TURNING NOW TO A NEW OFFERING ON THE VOA WEBSITE, VOANEWS.COM -- THE "INSIDE IRAN" BLOG, WRITTEN
BY NEGAR MORTAZAVI AND ARASH KARAMI.
THEY HAVE TACKLED MANY IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING IRAN, SUCH AS CORRUPTION, POLITICS, PRESS
FREEDOMS, AND THE DEATH OF A POPULAR IRANIAN ACTRESS.
I SAT DOWN WITH NEGAR AND ARASH FOR MORE ON THEIR BLOG, AND HOW THEY COVER THEIR HOMELAND,
FOR AN AUDIENCE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.
I THINK COVERING IRAN RIGHT NOW IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT OR TRICKY OR CHALLENGING.
YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CREATIVE, SPECIFICALLY FOR US.
WORKING FOR A U.S. FUNDED PERSIAN MEDIA OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.
THERE'S A LOT OF SENSITIVITY.
WE CAN'T GO TO THE COUNTRY, WE CAN'T REPORT FROM THE FIELD SO IT'S HARD TO GET MATERIAL.
AND I THINK SOCIAL MEDIA IS SORT OF FILLING A VOID THAT IS THAT PHYSICAL DISTANCE, AND
THERE'S A LOT OF CREATIVE WAYS THAT THE PEOPLE, THE CITIZENS ARE AWARE OF AND ARE USING SOCIAL
MEDIA TO SORT OF DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION, AND FOR US AT THIS END TO TRY TO PICK UP THAT
INFORMATION.
WE HAVE A LOT OF ACTIVITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WHETHER IT'S FACEBOOK OR TWITTER.
AND WE KIND OF SEE STORIES THAT NEVER GET PICKED UP.
WE THOUGHT WE COULD SHOW A DIFFERENT SIDE OF IRAN THAT'S RARELY DISCUSSED.
RECENTLY THERE'S AN ACTRESS THAT DIED.
THERE'S A HUGE SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION TO IT, A LOT OF RESPONSES TO IT.
SO WE KIND OF TRY TO CAPTURE THAT.
WORKING OUT OF THE UNITED STATES BUT COVERING IRANIAN ISSUES AND BROADCASTING INSIDE IRAN,
PRIMARILY IN FARSI -- WHAT'S KINDS OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES HAVE YOU FACED?
ME, I'M ALWAYS PERSONALLY TORN, BECAUSE OUR BLOG IS IN ENGLISH, SO I ALWAYS ASK MYSELF,
WHAT ARE WE DOING AND WHAT IS IT SERVING?
SO A LOT OF THE TIMES YOU WANT TO GET INFORMATION OUT TO PEOPLE AND THE THING IS, WHO ARE WE
SENDING THE INFORMATION OUT TO?
WHO'S OUR AUDIENCE?
SO YOU WANT TO BE CAREFUL.
YOU DON'T WANT TO JUST PICK UP SOMETHING AND BEAT IT TO DEATH AND SAY LOOK HOW BAD THEY
ARE, LOOK HOW HORRIBLE IT IS.
BECAUSE WE AREN'T TALKING TO A LOCAL POPULATION, WE'RE TALKING TO PEOPLE THAT ARE INTERESTED
IN IRAN.
SO I'M ALWAYS CONSCIOUS OF GIVING THEM THE WHOLE PICTURE, AND TRYING TO GIVE THEM A WHOLE
PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT IT IS.
WE PICKED THE NAME FOR THE BLOG, "INSIDE IRAN," MEANING TRYING TO BRING WHAT'S INSIDE IRAN
TO OUTSIDE OF IRAN TO THE AUDIENCE, TO THE NON-IRANIAN AUDIENCE.
AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE OUR LATEST POST ABOUT THE EARTHQUAKE.
ABOUT 40 PEOPLE DIED, 1000 PEOPLE WERE INJURED, 100 OF THEM ARE IN CRITICAL CONDITION AS WE
WROTE. 700 HOUSES WERE DESTROYED, BUT WE FIGURED, WE WERE JUST LOOKING CONVENTIONAL MEDIA, LET'S
SAY.
WHAT EVERYBODY HAD PICKED UP ON WAS THAT THIS EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED NEXT TO A NUCLEAR SITE,
WHERE ONE OF IRAN'S NUCLEAR REACTORS ARE.
NOT THAT THAT'S NOT PART OF THE STORY, (BUT) THAT'S WHAT CAUSES THE ATTENTION, THAT'S WHAT
BECOMES THE HEADLINE.
SO YOU'RE TRYING TO BRING ACTUALLY THE GROUND LEVEL INFORMATION.
YOU YOURSELF, NEGAR, YOU HAD A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE BEING A JOURNALIST WORKING FOR THE VOICE OF
AMERICA WITH YOUR FAMILY IN IRAN.
CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THAT?
SURE, I MEAN WORKING FOR VOA PERSIAN, AND THIS IS THE CASE WITH OTHER FOREIGN MEDIA.
VOA PERSIAN, BBC PERSIAN, RADIO FARDA, WHICH IS OUR SISTER ORGANIZATION.
THERE'S A LOT OF SENSITIVITY ON THE JOURNALIST, PEOPLE WHO DO CONTENT AND ON-AIR PERSONALITIES,
THAT'S WHY SOME OF OUR COLLEAGUES DON'T EVEN USE THEIR OWN NAME, SO RECENTLY MY FAMILY
HAD BEEN PRESSURED.
THE SECURITY FORCES CAME TO OUR HOUSE, THEY SEARCHED OUR HOUSE, TOOK THE ELECTRONICS.
MY PARENTS WENT THROUGH, MY FATHER SPECIFICALLY, HAS BEEN THROUGH INTERROGATION, AND THE DEMAND
IS THAT I STOP WORKING FOR THE PERSIAN MEDIA.
THERE'S NOT MUCH SENSITIVITY ON ENGLISH COVERAGE OF IRAN NEWS, BUT ON PERSIAN THERE IS.
AND HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED THAT EXPERIENCE?
HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR WORK?
I MEAN IT'S VERY EMOTIONAL, AND IT'S A TOUGH DECISION WHICH, I KIND OF MADE THIS DECISION
WAY BACK WHEN I STARTED WORKING, DECIDED TO START WORKING FOR VOA PERSIAN, AND USE MY
NAME, MY OWN IDENTITY, BE ON AIR WITH MY OWN FACE AND EVERYTHING.
BUT IT'S A CONSTANT CHALLENGE.
SOMETIMES YOU THINK WHETHER IT'S WORTH IT OR NOT, AND THE PRICE THAT YOU'RE PAYING MIGHT
BE SO HIGH.
SO, IMRAM, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO TAKE A NOTE OF WHAT NEGAR WAS JUST TALKING
ABOUT AND THE DANGERS THAT LOTS OF JOURNALIST FACE REPORTING FROM MALL OVER THE WORLD.
I KNOW IN PAKISTAN SPECIFICALLY THERE HAD BEEN A LOT OF CASES OF JOURNALISTS BEING TARGETED.
ABSOLUTELY.
AS YOU KNOW CPJ - COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS - SAID THAT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST VOLATILE
REGIONS IN THE WORLD FOR JOURNALISTS.
IN FACT, VOA HAS LOST A CORRESPONDENT IN THE RECENT MONTHS, SO IT IS PRETTY TOUGH.
ABSOLUTELY.
IF YOU WANT TO FIND MORE NEGAR AND ARASHS BLOG ... YOU'LL FIND AT THE VOANEWS.COM HOME
PAGE, IN THE BLOGS SECTION.
IT'S CALLED INSIDE IRAN.