Pay per preach
I don't want my tax dollars fund LA satellite TV stations
July 23, 2003
The Iranian
Have you ever had to pay for a service
you didn't need
or want? What if your cable company or satellite TV provider told
you that you were getting some new programming you didn't
order but its going to add a few dollars a month to your bill?
Would you just accept it, or would you call and cancel the service?
What
if you couldn't call and cancel the service since
the
service was a result of a bill that may be passed by Congress?
The reason I ask is that I have been thinking about
the idea of Senator Brownback's bill that would authorize $50 million
dollars for Iranian satellite TV stations here in the US to beam
LA programming to Iran.
I have never understood why these LA satellite TV
stations think they can just sit there and preach to the Iranian
people what they must or must not do. The US is a country where
freedom of the press and speech are protected, its their prerogative.
However, let them do it on their own dime.
As a taxpaying citizen, I don't want any
of my taxes to fund these satellite TV stations. Besides, doesn't
the US already fund a few satellite shows to Iran through Voice
of America and Radio Farda anyway? If this is the land of fair
competition and if these LA stations do such a good, vital and
necessary job, shouldn't they be able to survive without any external
governmental assistance? And we all know where government assistance
comes from: taxpayers'
pockets.
I'm not a politician or a savy Middle East affairs
specialist, I'm just a recording artist that cares how my hard
earned
tax dollars are spent. I wonder if Senator Brownback has ever viewed
the programming these stations offer? Which genius congressional
staffer sold him this idea?
After having viewed
these TV programs and actually having been a guest on some of
them to introduce our group's music to the Persian community
in the
US and abroad, I can tell you that I wouldn't spend
a cent
of my own
money to subscribe or pay for their programming. So why should
the government do it on my behalf?
On one trip to LA, we had many requests
to conduct TV interviews for the release of our first album which
had made it to the top
of the US charts. American media outlets were eager to learn who
"these artists from Iran" were. We conducted interviews with many
mainstream
networks such as CBS and FOX, in addition to a few Persian
TV stations.
Most Iranian
media outlets (TV, radio and news magazines) were very kind, hospitable
and generous in promoting our music gratis. However, one of the
most well-known of these stations that is run by a famous and popular
personality (who will remain nameless) called and asked
my partner Shahin and I for an interview.
I actually spoke with the gentleman to coordinate the logistics
of how to get to the studio. Then he suggested that as "a
favor" to us, the interview would only cost us $800.
I didn't
understand what he meant, and asked why he wanted money to interview
us. He said the studio has expenses and for our interview he would
need one cameraman, a producer, etc., and would give us a "deal"
by charging only an $800 fee when in actuality it should cost us
more.
I was shocked. We had just done an interview
with a CBS affiliate station and they had treated us with
the utmost respect. They didn't
ask for any money, and were actually appreciative of the
time
we took to show up. But an Iranian station was asking for money
to conduct an interview? Since we were
not into infomercials, we gracefully declined.
I read in the Washington
Post that another one of these station owners
has said his dream is to become head of Iranian state television
once he is able to return. I didn't
know the American taxpayer is now supposed to foot the bill
for future employment opportunities of these station owners.
This article
may hurt my chances of ever having our music broadcast by
them (let's hope blacklisting really went out of style after
the McCarthy period). However, as a taxpaying
citizen,
I truly feel there must be better ways to spend our money
and not blindly accept that these stations are the only voice of
the Iranian people.
Before Senator Brownback
decides to give away our hard earned money, I suggest
he spend a few hours watching what he wants us to pay for, and
perhaps
then he can find better use for those dollars.
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