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Televisheni ya IRAN yaitetemesha Serikali ya Uingereza
Press TV a thorn in the side of UK govt
Tue May 24, 2011 5:23PM
The UK government has launched a smear campaign against Iran's English language Press TV News Channel, spreading lies to undermine the thriving media outlet.
The new report published by The Guardian newspaper is part of a broader scheme by the British that Press TV had earlier foreseen.
The Iranian 24-hour English language news network has emerged as an increasingly influential alternative news source, gaining a wide spectrum of audiences throughout the world, most particularly in Britain and the US, an issue that has raised eyebrows as well as anger among British officials.
The ability of Press TV in drawing a wide array of audiences among the British public has evidently become a source of growing concern among UK government circles, so much so that it has tasked its media apparatus, including the so-called media regulating body Ofcom and its state-sponsored newspapers to collaborate in efforts to limit the growing influence of the Iranian network through a major negative publicity campaign against it.
The latest British effort against Press TV is led by the London-based Office of Communications (Ofcom) and hovers around allegations leveled against the news channel by a fugitive native Iranian reporter that escaped the country after he was granted a prison break on a posted bond.
Maziar Bahari's story dates back to the last presidential elections in Iran in 2009, which was followed by pockets of unrests and sporadic clashes between supporters of defeated candidates and law-enforcement forces.
In a report at the time, major state-sponsored British media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporations (BBC) and Channel 4 aired footage of what appeared to be an incident of unrest in Tehran's Azadi Square, during which a number of Basij forces were shown shooting at what was claimed by the British media to be 'peaceful protesters,' although it was evidently not clear who and what the targets were.
The footage was supplied to the networks by Bahari, the Iran-born Newsweek reporter who, according to the testimony he volunteered after being arrested amid anti-government rioters after Iran's 2008 presidential elections, returned to his native country with a mission to engage in sabotage and inciting riots, rather than sticking to his official task of reporting facts on the ground.
Press TV later aired a more detailed version of the same event that clearly showed images of rioters attacking a Basij (voluntary force) military base with stones and petrol bombs, while the guards were making great efforts to defuse the situation and prevent assailants from accessing the base's arms cache, which contained hundreds of weapons.
Bahari, whose presence at the scene of the suspicious incident raised serious questions as to whether it was an aforethought operation to incite bloodshed and produce distorted reports, was later arrested at the sight and charged.
Ten days into his detention, Bahari appeared in a press conference at his own discretion and clearly admitted to filing "false and biased" reports about events that erupted in Tehran in the aftermath of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election victory.
Bahari was released on bail on October 20, 2009 and allowed to go to Britain as his wife was pregnant. He was warmly and officially received by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague after returning to Britain.
Bahari later became an instrument in the hands of the British government to hatch a plot implemented by its subordinate media arms, including Ofcom, and newspapers such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Daily Telegraph to undermine the surging influence of Iran's Press TV network, an effort long-expected and always in the works.
Chanzo:PressTV - Press TV a thorn in the side of UK govt
Press TV a thorn in the side of UK govt
Tue May 24, 2011 5:23PM
The UK government has launched a smear campaign against Iran's English language Press TV News Channel, spreading lies to undermine the thriving media outlet.
The new report published by The Guardian newspaper is part of a broader scheme by the British that Press TV had earlier foreseen.
The Iranian 24-hour English language news network has emerged as an increasingly influential alternative news source, gaining a wide spectrum of audiences throughout the world, most particularly in Britain and the US, an issue that has raised eyebrows as well as anger among British officials.
The ability of Press TV in drawing a wide array of audiences among the British public has evidently become a source of growing concern among UK government circles, so much so that it has tasked its media apparatus, including the so-called media regulating body Ofcom and its state-sponsored newspapers to collaborate in efforts to limit the growing influence of the Iranian network through a major negative publicity campaign against it.
The latest British effort against Press TV is led by the London-based Office of Communications (Ofcom) and hovers around allegations leveled against the news channel by a fugitive native Iranian reporter that escaped the country after he was granted a prison break on a posted bond.
Maziar Bahari's story dates back to the last presidential elections in Iran in 2009, which was followed by pockets of unrests and sporadic clashes between supporters of defeated candidates and law-enforcement forces.
In a report at the time, major state-sponsored British media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporations (BBC) and Channel 4 aired footage of what appeared to be an incident of unrest in Tehran's Azadi Square, during which a number of Basij forces were shown shooting at what was claimed by the British media to be 'peaceful protesters,' although it was evidently not clear who and what the targets were.
The footage was supplied to the networks by Bahari, the Iran-born Newsweek reporter who, according to the testimony he volunteered after being arrested amid anti-government rioters after Iran's 2008 presidential elections, returned to his native country with a mission to engage in sabotage and inciting riots, rather than sticking to his official task of reporting facts on the ground.
Press TV later aired a more detailed version of the same event that clearly showed images of rioters attacking a Basij (voluntary force) military base with stones and petrol bombs, while the guards were making great efforts to defuse the situation and prevent assailants from accessing the base's arms cache, which contained hundreds of weapons.
Bahari, whose presence at the scene of the suspicious incident raised serious questions as to whether it was an aforethought operation to incite bloodshed and produce distorted reports, was later arrested at the sight and charged.
Ten days into his detention, Bahari appeared in a press conference at his own discretion and clearly admitted to filing "false and biased" reports about events that erupted in Tehran in the aftermath of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election victory.
Bahari was released on bail on October 20, 2009 and allowed to go to Britain as his wife was pregnant. He was warmly and officially received by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague after returning to Britain.
Bahari later became an instrument in the hands of the British government to hatch a plot implemented by its subordinate media arms, including Ofcom, and newspapers such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Daily Telegraph to undermine the surging influence of Iran's Press TV network, an effort long-expected and always in the works.
Chanzo:PressTV - Press TV a thorn in the side of UK govt
