Persian service on the launch pad

13.10.10

Nima Ghadakpour | journalist, Persian service

When I was a child, I asked my father why some countries were advanced and others lagged behind. His reply was that the inhabitants of the former followed world events more closely that the latter. He said: "If you wish not to stay behind, you have to know what's going on in the world."

I decided there and then to learn about current affairs in our world, and that was the reason I became a journalist.

Having said that, I had completely forgotten about the conversation I had with my father until two months ago. To be more precise, the first day I started my work at euronews. The newsroom here is as large as a football pitch, where journalists and broadcasters of more than 38 countries work together, broadcasting the latest news to the world in nine languages, sometimes simultaneously translating speeches live on air! The top news today was the rescue operation for the trapped Chilean miners, broadcast live from that part of the world. My job was to send a live reportage of the operation lifting to the ground those miners who had been trapped at a depth of nearly 620 meters for more than two months.

In doing that, I felt a strange flow of emotions through my body and soul. I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was sharing these moments -- the miracle, the thrill and excitement of the miners, their families and the people of Chile, and that I was able to relay those moments to Farsi speaking people in my part of the world.

Although euronews in Farsi was not yet officially on air, I imagined myself saying to my father: "Dad, I not only follow the events of the world, but I am also able to share them with Iranians, Tajiks, and Afghans”. I had arrived.

The eyes of the world are firmly focused on Chile as the drama of the mine rescue comes to a tense and emotional conclusion. International news channels like euronews are at full stretch to cover this round-the-clock story live, as it unfolds. The red light is on continuously in our live studios as a journalist from each of our nine language services relays the breaking news to the waiting world.

Viewers will not be aware of this but in a tenth studio a Persian journalist is slogging away over a live microphone, performing the exact same task as his/her colleagues in the other services. It's proving ideal training for the journalists who'll be expected to do this kind of thing for real in a very short time. The broadcast is being relayed internally within our HQ in Lyon and I'm happy to say the Persian team is rising to the challenge admirably. With just the flick of a switch they could be on air around the world now. From what we're witnessing here in Lyon they wouldn't disappoint our audience.

A year in just one day! We launched the Turkish service at the beginning of 2010 after several months of hard work and how recent it seems! Our enthusiasm and excitement remains as fresh as if we had arrived yesterday. With the launch of the Persian service the Turks are no longer 'the new kids on the block'.

More than two hundred journalists from all over the world work together in our newsroom. It is a real melting pot of nations and cultures, and an incredible experience! A news kitchen where we cook together and at the end the euronews « meal » is served on different plates, each with their own unique flavour. 24/7 news, live and breaking news in 10 languages. It's a very challenging and enriching environment.

euronews is already the most watched news channel in Europe. With the launch of Persian service, a new window will be opened on to Asia. I believe that euronews will be, in a short time, the leading source of news in that part of the world. I say "khosh amadid" to our Persian colleauges, we look forward to working with you.

Our Persian colleagues have arrived with an infectious enthusiasm that's rippled across the newsroom like a wave of energy. This is a very significant development for euronews and from the feedback we're getting it's also very keenly awaited by Iranians at home and abroad.

After a rigourous recruitment process (in which I was priviliged to have a central role) we've now assembled a team of journalists from a range of backgrounds whose expertise and experience will be a huge asset, not only to the new service but also to our nine other language versions as well. They're already up to speed with the working practices of our unique, multilingual way of presenting world news, and are very much in tune with our editorial values of impartiality and balanced reporting from a neutral perspective.

We're concentrating now on finalising the technical aspects of the launch and completing the editoral content of our coming online and on air output. So stay tuned -- our new adventure begins in the last week of October.