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from: U.K. Revokes Iran's Press TV License - WSJ.com
U.K. Revokes Iran's Press TV License
By PAUL SONNE And FARNAZ FASSIHI
Britain's communications regulator revoked the U.K. broadcasting license of Iran's state-owned Press TV on Friday and demanded the Tehran-based English-language news channel leave the British airwaves immediately.
The decision stemmed from a complaint filed by Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari against Press TV after the channel aired a 2009 false confession Mr. Bahari said he gave under duress during detention in an Iranian prison. The footagein which Mr. Bahari confessed to helping stage Iran's 2009 protests with other foreigners, in collusion with the Western mediawas aired in the U.K. as well as Iran.
Ofcom, the British communications regulator, upheld Mr. Bahari's complaint in a decision last year and said Press TV beached the U.K. broadcasting code by airing the footage. As punishment, the regulator hit Press TV with a £100,000 ($155,000) fine.
The regulator didn't revoke the channel's broadcasting license at the time. But in the course of investigating the complaint, Ofcom realized editorial control of Press TV rested with the broadcaster's headquarters in Tehran, rather than with the its operations in London. That posed a problem because it was Press TV's London office that held the channel's U.K. broadcasting license. British regulations require the entity "in general control of the TV service" to hold such licenses.
"Ofcom gave Press TV Limited the opportunity to apply to have its operations in Tehran correctly licensed," the regulator said in a statement Friday. "Press TV Limited has failed to make the necessary application and Ofcom has therefore revoked Press TV's license to broadcast in the U.K."
Press TV derided Ofcom's decision in a statement late Friday. The Iranian channel called Ofcom the British government's "tool to control the media" and accused the regulator of waging a two-year campaign against Press TV for being an "alternative news channel."
The statement also accused the regulator of discriminating against Press TV because of the news channel's critical coverage of the 2011 London riots, its exposure of the "extravagant costs of Britain's Royal Wedding at a time of great financial difficulty for ordinary Britons" and its reportage on the U.K.'s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Press TV will do everything possible to make sure that its voice will definitely reach its audience in the U.K.," the broadcaster said.
Press TV is one of a number of television and radio channels run by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, or IRIB, Iran's state-owned media company. IRIB also runs an Arabic-language news channel and a number of Persian-language channels.
The state media company beams content to 45 countries using at least eight international satellite companies, according to the U.S. State Department. Meanwhile, Iran repeatedly jams the satellite signals of Western broadcasters, such as Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corp. to prevent their content from reaching viewers in Iran. Operators whose satellites carry IRIB channels around the world include European and North America companies Eutelsat SA, Intelsat SA and Telesat Holdings Inc.
"Press TV uses the freedom afforded by democracies to broadcasters to propagate the Iranian government's message of hatred," Mr. Bahari said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal late last year. "When I came out and I saw my confession and the report on the Internet, it was like someone reminding me of that initial invasion."
Iranian authorities detained Mr. Bahari during protests that followed the country's disputed presidential elections in 2009 and held him for a period of 118 days, much of it in solitary confinement.
Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, welcomed Ofcom's decision. "It is about time for the Iranian government to pay a price for its reliance on broadcasts to commit and promote egregious human-rights crimes," Mr. Ghaemi said.
In the U.K., the channel aired over British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC's pay-TV platform, Sky, which reaches more than 10 million households across the country. News Corp., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, owns 39.1% of BSkyB.
Press TV also has refused to pay the £100,000 fine Ofcom levied on the basis of Mr. Bahari's complaint, the regulator said Friday. "Ofcom is pursuing this as a separate matter," the regulator said in a statement.
U.K. Revokes Iran's Press TV License
By PAUL SONNE And FARNAZ FASSIHI
Britain's communications regulator revoked the U.K. broadcasting license of Iran's state-owned Press TV on Friday and demanded the Tehran-based English-language news channel leave the British airwaves immediately.
The decision stemmed from a complaint filed by Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari against Press TV after the channel aired a 2009 false confession Mr. Bahari said he gave under duress during detention in an Iranian prison. The footagein which Mr. Bahari confessed to helping stage Iran's 2009 protests with other foreigners, in collusion with the Western mediawas aired in the U.K. as well as Iran.
Ofcom, the British communications regulator, upheld Mr. Bahari's complaint in a decision last year and said Press TV beached the U.K. broadcasting code by airing the footage. As punishment, the regulator hit Press TV with a £100,000 ($155,000) fine.
The regulator didn't revoke the channel's broadcasting license at the time. But in the course of investigating the complaint, Ofcom realized editorial control of Press TV rested with the broadcaster's headquarters in Tehran, rather than with the its operations in London. That posed a problem because it was Press TV's London office that held the channel's U.K. broadcasting license. British regulations require the entity "in general control of the TV service" to hold such licenses.
"Ofcom gave Press TV Limited the opportunity to apply to have its operations in Tehran correctly licensed," the regulator said in a statement Friday. "Press TV Limited has failed to make the necessary application and Ofcom has therefore revoked Press TV's license to broadcast in the U.K."
Press TV derided Ofcom's decision in a statement late Friday. The Iranian channel called Ofcom the British government's "tool to control the media" and accused the regulator of waging a two-year campaign against Press TV for being an "alternative news channel."
The statement also accused the regulator of discriminating against Press TV because of the news channel's critical coverage of the 2011 London riots, its exposure of the "extravagant costs of Britain's Royal Wedding at a time of great financial difficulty for ordinary Britons" and its reportage on the U.K.'s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Press TV will do everything possible to make sure that its voice will definitely reach its audience in the U.K.," the broadcaster said.
Press TV is one of a number of television and radio channels run by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, or IRIB, Iran's state-owned media company. IRIB also runs an Arabic-language news channel and a number of Persian-language channels.
The state media company beams content to 45 countries using at least eight international satellite companies, according to the U.S. State Department. Meanwhile, Iran repeatedly jams the satellite signals of Western broadcasters, such as Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corp. to prevent their content from reaching viewers in Iran. Operators whose satellites carry IRIB channels around the world include European and North America companies Eutelsat SA, Intelsat SA and Telesat Holdings Inc.
"Press TV uses the freedom afforded by democracies to broadcasters to propagate the Iranian government's message of hatred," Mr. Bahari said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal late last year. "When I came out and I saw my confession and the report on the Internet, it was like someone reminding me of that initial invasion."
Iranian authorities detained Mr. Bahari during protests that followed the country's disputed presidential elections in 2009 and held him for a period of 118 days, much of it in solitary confinement.
Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, welcomed Ofcom's decision. "It is about time for the Iranian government to pay a price for its reliance on broadcasts to commit and promote egregious human-rights crimes," Mr. Ghaemi said.
In the U.K., the channel aired over British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC's pay-TV platform, Sky, which reaches more than 10 million households across the country. News Corp., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, owns 39.1% of BSkyB.
Press TV also has refused to pay the £100,000 fine Ofcom levied on the basis of Mr. Bahari's complaint, the regulator said Friday. "Ofcom is pursuing this as a separate matter," the regulator said in a statement.
