TEHRAN- The Hill has called on the American government to invest its “soft power dollars” in VOA Persian, which can deliver “the U.S. interests.” Yet the Iranian nation has already ignored the politically motivated and biased content of anti-Iran networks run by certain Western countries. 

Exemplifying the UK-based Manoto TV channel as a role model, The Hill released an opinion on December 5 desperately drawing a roadmap for the American government to expand its scope of support for VOA Persian. 

The opinion, in its address to American officials, described VOA Persian as an arm of the White House that can “change Iranian’s understanding of politics” and preserve U.S. interests. However, Iranian people have lost their trust in Western-based networks and news websites. 

Programs of the TV channels, which are committed to delivering the interests of their financial sponsors, are no longer interesting in the eyes of the Iranian public.  

Manoto was launched in 2010 and stopped working in mid-November 2023. Unlike what was claimed at the time, the main reason for going out of air was not financial but political.

The TV, pursuing its political motives, spared no effort to disappoint the Iranian people and create a gap between the people and the state.

By providing false information and portraying the West as the ideal place, Manoto was trying to carry out a psychological operation to disappoint the Iranian people.

The TV lost its fame since the Iranian people, having access to social media, found the realities and the policies behind Manoto.

With the increase in people’s awareness, the TV faced a political failure and stopped broadcasts.

During Iran’s 2022 unrest, Manoto made great efforts to make the Iranian people distrustful of the government, yet a year later, the TV having seen its plots gone with the wind, faced a great defeat in pursuing its political agenda.

The biased content of the TV may have seemed appealing at first glance for the audience, but over time the people understood the true reason behind its programs.

The Hill described Manoto as a successful TV channel, saying it helped Iranians inside the country maintain a strong connection with their diaspora communities.

In continuation of the praise of Manoto as a role model for VOA Persian, the American newspaper said Manoto had an “openly anti-Islamic Republic stance.” 

Elsewhere the opinion said, “Alternatives as Manoto TV and Iran International demonstrate, are not necessarily guardians of U.S. interests or reliable long-term solutions. They must mind the demands of their sponsors, which are not ‘always’ aligned with U.S. interests.”

Through describing the activities of Manoto, The Hill tried to find a way for VOA Persian to gain the trust of the public.

According to The Hill, VOA's fame was lost due to the channel's political inclinations.

“It (VOA) took a sharp turn away from criticizing the Islamic Republic and toward instead supporting reformists at a time,” said The Hill.

The point is that the media that produces and broadcasts programs with political goals cannot win the trust of the audience. This is the point that has brought the Western sponsors to second thought whether to financially back VOA Persian or not.