Thursday, April 14, 2005
Iran hires CNN and the BBC
Iran, which long castigated the United States as the “Great Satan”, is to promote its tourist potential on America’s CNN television station and Britain’s BBC, the country’s vice-president for tourism Hossein Marachi has revealed.
Tense relations between Tehran and Washington will not stop Iran from exploiting its attractions on the US cable network, said Marachi, who insists US sanctions preventing American companies from trading with Iran “will not apply in this instance”.
Both BBC and CNN campaigns should start within two months under a one-year contract, the value of which Marachi did not disclose.
The BBC is owned by the British government. That it is taking money from the government of Iran is appalling enough, even if not surprising. That CNN -- a division of Time-Warner -- proposes to profit off of payments from Iran's government is a scary echo of CNN's earlier willingness to trade truth for access to Saddam Hussein's Baghdad. Flacks for both networks will argue that the notional wall that stands between the business management and the editorial staff will prevent Tehran's money from dampening the enthusiasm of the latter to report on the tyranny that the mullahs propose to pass off as a tourist destination. Is that really believable?
3 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Apr 15, 12:59:00 AM:
Are you sure this in not something from THE ONION or SCRAPPLEFACE?
If you sound the man's name out it...comes out as "WHO'S IN THE MARACHI.. (BAND)". Are the Mexicans over there too? Could it be a change of names to blend in? Do we need to see on CNN more pinyata's busted open? Were is Pres. Fox of MEXICO? Just when you need him he must of been reading up on all the Mexican Land taken from them in Iran....(maybe CNN thought it got a jump on the other news channel?). Then we need him to take Iran to task about Mexican rights in Iran. Oh well.....Oh well I'll be visting Iran REAL SOON (COUGH). Can't wait for my LAMB KEBOB BURRITTO. NOT! BYE CNN YOU HAD A SHORT LIFE BUT YOU'LL BE WITH MOMMY(CBS) REAL SOON.
CROWN PRINCE MICHAEL
PRINCE OF (NEVER SLEEP WITH (ONLY HOTTIES! ) WHALES
By , at
Fri Apr 15, 04:31:00 PM:
Your argument is sound, but my first thought was that the mullahs may be too clever by half. Unless they're sequestered as they are in Castro's Cuba, American tourists may be the foot in the door that opens the floodgates of freedom (mixing metaphors on a Friday afternoon after hours is considered socially acceptable among the drinking classes).
Sissy
sisu
By , at
Fri Apr 15, 09:24:00 PM:
With all the oil revenue
you would think that Iran
would attempt to place their
ads where more Americans
would see them.
These ratings were posted
for the month as of 3/30/05
FOX NEWS 1.9
CNN .9 .9
CNN HEADLINE .34 +.34
MSNBC .33 +.33
TOTAL CNN,CNNHL,MSNBC=1.57 is only 83% of FOX. The
total for the 3 is only 45%
of the entire audience.
Conclusion, Iran wanted some
Americans to see the ads, so
they went for the crowd that
would support the Mullahs to
get back at Bush, but they
didn't want to spend a lot
of moolah!
Hey it is Friday!
