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Iranwas president, the media remainedquiet or ignorant about the leading roleof many reformists close to PresidentMohammad Khatami in the embassyseizure, including his brother.One of my primary motivations insetting up Tehran Bureau in 2008 wasto assemble a staff in which reportersand editors speak the language—andcan tell people apart. Speaking Farsihelps expand our ability to gathernews. It means we can tap into amore extensive network and speakto more Iranians, even if we’re notbased in Tehran. We can read Iranianbloggers—those who write in Iran andthose who live in exile—and scan theIranian press and, by reading betweenthe lines, we can ultimately deliver amore reliable product, even if we doso with barely any financial support.(We refuse to take money from anygovernment agency, religious or interestgroup.)Here are two examples of coverageof Iran by Tehran Bureau:• In March, Gareth Smyth, who reportedfrom Iran for the FinancialTimes, wrote “Hot times and coolheads,” 1 about political dynamicsinside of Iran and the United Statesthat might result in the two countriesengaging in dialogue.• The impact of Mohammad Khatami’swithdrawal as a presidentialcandidate has been written aboutfrom several angles in blog posts aspart of Tehran Bureau’s reporting onthe Iranian election in June.Surprises Along the WayThe Iranian ambassador I had ameeting with that day had been theforeign ministry spokesman for a longtime. He was sophisticated and mediasavvy. At that time, the circumstancesin the UAE were stacked against me.The paper I was writing for had noname and was still months away frombeing published. As we started dryruns, I wrote stories on deadline for apaper with no name that no one outsidethe newsroomsaw. Plus, as anIranian American,I knew the Iranianauthorities wouldnever trust me.But in the courseof my work, theygave me the benefitof the doubt andaccess and treatedme with respectand my Americancolleagues, evenmore so.My experiencewasn’t limited tothe foreign ministry.The first timeI spoke to one ofTehran’s hard liners,I was basedin London andworking as an associateproducerfor “Frontline.” Aftermany monthshad passed and itwas pretty apparentmy colleagues’visas weren’t goingto come through,I picked up thephone and dialed anumber that wasn’t all that difficult tofind. “Salaam,” I said, introducing myself.“I’m calling from London,” I said.Strike one. (Many Iranians believe theBritish are worse than Americans whenit comes to plotting against Iranians.The 1953 coup was initially hatchedby the British, after all.) I continued,“I work for an American televisionstation.” Strike two. “We’re making adocumentary about U.S.-Iran relationssince 9/11,” I, an Iranian American,said. Strike three. I took a deep breathand braced for the worst.“Can I see your programs on satellitetelevision?” this official with a provincialaccent asked after a pause.“No,” I replied, but I sent him alink to “Frontline’s” online archives.And I was impressed by his gmailAs part of Tehran Bureau’s pre-election coverage, Gareth Smythwrote about U.S.-Iran politics.address.After a couple of days, he calledme. “It’s a good program,” he said. “It’scertainly better than the other televisionprograms there, anyway.”Not long after this conversation,we were in. Kelly Golnoush Niknejad foundedTehran Bureau in November 2008,initially as a blog. She serves as managingeditor as well as one of its reporters.Tehran Bureau can be foundat www.tehranbureau.com. Informationabout the “Frontline” documentary,“Showdown With Iran,” is atwww.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/showdown/.1http://tehranbureau.com/2009/03/24/hot-times-and-cool-heads48 Nieman Reports | Summer 2009