Into the bazaar

New Zealand Herald columnist and travel writer Jill Worrall is interviewed by Iranian freelance journalist Kourosh Ziabari for The Moderate Voice, a widely-read independent political news blog, on the topic: ‘Iran – the most misunderstood country’. Including a central discussion on whether the news media stereotypes, Worrall recalls a trip she took to Iran in November 2008 as a tour group leader of 29 New Zealanders and about their pre-conceptions of the country. “Even among the well informed members of the party and the well travelled,” Worrall explains, “there was so much surprise as they travelled the country and realised just how different it was to what they’d been led to believe.” Worrall has co-written several books with her husband, including Landscapes of New Zealand and Coastlines of New Zealand. She intends to write a book on her observations of Iran.