when YOA reporters refer to groups officially designated as terrorists by the U.S. government. Mr. Benson explained the policy by stating,
*We try 10 keep in mind that one person's "terrorist" is another person's "freedom fighter," and that there often are political implications in how governments distinguish one group from another. *

Coburn also calls out "Soviet-style intimidation used at VOA to silence whistle blowers." In particular, he accuses VOA leadership of trying to quash any internal criticism, and quotes from a VOA management e-mail.

**R R"If you disagree with any work that is being done at [VOA Persian TV], let's talk about it. Don't feed external criticism." "Freedom of speech is a tricky issue. There are limits to free speech. You have the right to speak with elected onicials and outside media but these comments need to be made in the public interest." "Blogs that discuss our work are a symbol of our success. We enjoy freedom ofspeech in America. However, I will not stand for people at VOA who undermine our mission."

Ah yes, freedom of speech, a tricky thing. But let me get this straight: We sponsor VOA because Iran doesn't have a free media that can criticize its own government; Congress is mad because VOA is criticizing the U.S. government, and VOA is mad that its employees are criticizing management.

This latest round of criticism is interesting, but the overall issue is not new: there has long been debate about VOA's editorial policy.

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