The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 29 missions. At the same time, both outlets see signs that their programming is reaching Iranians through mul- tiple platforms. Redisch says the number of visitors to the main PNN Web site dropped from 2.5 million in June 2009 to 1.8 mil- lion a year later. But he notes that PNN also receives hundreds of thousands of addi- tional visits to its Persian Web site through Web-based proxies. It also has more than 68,000 fans on its Face- book page and logged more than 160,000 views on videos it uploaded to YouTube in June 2010. Radio Farda says its Web site attracts 900,000 monthly visits with the help of anti-filtering measures. It has close to 40,000 Facebook fans and, since 2008, has been aver- aging more than 90,000 messages per year via voice mail, e-mail and short message service, despite the major risk of surveillance by the regime. As just one example of how this feedback works, Radio Farda published dozens of reports on its Facebook page related to the case of Shahram Amiri, the nuclear scientist who defected back to Iran from the United States in early July. Those pieces attracted more than 600 comments from readers within the first 10 days after the incident. And a poll Farda con- ducted on the issue drew more than 4,000 people to vote, according to RFE/RL officials. The June 2010 report (“Is Anybody Listening?”) on U.S. international broadcasting and public diplomacy commissioned by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., lauds the two broadcasters’ use of social media. The study con- cludes that the stations have “empowered and elevated average Iranian citizens by enabling them to share with the world Tehran’s repression of their democratic ef- forts.” Adds the Hoover Institution’s Milani: “The Voice of America and Farda have basically conveyed to read- ers and listeners how isolated the regime is.” Still, measuring audience levels across traditional and new media in Iran is not an exact science. The main company conducting audience surveys for international broadcasters, InterMedia, does an annual review for PNN and Radio Farda based on thousands of interviews with Iranians (speaking by phone with those in Iran and face-to-face with those traveling outside in places like Dubai). Due in part to this methodology, Gedmin says, gauging the reach of his broadcasters’ efforts is very dif- ficult. Redisch adds that counting Web traffic and visitors — and distinguishing between those in- side and outside of Iran — is in- creasingly problematic because of the growing use of proxy servers. Meanwhile, both organiza- tions continue to refine their pro- gramming mix. While applaud- ing recent innovative moves by PNN, the Middle East Institute’s Vatanka says it should step up both its cre- ativity and professionalism, especially if it wishes to com- pete with BBC’s 24-hour Persian-language TV service, launched after the June 2009 riots. Redisch, who acknowledges the quality of BBC’s Per- sian-language programming, says it remains a tough job to recruit Farsi speakers skilled in TV production and jour- nalism and create original programming to fill six hours and 15 minutes daily “that will resonate with Iranians.” PNN currently gets a 45-minute daily dose of pro- gramming, translated into Persian, from the U.S.-based History Channel (part of seven hours of new content per day). It also teamed up with Home Box Office on the anniversary of the June 2009 Iranian elections to show a documentary about Neda Agha-Soltan, whose death in post-election protests was filmed on cell phones and shared worldwide. “Greater leveraging of public-private cooperation would provide U.S. broadcasters with much-needed content,” notes the report by Sen. Lugar’s office. Another challenge in developing content is on the news side, where broadcasters from both organizations field a steady stream of unsolicited reporting, photo- graphs, videos and other material from people in Iran or in the Iranian exile community. The two organizations have developed social media guidelines aimed at han- dling the new streams of information and feedback. But officials from RFE/RL and VOA say a need remains for more staff to field information from those writing in via various platforms. “One of the things all media need to do is to pay off our users for their participation in our programs,” says VOA’s Redisch. “We have to be able to feed it back to them. It takes human resources.” Priming the Information Battlefield The struggle to bring news and information to Iranians F O C U S Efforts to bring news to Iranians are in some ways a throwback to the epic Cold War–era information battles.