Part of the letter of congressman Jim Moran to Director of VOA

Part of Congressman Jim Moran 8th District in Virginia to VOA:

Danford Austin, Director
Voice of America
330 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20237

Dear Mr. Austin:

Congratulations on your recent appointment. As the new Director of Voice of America (VOA), I am confident that you can bring solid leadership and vision to this organization, which is tax-payer funded, and which is a multimedia international broadcasting service. There is no doubt that VOA as such plays a crucial role in projecting the U.S image throughout the world in the interest of our society and the respective audiences.

And in this connection, I would like to share with you that my Iranian-American constituents in Northern Virginia are from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azeri Turks, Baluchis, Kurds, and Turkomans. They are concerned about the growing perception that represented by the VOA's Persian management, operators, and broadcasts, the U.S. is deliberately ignoring their ethnic, national, and linguistic identity in favor of the minority Persian Iranians, who control the program. The VOA Persian (Farsi) broadcasts do not reach tens of millions of non-Persian Iranians, for reasons. One reason is the fact that in spite of systematic Persianization and at the same time prohibition from studying their respective languages, many of them speak little or no Farsi at all. All available data indicate that at least half, if not two-thirds, of Iran's population are not ethnic Persians. In fact, historically and sociologically, it is not easy to define the average Persian in the country. Yet, these non-Persian ethnic groups, who are the majority demographically, have practically been excluded by the VOA-Persian broadcasts and their intellectual and cultural expectations are not met. At best, a lip service or a slight symbolic attention is made to them, and in passing. They are marginalized by way of ideology in the Persian services of VOA.

My constituency informs me that no airtime is allotted to non-Persian Iranians to express their views during five hours of daily airtime in such programs as News & Views, Roundtable Discussion, News Talk, and Human Rights. For example, out of over 130 guests who were featured on VOA-Persian programming during May 2007, only one Baluchi and one Kurd can be identified but the overwhelming participants were Persians of monarchist, ultra nationalist, or nationalist inclinations, who speak of Iran as a Persian nation period. These paid and unpaid gusts were consultants and/or senior advisors to the Reza Pahlavi, the sons of the Shah, former cabinet ministers, or former diplomats of the Shah regime. One of them was interviewed 15 times and the rest multiple times in the one single month of May. Hence, in addition to the frequency of appearance of the said Baluchi and Kurd, no members of the remaining minorities were invited at all. This is true in spite of the availability of their representatives as experts, scholars, and intellectuals, here in the US and back there in Iran.
.......................................................
However, I am very interested to learn more how VOA-Persian operates. Who determines what guests are invited, what subjects are raised and aired, and how time is allocated to the participant individuals. Further, are different perspectives on issues allowed at all; and whether diversified topics are encouraged or promoted? In all, I ask for a meeting to learn about your views on this subject and determine if the funding allocated to this Persian program is an effective use of American Tax payer's money. Please advise your staff to contact my office to set forth a meeting at your convenience.

Sincerely,
Congressman Jim Moran
8th District in Virginia