During the Green Movement in Iran (2009-2010), Radio Zamaneh performed the important task of providing factual and independent information from inside Iran to a large audience, with an average of 40.000 visitors per day. In June 2009 alone RZ received 1 million visits.
For many years, Radio Zamaneh has been considered an important taboo-breaking media, especially in the fields of human rights in Iran. For example: through contacts with refugee camps located near the Iraq-Syria borders, Radio Zamaneh has been covering ground-breaking stories on Kurdish and Arab asylum seekers from Iran, while in 2012, Iran's eastern Azerbaijan province was hit by an earthquake. RZ was the first medium that published inside reports from local NGO's that were obstructed by the Iranian government to provide assistance to victims of the earthquake. Radio Zamaneh is also a producer of film documentaries on human rights violations in Iran touching on sensitive subjects as LGBT rights, forced confessions and torture.
Radio Zamaneh has become an increasingly important breeding ground for citizen journalists from Iran, who have been able to benefit from a high-quality e-learning program in journalism and multimedia reporting. Since 2010, Radio Zamaneh has trained close to 3000 Iranians in its basic email-based program, and an additional 270 Iranians through advanced courses that also provide students with personal coaching from experienced journalists. Approximately 65% of the students that Radio Zamaneh reaches are residing inside Iran. The success of the e-learning program has led to a high increase in the number of reports from Iranian citizen reporters on Radio Zamaneh’s radio channel and website, with over 400 published citizen contributions in 2 years.
In order to provide a more extended platform for citizen reporters from Iran, Radio Zamaneh launched “Zamaneh Tribune”. This is an online platform that allows Iranian citizen reporters to share their news, stories, photos, videos and radio programs in Persian. In addition, the platform enables reporters to improve their journalistic skills through video tutorials and live feedback. The platform presents only non-editorial content and has a strong focus on human rights and minority issues in Iran.
In addition, Radio Zamaneh regularly organizes events and debates on topics such as press freedom in Iran, online security and freedom, elections and human rights.
