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Nov 14, 2007
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Iranian TV Challenges Ted Koppel: Iranian Children Do Mean It When They Chant "Death to America"

#1655 | 01:20
Source: Channel 1 (Iran)

Following is a TV report on Ted Koppel's documentary on Iran, which aired on Channel 1, Iranian TV on November 14, 2007:

Crowd of demonstrators: Death to America

Voice of reporter: Since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, the Iranians have enthusiastically chanted the slogan "Death to America" on different occasions.

Ted Koppel, a Discovery Channel journalist, arrived in Tehran in order to make a documentary, called "Iran – The Most Dangerous Nation." In a report which is ostensibly a documentary, according to the perspective of the American media, he tries to show why they chant the slogan "Death to America." What means do you think Ted Koppel uses in order to prove his political opinions to the viewers of Discovery?

School children: Death to America

One of the children is caught yawning by the camera

Voice of reporter: [Koppel says]: "The current generation this slogan without enthusiasm, without emphasizing it, and without understanding its true meaning. The Iranians do not believe in such slogans. Others chant the slogans, and they simply repeat them."

As you can see, the drowsiness and the yawns of a student, on whom the Discovery cameras focused, are the most important evidence on which Ted Koppel relies, in order to prove that the new generation is fed up with the ideals of the Revolution. Can one really say that the yawn of one student constitutes proof that the Iranians no longer believe in the slogan "Death to America"?

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