BBC to launch Persian TV channel
Press TV.com – October 9, 2007
The World Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is to launch a Persian language TV channel aimed at the Iranian people.
The British government is planning to provide the BBC with an extra 70 million pounds funding to help launch the Persian-language TV news channel and enhance a forthcoming Arabic channel.
The two channels are the first television news services to be launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation in a decade and it is the first time the Foreign Office has given money for a specific TV service.
The free-to- air channel will be based in London, broadcasting for eight hours a day at peak Iranian viewing time.
The BBC said the television service would complement its existing Persian radio and online services.
The move comes as British MPs have recently condemned the country's media coverage of Iran's developments as 'below the standards of objectivity and impartiality.'
A cross-party group of British MP's has slammed the cases of media bias against Iran, including recent examples by journalists Con Coughlin (the Daily Telegraph) and Simon Tisdall (the Guardian) as well as reports by the BBC.
MP/RE
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Last updated 12/10/2007