Vast attention is being given to the role of social networking technology in the current events in Iran. Here's an assessment by my BBC Monitoring colleague Shuvra Mahmud of what he calls the "netwar" that has been sparked by the elections.
The slightly older technology of satellite TV has also been in the news, with the jamming by Iran of BBC Persian TV.
I'm struck by an omission in all this: conventional terrestrial radio broadcasts. As far as we at BBC Monitoring can tell, the BBC's shortwave radio transmissions in Persian are not being jammed. Welcome news for listeners, but perhaps a worry for us. If the Iranian authorities really are as concerned about the BBC's "provocations" as they say they are, why aren't they attempting to jam our radio broadcasts in the same way they've moved to block access to BBC websites and television?
The Shah blamed the BBC's Persian radio service for his downfall. As the Radio 4 Document programme found out earlier this year, some British government officials agreed with him. Today, our radio broadcasts are passing largely unnoticed.
It used to be said that radio could come into its own in a crisis, as it was quicker, more nimble than TV. But has it lost that edge? Who in the Iranian 'net generation' wants to wait for those twice-daily BBC Persian shortwave broadcasts when they can get instant access to newer forms of media?
