Fast Facts RFE/RL's Radio Farda is one of the few remaining sources of uncensored news and information for people in Iran. Despite severe censorship, Radio Farda's website receives 10 million page views every month. Language: Persian Coverage: 24 hours daily Established: December 2002 Distribution: Radio (SW, AM, Satellite), Internet (news site, social media) Location: Prague headquarters, Washington; no local bureau Staff: 57 (Prague), 2 (Washington), 15 stringers

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2011: Not Free (188th/196)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2012: 175th/179
• Reporters Without Borders states that in Iran, “Free expression continues to be no more than a dream” and that Iran is “the world’s biggest prison for the media.” All media is tightly controlled, and Internet access is filtered.
• In an unprecedented crack-down on independent media, Iranian authorities closed dozens of newspapers and arrested over a hundred journalists and bloggers during the unrest following the disputed June 2009 presidential election. All foreign journalists were ejected from the country.

Highlights

• Despite heavy censorship, Radio Farda’s website receives over 10 million page visitors every month, many of them via proxy sites. Audiences can interact with Farda personalities and programs through SMS, email and Facebook. Radio Farda receives thousands of messages every month from Iranians inside and outside the country, and has the most popular Iranian news page on Facebook with almost 200,000 fans.
• Farda has repeatedly challenged official versions of news reporting. In February 2011, the service extensively covered events taking place in connection with the “Day of Rage” anti-governmental protests in Iran, information that was banned on state-controlled media. Similarly, during the protests erupting across the neighboring Arab world, Farda solicited Iranians’ own reactions to the uprisings, broadcasting their comments and hosting live forums where they could express their views.
• In March 2011, Radio Farda celebrated Nowruz -- the Persian New Year -- with its audience by airing live broadcasts from a special three-day series of concerts in Dubai featuring banned Iranian musicians.
• Launched in 2010, Radio Farda’s satire program, “Pas Farda,” has become a hit. In November 2011, host Farshid Manafi was named "International Radio Personality of the Year" by the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB). Manafi and “Pas Farda” also took home two silver medals at the 2011 New York Festivals Radio Program & Promotion Awards for “Best Regularly Scheduled Talk Program” and “Best Announcer Presentation.”

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Population
72.9 million (World Bank estimate, 2009)

Most Common Languages:
Persian, Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Luri, Balochi, Arabic

Press Freedom Index (Freedom House):
Not Free, ranked 188 out of 196

Press Freedom Index (RSF):
175 out of 179

Corruption Index (Transparency Int.):
146 out of 178

Global Peace Index (IES):
104 out of 149

Human Rights Watch:
Report on Iran (2010)

Amnesty International:
Iran Report (2009)