The Foreign Service Journal, March 2004

stage in which it is a highly politicized environment, and young people are actually more interested in talking about politics than Britney Spears.” At least some of the popularity the BBG claims for Radio Farda can be attributed to initial curiosity surround- ing it and, more importantly, to the fact that it is broadcast over a powerful medium-wave transmitter that had not been available to the Persian Service (which had to broadcast on short- wave). But if rock music does in fact succeed in attracting big numbers of Iranian youths, it must be asked if this best serves the needs of U.S. public diplomacy and whether this effectively aids democratic development in Iran. Of course we should be glad if some Iranian youngsters who tune in for entertainment also catch some serious content, but we should lament the loss of the more serious audience (includ- ing politically active students) who are much more likely to bring about democratic and human rights reforms. Because of their wish to maintain a consistent format, the BBG rejected arguments that the station carry pro- gramming that could serve both audi- ences at different times. “Older” audi- ences, the BBG maintains, can still tune in to Voice of America Persian, a point that ignores the latter’s rather different broadcast purpose. Finally, an Iranian-born professor in Washington, who returned from a visit to Iran this January, reports that he heard several times there the com- ment that the sudden and inexplicable change in U.S. broadcasting reinforces the belief that U.S. foreign policy is whimsical and unreliable. In contrast, Iranians say, the BBC’s Persian Service has maintained its high broadcast stan- dards for nearly 65 years. Stephen C. Fairbanks Alexandria, Va. (The writer was the State Depart- ment Bureau of Intelligence and Research’s political analyst on Iran from 1987 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002 he was the director of RFE/RL’s Persian Service.) Out of Step on Death Penalty? Your October issue on the death penalty would leave the impression that we are totally out of step with civ- ilized world opinion. It therefore came as a surprise to me to find that public opinion in Britain, Australia and perhaps other Western countries is not as uniformly anti-death as their governments’ policies would suggest. A recent poll of British voters found that 62 percent back the death penalty for child murders and 54 per- cent back it for the killing of an adult or child — not much different from U.S. public opinion. The Conserv- ative shadow Home Secretary recently got headlines for backing the restora- tion of the death penalty for serial mur- ders. A recent poll in Australia also found substantial public sentiment for restoration of the death penalty. David Ewing Portsmouth, N.H. Substantive or Functional? I have been pleased to see so many of my specialist colleagues take the time to write to the Foreign Service Journal with their experiences and thoughts about the status of specialists in the Foreign Service. I hope that senior management is reading and taking note. My experience leads me to believe that not much will change, because the “generalists” have too much turf to protect. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Here is an anecdote I find relevant regarding relations between “substan- tive officers” and the rest of the gener- alists. My wife and I were leaving FSI on the shuttle bus one day several years ago and sat down in front of two gen- tlemen. While not trying to eavesdrop, we could not help but overhear what they were saying. Their conversation 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 4 L E T T E R S Web access to major advertisers. Go to www.afsa.org Click on Marketplace tab on the marquee Bukkehave www.bukkehave.com Charles Smith Corp. Living www.SmithLiving.com Clements International www.clements.com Diplomatic Auto. Sales www.diplosales.com Executive Club Suites www.execlubdc.com Georgetown Suites www.georgetownsuites.com GLIFAA www.glifaa.org Harry Jannette International www.jannetteintl.com Hirshorn Company, The www.hirshorn.com Intelsat www.intelsat.com Laughlin Management www.century21laughlin.com Long & Foster www.simunek.com Marriott www.marriott.com NPCA www.rpcv.org Oakwood www.oakwood.com Promax (e-mail) promax@erols.com Prudential Carruthers www.prudentialcarruthers.com Remington www.remington-dc.com SDFCU www.sdfcu.org WJDManagement www. wjdpm.com For more information about advertisers in the Journal go to: www.afsa.org/marketplace MARKETPLACE