Regarding this issue that the BBC has cancelled its six channels and has oriented all of its attentions to Persian BBC and the Arabic one which most of its addressees are in the Middle East countries, is this action a political one?

The west’s aim is planned most in these two regions : Africa, and the eastern and western Europe. They don’t consider Australia; but they consider the southwest Asia. As you observe, the political aims and cultural situation necessitates for BBC to act.

There are several gossips that BBC employees are providing the aims and policies of the British ministry of foreign affairs in contrary to their slogans which bear impartial approach and even several of its managers are Bahai, how much do you know about this issue?

In order to report the diversity in the country and its aim region, BBC tries to employ equally. That is, it employs people from all religions including Shiite, Sunni, Bahai and different tribes such as Kurd, Arab, and … or covered and unveiled and even fancy-free women. It elects this diversity intelligently in order not only to communicate with ipsilateral news makers. Consequently, a person who works in BBC and has been of reform-minded journalists in Mr. Khatami’s period of time has a news ring that s/he can get news of them and interview and provide reports. Or the Arabic news scribe is in touch with some people in Iran. This issue is applied about rightists, too. Thus, in professional culture of BBC, two events should be separated : First, the people’s identities as professional BBC employees and second, their identities out of BBC. In BBC culture, people must take their identities out of BBC into service of their identities in BBC not vice versa. And this fact is gradually occurring in people; They must offer all of their abilities to BBC through retraining and extensive group work. This considers as people’s privilege to have more intelligence network and news availability to serve BBC .

Baha’ism issue has both managerial and massive approach in BBC. There is an anxioty regarding this issue that those who have used BBC neither have been Bahai people nor work in usual positions in BBC. In fact, the most notable Bahai claimants have the highest responsibilities in BBC Farsi. The BBC Euro-Asian attendants –who is one of five main regional assistant directors –is a believer, influential, bound, really serious person.

Anyway, this anxioty exists.

Source: Dr. Hesam-al-Din Ashna’s weblog / the professor of communication.