Talking to Iran 

A one day conference aiming to provide a picture of the current media environment in Iran and the most effective formats for broadcasting to Iranian audiences. Organised by The Next Century Foundation and held with support from The US Media Outreach Centre at the US Embassy it will take place on Thursday 12^th February 2009 at Initiatives for Change, 24 Greencoat Place, London, SW1P 1RD

Format:

9:00     Registration and Coffee

9:30     Session 1:        Iran Today: Domestic Dynamics and External Challenges

            Chaired by:     William Morris- Secretary General, Next Century Foundation

Panel:              Parvis Dastmalchi- Commentator on Iranian Affairs/ Human Rights expert

                                   Reza Taghizade - Glasgow University and Commentator on Iranian Affairs

                                   Glen Rangwala- University Lecturer and fellow of Trinity                                     College, Cambridge University in England.

                                   Prof. Annabelle Sreberny- Professor of Global Media and             Communications, Director of Centre with particular focus on Iran, SOAS  

11:00   Break with Refreshments

11:15   Session 2:        Media within Iran: Addressing Issues of Public Concern

             Chaired by:     Julian Borger - The Guardian Panel:             

                                   Alireza Namvar Haghighi- Iranian Journalist and Political   Scientist . Former broadcaster to Iran for Homa T.V                

                                    Meir Javedanfar The Middle East Economic and Political Analysis Company (meepas), Tel Aviv

Ali Pedram- Iranian Website Producer, Iran Programme Director at both Durham University and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London

                                    Andres Ilves, Head of BBC Persian                                    

1:00     LUNCH

2:00     Session 3:        Reaching Iranian Audiences from Abroad

            Chaired by:     Dan Sreebny- Senior Advisor for Regional Media, State                                         Department.

 Panel:                        Sonja Pace- Representative of VOA Persian Service/Persian News Network                     

                                  Menashe Amir- Israeli analyst and broadcaster, specialist in Iranian and Arab affairs.                      

                                  Alireza Nourizadeh- Iranian Journalist, broadcaster and                  Political Commentator for the radio channel Voice of America,    Senior writer for Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

                                  Shahran Tabari- Journalist and Chief Correspondent in London for Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty)    

3:30     Tea Break

3:45     Session 4:        Looking Ahead; New Initiatives?

 Chaired by:               William Morris – Secretary General, Next Century Foundation              Panel:                         Mehrdad Khonsari- a former Iranian diplomat,

Senior Research Consultant at the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies in London

                                  Barry Marston- Arabic and Persian spokesperson for the Foreign Office.

                                  Nazenin Ansari- Diplomatic editor of the London edition of Kayhan, Voice of America, Persian Television Service.

                                  Dr Farhang Jahanpour- Former Chief Persian Monitor and Editor for the Middle East and North Africa at the BBC Monitoring and a part-time tutor at Oxford University

5:15     Conclusion