Press TV has been the subject of several controversies.
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The UK newspaper The Guardian described Press TV as "the controversial 24-hour news channel funded by the Iranian government."[1]
An exposé aired on Britain's Channel 4 News in June 2010, alleged that the station broadcast a jailed journalist's supposed confession (after torture) without revealing the circumstances.[2]
A British-Iranian columnist for the Evening Standard has called for Press TV's London bureau to be shut down.[3]
Press TV allegedly promotes the development of the Iranian nuclear program.[4][5][6]
Press TV's news bulletins often feature Iranian ministers, diplomats or government officials, or guest commentators that are able to express views consistent with the Iranian government's "message of the day."[7][8][9][10][11] Opposition political figures such as Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have not appeared on Press TV since the June 2009 presidential election.[12]
Press TV has been criticized for brazenly promoting Iran's line overseas, often at the expense of the truth.[13] In a post-election "information offensive," reports the Associated Press, Press TV and Al-Alam have "churned out a blitz of policy statements, negotiating points and news breaks as the main soapboxes for Iran's public diplomacy."[14]
In 2007, the Canadian weekly Maclean's, while noting that "most of Press TV's news reports are factually accurate," alleged that Press TV also publishes "intentional errors," citing a story on the Press TV website that contained the claim, based on "no evidence," that the Lebanese government is trying to convert the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp into an American military base. "[15]
In July 2009, Dominic Lawson, a columnist for the Sunday Times of London, criticized Press TV for broadcasting the "confession" of Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari "without a scintilla of skepticism." He also criticized British journalists and politicians for appearing on Press TV and for giving a forum to Holocaust deniers. Lawson said they are "being paid to lend credibility to the propaganda arm of a regime that subjects its own journalists to the most brutal 'political interference.'"[16]
In August 2009, Ofcom, the British broadcasting regulator, judged that certain shows on Press TV had broken its broadcasting code on impartiality in their coverage of the Gaza War.[17]
Rania Masri, who was featured together with Paul Craig Roberts[18] and Danny Schechter on a Press TV show marking the eighth anniversary of 9/11, commented on her blog, “Danny Schechter is right: even such a limited conversation, as was had on Press TV, cannot be heard on mainstream/corporate US press.”[19]
On December 27, 2007, Press TV reported that demonstrators in Iran marched through the streets of Tehran carrying signs (in English!) saying "I Love Jews," citing this as evidence that there is no anti-Semitism in Iran. "The People's Cube" website, source of this spoof that Press TV reported as news, had this explanation for why Press TV was taken in by such an obvious prank: "You have been lying for so long that you lost the ability to distinguish between truth and fiction."[20][21]
HonestReporting has criticized for giving a platform to the former British MP George Galloway and has accused it of being one-sided in its coverage.[22]
In a September 15, 2009 article entitled "Incendiary Press Reporting," Moroccan journalist Hassan Masiky criticized Press TV for trafficking in "fiction and fantasy" by circulating a suspect story about "an alleged Jewish gang trading in “body parts” and abduction of Algerian children towards Morocco."[23]
By 2010, PressTV aired eight interviews with Paul Sheldon Foote[24] on Israel and Mid-East topics. Foote has been an open advocate of Holocaust deniers and open antisemites such as David Duke and Michael A. Hoffman II. Foote also writes that "Crypto-Jews" have initiated a war between Christians and Muslims.[25]
In a May 2011 article, correspondent Mark Dankof wrote an article about how the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion accurately reflect the state of the world, lauding PressTV as one of the few exceptions to the Jewish control of the media.[26]
In 2010, the Jammu and Kashmir government banned Press TV for airing video on the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy saying "We have decided to impose a ban on the airing of Press TV broadcasts by local cable operators. We appeal to the people not to heed unverified reports about the alleged desecration of the Holy Koran which have only been aired by Press TV and no other television news channel in the world."[27]
Journalist Mark Levine says that he was promised editorial control of his show, "The American Dream". However, in September 2007, when Levine decided to broadcast a show on Ahmadinejad's UN visit that included noted Persian scholars who had expressed criticism of Ahmadinejad, he alleges that he was blocked from doing the program at the last minute: "One hour before the show was scheduled to air live, the show was cancelled with no explanation given. I was later told that Press TV would not allow me to discuss the topic." Shortly after that, Levine was fired from his job.[28] Levine alleged that anti-Semitism also may have played a role in his firing: "I also believed my being Jewish may have played a role in the firing, given the shock, surprise, and horror manifested by the producer who hired me when she discovered my religious faith."[29]
Press TV Afghanistan correspondent Fayez Khurshid alleged on Press TV in October 2007 that he was detained, tortured and threatened by American forces in Kabul.[30]
Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian free-lance reporter who had worked for Press TV as a correspondent in Baghdad, was kidnapped in Somalia on August 23, 2008. Upon payment of ransom allegedly in the amount of $600,000, Ms. Lindhout was safely released in November 2009.[31]
George Galloway's broadcasts on Press TV have been criticized by British broadcast authority Ofcom for "breaching impartiality rules." In its report, Ofcom cited complaints about Galloway's January 2009 programs on Gaza alleging that Galloway's broadcasts "failed to put both sides of the argument in relation to the situation in Gaza; constituted Iranian propaganda; and that George Galloway in particular did not conduct a balanced discussion on the issue of Gaza."[22] In a 2008 episode of "The Real Deal," Galloway took on David Henshaw over his documentary "Undercover Mosque," in which British Muslims expressed the intention "to kill homosexuals and apostates". Galloway defended their right to make such threats on grounds of religious freedom.[32]
Nick Ferrari, a leading British radio presenter, quit his show on Press TV on 30 June 2009, following the response of the country's authorities to protests over the disputed Iranian presidential election. Ferrari told The Times that Press TV’s news coverage had been “reasonably fair” until the election — but not any longer.[33]
In August 2009, Tariq Ramadan, host of "Islam and Life" on Press TV, was terminated from his position as a guest lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam, after the university’s board decided that his “indirect relationship with a repressive regime” was unacceptable. Ramadan, who also holds a position at the University of Oxford, is considering legal action against the university.[34]
Shahab Mossavat, a former CNN International anchor, hosted news updates and "4 Corners" (a daily roundtable discussion of international events) on Press TV. Mossavat was one of the most articulate and recognizable faces on the network, and served as Press TV's spokesman beginning in 2007. His program was cancelled shortly before the 2009 Presidential election, and Mr. Mossavat was arrested the day after the election for alleged participation in demonstrations protesting election fraud. In an August 28, 2009 interview on Public Radio International, Mr. Mossavat, who now lives in London, spoke about his experiences in detention: "I saw many people maltreated – brutally treated – tortured physically, psychologically. I didn’t see any sexual abuse but I did certainly see physical abuse. I saw people whose noses had been smashed so much so that they were flattened into their faces."[35]
In September 2009, it was revealed in an article in The Times that Hassan Abdulrahman, born David Theodore Belfield, one of the chief editors of the Press TV website from the beginning of Press TV's news department, is a fugitive wanted in the United States. Abdulrahman, who has also used the alias Dawud Salahuddin, is wanted by the FBI for shooting dead at point-blank range Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former press attache at the pre-revolutionary Iranian embassy in Washington. The Iranian government provided money and airfare to Tehran to Mr. Belfield after he committed the murder. The Times also reported Abdulrahman's claim that he left as chief online editor in July 2009 after the election in protest at Press TV's skewed coverage of that event.[36][37][38] The Times quoted Abdulrahman as saying, “No, I don’t think Press TV is about [real journalism]. By its nature, state journalism is not journalism. They have some programmes on there that might be, but generally it’s not.”[36][37]
An editorial in The Spectator criticized Conway's decision to join Press TV, asking the rhetorical question, "What on earth possesses someone like Derek Conway to hook up with an outfit like Press TV?"[39] and criticized the network for giving voice to Holocaust denier Nicholas Kollerstrom and the former Middle East Chief Correspondent for ITN Alan Hart.[39] Another article in The Jewish Chronicle by its editor Stephen Pollard showed an exchange between himself and Conway, in which Conway invited Pollard to appear on his show.[40] and Pollard rejecting the invitation.[40] Prior to his employment at Press TV he was withdrawn by David Cameron for employing his son (a full-time student) as a political researcher.