Persian service : the BBC and British interests in Iran / by Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sreberny, Annabelle, author.

Torfeh, Massoumeh, author.

Series:

International library of Iranian studies ; 40.

International Library of Iranian Studies ; 40

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

British Broadcasting Corporation--Political activity.

British Broadcasting Corporation.

Mass media--Political aspects--Iran.

Mass media.

Press and politics--Iran.

Press and politics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Rumour and speculation in Iran have been rife for generations that the BBC has had a hand in every political upheaval in the country. In this vein the BBC has become a notable element in the complex and tortured narrative of Anglo-Iranian relations. The BBC Persian Service was initially developed in 1940 to prepare and broadcast British war-time propaganda. And it has since been seen by many in Iran as an integral part of British policy-making in the region. Thirty years ago, the Shah of Iran regarded the BBC Persian Service radio as his 'enemy number one' and held it responsible for promoting the revolution of 1979. Only a couple decades earlier, the BBC Persian Service was widely accused for having been complicit in the CIA-led 1953 coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Musaddiq. And a decade earlier, the BBC Persian Service was strongly linked to the British-planned removal of Reza Shah in 1941. The BBC Persian service has frequently been perceived as an entity which was not simply a vehicle to record the changes occurring in Iran and throughout the Middle East, but rather an active agent of change. In this book, Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh track the history of the BBC Persian Service, critically analysing both the assumptions that the BBC is a standard bearer for objective reporting and representations of it as a simple tool of Western interests. Also examining the history of relations between the Foreign Office and the BBC Persian Service, they demonstrate that these have never been pre-defined or rigid. Instead, they explore how both institutions have moved from an interest in what can crudely be called state-orchestrated 'propaganda' to a more subtle advocacy of fair and balanced journalism as the best agent of British values and influence."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Introduction: The BBC World Service and Iran: Seventy Years of the Delicate Dance

Chapter 1: From Propaganda to Public Diplomacy: The Changing Paradigms

Chapter 2: The Establishment of the BBC World Service Persian Radio

Chapter 3: The BBC World Service, the British Government and the Nationalisation of Iranian Oil

Chapter 4: The BBC and the Iranian Revolution of 1979

Chapter 5: BBC Broadcasting to Afghanistan

Chapter 6: Culture Wars and Foreign Policy: BBC Persian Television

Chapter 7: Conclusion.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780755612413

0755612418

9780857724236

0857724231

OCLC:

900889170