I see the BBC has started a new TV channel aimed at Iran called BBC Persia. It has an annual budget of £15 million and will employ 140 staff. Yes, you read that right. The Iranians have reacted angrily and banned it from having a bureau in Tehran. The hypocrisy is breathtaking, when you consider it owns Press TV which freely broadcasts from London.
Never mind that... The Beeb are spending my money on what?!
ReplyDeleteThere's something terribly wrong with this country.
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ReplyDeleteI thought the World service wasn't paid out of the licence fee, but came under the FCO budget? Perhaps its changed.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that any democrat would begrudge the inhabitants of a police state access to uncensored news.
Jimmy
ReplyDeleteFirstly, that's my money too. More importantly though, they can share our news through the World Service, Web, etc etc. The question is 'why do we need to produce their news for them, and to employ 140 people to do it?'
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ReplyDeleteIt's paid for by the Foreign Office Grant, not by licence fee payers...
ReplyDelete... still my money!
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the BBC (not institutionally left wing or a recruiting ground for Labour party activists at all) will be reminding everyone 3 times a day about the denied access -just as they are for Gaza.
ReplyDeleteOK, the Iranians have banned it. So let's wrap it up and save the money. Or have I missed something?
ReplyDeleteNulabs propaganda's arm strikes again..
ReplyDeleteLots of images of our dear leader saving the world
"Or have I missed something?"
ReplyDeleteThe fact that presumably it wasn't set up for the benefit of the regime.
just a very cheeky comment:
ReplyDeleteThey should have said that they emply the Neturai Karta people from Manchester, who came to visit him last year.
Then all will be allowed.
Toungh in cheek,
Oded Szpiro London N3
The world service is great, it has some much better stuff than any other radio station
ReplyDeleteWhat is hypocritical? All media in Iran is run by the state an BBC Persia probably won't broadcast anywhere else but Iran or maybe Dubai. I guess the BBC didn't want to put their bureau under Iranian state control.
ReplyDeleteI meet Iranians on the beach in the Philippines. They invariably call themselves Persian these days. The reason is that people around the world think Iraq and Iran are the same place - and they hate being called Iraqis, who are, they say, 'our enemies'.
ReplyDeleteIran and Iraq have become brand negatives, which are so bad that people are dropping the names when they can.
I meet Iranians on the beach in the Philippines. They invariably call themselves Persian these days. The reason is that people around the world think Iraq and Iran are the same place - and they hate being called Iraqis, who are, they say, 'our enemies'.
ReplyDeleteIran and Iraq have become brand negatives, which are so bad that people are dropping the names when they can.
Stop complaining. It's even less than Jonathon Ross costs the licence payer.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_TV
ReplyDeletepress tv is owned by the ir government