The following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 16, 2006 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with radio managers and producers from different countries.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome the dear guests who have participated in this meeting and who were also present in the festival.
I believe that these gatherings and meetings can be to the advantage of the entire humanity, particularly in the current conditions of the world. I will discuss certain points with the friends and I hope that these points will answer the two, three questions asked by a number of participants. Radio - which is the pivot of your meeting - continues to be an important medium. Despite the emergence of other media, radio still plays an important, influential and great role and this is because of the advantages that this medium has. The significance of any medium makes the responsibility of producer heavier. I would like to stress the heavy responsibility of you radio managers and producers.
Today, media throughout the world promote thoughts, culture, behavior patterns and, in fact, the cultural identity of people and they play a determining role. They can be influential in improving the living conditions of human beings. They can be influential in promoting peace and global security. They can be influential in promoting morality and spirituality among individuals and they can make them happier. They can also be an instrument for waging destructive wars. They can promote bad habits and bad behavioral patterns among people. They can deprive nations of their human and national identity and they can revive the feeling of discrimination in them.
Today, media play a very great role. If media management and program-making - at an international level - is based on morality, virtue, equality and reliance on true human concepts, then nations will profit. However, if their programming and management are based on the interests of economic cartels, international tycoons and totalitarian and monopolistic powers, then nations will undoubtedly suffer a great loss.
Media can prepare the ground for conducting free, bilateral and multilateral negotiations between nations. This is one of the greatest privileges of public and mass media. Media can exchange concepts among nations in a moral and reasonable way and they can arrange spiritual, moral and cultural deals between them. This is a very valuable issue. They can raise the awareness and understanding of people. If media are managed in a fair way in the world, if the media road is not a one-way road, if nations listen to one another in the real sense of the word and if they know one another's dear and holy concepts, this will help them to get close to one another.
As a number of friends pointed out directly and indirectly, many existing enmities among peoples - it is the owners of power and wealth who take advantage of these enmities - result from lack of understanding or from misunderstanding. They do not understand one another. If I take a look at the conditions of media throughout the world, I should tell you managers and producers that it is not an optimistic outlook. I do not deny what the honorable head of this union said about achievements. Such achievements exist, but our outlook towards media conditions in the world is not a hopeful, encouraging and satisfying one. Today, the media and communications road is not a two-way or multilateral one. Rather, it is a one-way road. It should be said that the powerful owners of media empire promote what they like and prefer in different corners of the world.
What is it that they like? What are the concepts and ideas that they like to promote? Are they human concepts? Are they based on virtue? Does human justice exist in them? We do not feel such a thing at all. Today, the news and media empire of the world is almost completely monopolized by those who do not want the world to enjoy moral virtues, religion, faith, spirituality and peace. Those who have the biggest weapons factories in the world call the shots in the world of media. The most destructive and devastating atomic bombs are available to them or they are involved in them. Pursuing imperialist policies are among their daily activities and most media are in their hands.
Of course, today, the situation is different from 20, 50 years ago. Independent nations and countries have access to media and they know what they should do to some extent. But there is still a large gap between what exists and what should exist. What I mean by this is the same two-way and multi-way road that can convey the true nature of peoples and their holy concepts among them.
Take a look at dominant policies in today's media. Their interests dictate that they consider Islam to be equal to terrorism. This is being done at a very fast rate and by using as many advanced technologies as they can. Their interests dictate that they consider America to be the manifestation of human rights and democracy. This is being done very easily and by using very complex media methods in the world. Big lies are promoted as truth on the radio, on TV, on the internet and on other media outlets. As a number of friends pointed out, the first issue in the world suddenly becomes avian flu whose victims may not reach a thousand. This is while 120,000 unarmed Iraqi citizens are murdered by the Americans and their terrorists, but the issue is not reflected at all. Suddenly, the rumor spreads in the whole world that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Those who use this propaganda clearly know that it is a lie, but the interests of the managers of news and media empire dictate that they take this course of action.
Therefore, such lies should be told, as they are being told in the present time. Global media do not at all speak about a people who have developed an advanced technology with their diligence, on their own and for peaceful purposes. On the issue of Palestine, if there is an explosion in a Palestinian area during which a number of Zionists are wounded, this will be portrayed as a great disaster in the world. But the daily - without any exaggeration - massacre of the Palestinians by soldiers and the assassination of Palestinian activists by the leaders of the Israeli government is completely ignored and it is not reflected at all. These are the chronic diseases and agonizing pains of media throughout the world. This is the basis of the issue.
Knowledge - that has provided human beings with these easy and fast means of communication - should be able to make them happy. This happiness lies in their ability to become fully aware of one another's concepts and beliefs. They should be able to understand one another's words and motives. For example, notice what happens if the people of America become aware of the Iranian nation's opinion on important matters. Imagine that the people of America or European nations directly listen to the people of Iran about what they have to say on human rights, religious democracy - which is our slogan - the role of religion in people's lives and the influence that it can exert, the role of women in social life and Islam's viewpoint about women.
Even you who are media managers have not heard our viewpoints, let alone ordinary citizens in western countries. But if this happens, many important events will take place in the world and many misunderstandings will be cleared up. If this happens, many problems will be solved for nations and the scope of politicians' and powers' decisions - which are made on the basis of the interests of monetary and financial empires in the world - will be limited.
Today, politicians and powers in the world take advantage of the fact that their people have inadequate knowledge in this regard. They say and do many things in the world in the name of their people. If their people know the truth, they may not agree with what they do, they may refuse to cooperate with them and they may reject their governments. Media can play such a role and they can help people achieve happiness in the true sense of the word.
If religion, morality and virtue dominate media management and production, media will undoubtedly enjoy better conditions. If this is done, people's conditions will be much better than their conditions in the present time. I advise that human ideals and the way these virtues should be employed are discussed and worked on in these meetings at least as much as technical arenas are discussed. You should do this so that spirituality and morality find their way into the world of media and so that the valuable scientific movement which has been launched in the world and which has helped to develop media can render services to humanity. This is the issue that I wanted to discuss with the friends in this meeting.
I hope that the two, three friends who asked some questions have received their answers in what I said.
I thank the managers of the IRIB for organizing this meeting and I also thank you dear guests. I hope that you have enjoyed your time in the past few days and I hope that by Allah's favor, you will leave Iran with good memories.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings