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Challenged Media Participation of Diasporas: Iranian Productions on Public Access TV Channels in Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Christine Horz
Christine Horz*
Affiliation:
University of Erfurt, Germany
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Abstract

This paper analyses Iranian television production on Public Access TV channels in Germany. It is based on a broader study with qualitative interviews, hermeneutic content analysis of 40 hours of aired TV programs and a ?dense description? of the production background. Iranian immigrants were amongst the most active mother-tongue TV producers on local Public Access Channels (so called ?Open Channels?) since these were first launched in 1984. These non-commercial channels aim to make alternative themes and voices heard in the local public. However, the 9/11 attacks led to increased difficulties of access for immigrants from the Middle East, such as limited airtime and the obligation to translate programs. These measures diminished dramatically the opportunities to present Iranian TV shows on Open Channels. From the perspective of Communication Studies, this paper aims to analyse the intentions and strategies of Iranian immigrant media participation, but also the difficulties of access to the public sphere in Germany.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 44 , Issue 3: Beyond the Iranian Frame: From Visual Representation to Socio-Political Drama , May 2011 , pp. 359 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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Footnotes

Her study was funded by the Hans-Böckler-Foundation between 2005 and 2010. Since 2009 Christine Horz has been the representative of the YECREA network (a European network of young Communications Studies scholars) in the Diaspora, Media and Migration section. Since 2010 she has been the co-editor of the German edition of the Global Media Journal (www.globalmediajournal.de).

The material presented in this article was gathered in the research and fieldwork process for the author's PhD thesis at the University of Erfurt, Germany. An earlier version of this article was presented at the conference “Visual Representations of Iran,” 13–16 June 2008, St Andrews, Scotland. Sources, quotes from producers and Open Channels representatives are translated by the author.

References

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44 State Media Authority, 1 March 2006.

45 Two intercultural teams under the leadership of Iranian diasporics went on air with German language live phone-in programs. These productions did not articulate a correlation with the Iranian background and rather focused on transcultural aspects of youth culture (Ha-Tschüss Boys) or avoiding any attribution (Saeed direkt).

46 Naficy, The Making of Exile Culture, 81–82.

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56 Personal interview with Bijan Dehkalanie, Frankfurt a.M., 19 March 2007.

57 As in every TV production the full names, addresses and phone numbers of the representatives were faded in with the beginning and end of the transmission. With the permission of the producers, names have not been made anonymous in this article.

58 U. Steinbach, “Kurzfristig ist die Bewegung gescheitert,” Readers Edition, 29 June 2009, http://www.readers-edition.de/2009/06/29/kurzfristig-ist-die-bewegung-gescheitert-iran-experte-udo-steinbach-im-interview/.

59 The haftsin (seven “S”, Sîn pers. ) is the traditional decoration for the Persian New Year's table. It displays seven symbolic objects beginning with an “S” like sir (garlic), sabzi (lentil or grass-sprouts), samanu (pudding made of wheat-sprouts), senjed (dried fruit), somaq (berries), serkeh (vinegar) and sib (apple). Usually the sonbol (hyacinth) flower is added as well as objects not beginning with Sîn like a mirror, coloured eggs, a goldfish-bowl, the Quran or a book of the poet Hafez. These objects are traditionally perceived as symbols for the spring and the beginning of the new year.

60 Naficy, The Making of Exile Cultures, 95–98.

61 Personal interview with Bijan Dehkalanie, Frankfurt a.M., 19 March 2007.

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