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1/ Really, @MazJobrani? You sure about that? OK, let's go.
***THREAD***
#NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby
CC: @meslackman @nytimes @nytimesworld https://twitter.com/MazJobrani/status/1381857758207598592
***THREAD***
#NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby
CC: @meslackman @nytimes @nytimesworld https://twitter.com/MazJobrani/status/1381857758207598592
2/ A preliminary matter: The tweet you quoted from @borzou is just plainly a lie. The "all my critics are just MEK and Pahlavi trolls" trope is so old and tired. Give it a rest.
These are just some tweets from former prisoners/hostages and artists. They're MEK/Pahlavi trolls?
These are just some tweets from former prisoners/hostages and artists. They're MEK/Pahlavi trolls?
3/ Calling everyone that disagrees with complete capitulation to Iran's regime a supporter of the MEK or Pahlavi is a standard move of #IranLobby orgs like NIAC. And that may well be where your loyalties lie. But still, a modicum of honestly would be helpful in this discussion.
4/ OK, onto Ms. Fassihi.
Let's start with a story that has nothing to do with Iran. I cite it often because it represents such journalistic malpractice that if it was done by a high school journalist, the student would be kicked off the school paper.
Let's start with a story that has nothing to do with Iran. I cite it often because it represents such journalistic malpractice that if it was done by a high school journalist, the student would be kicked off the school paper.
5/ Remember the #HarpersLetter that came out last year, dealing with free speech and cancel culture? It was coordinated by Thomas Chatterton Williams, a biracial American writer who lives in France. This guy!
6/ But Fassihi didn't like the letter & Chatterton Williams's role didn't fit her narrative. What did she do? Well, when the facts were inconvenient, she created different facts.
Seriously, she just wrote Chatterton Williams out of the story and invented this.
Seriously, she just wrote Chatterton Williams out of the story and invented this.
7/ Unless you think someone like Glenn Greenwald (noted writer who is very left) is a MEK/Pahlavi troll, you gotta admit that's pretty darn embarrassing for her. And you. And your boy Borzou.
8/ Now onto Iran reporting. First of all, one of the key problems with Fassihi's reporting is the sin of omission. It's often what she doesn't report on that's the problem. It's hard to show omission in a tweet, obviously. But there is a way of measuring it.
9/ Here you can find all of Fassihi's bylines in the NYT since 2019. Roughly 109 articles to date. https://www.nytimes.com/by/farnaz-fassihi
10/ By my very charitable reading, only 4 of them have anything to do with the human rights situation in Iran. That's *3.7%.*
Iran is one of the worst human rights violaters in the world. Do you think the executions & torture & repression merit just 3.7% of the coverage?
Iran is one of the worst human rights violaters in the world. Do you think the executions & torture & repression merit just 3.7% of the coverage?
11/ Contrast that with the breathless reporting on topics that make the regime look strong and popular. For example, more than 3.7% are about the outpouring of grief for Soleimani.
12/ Here, for example, is claim that Iran was "United By Loss" of [Soleimani]. Really? Does her Iran include any dissidents? Any of the hundreds of thousands that put their lives at risk to chant "death to the dictator"? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/world/middleeast/iran-plane-crash-suleimani.html
13/ Here is her analysis/interview with Zarif. I cite it often because it's so ridiculous.
Zarif travels the world denying IRI crimes, but there's more here about his beverage preferences (American coffee not Iranian tea) than there is about human rights. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/04/world/middleeast/iran-us-zarif-nuclear-deal.html
Zarif travels the world denying IRI crimes, but there's more here about his beverage preferences (American coffee not Iranian tea) than there is about human rights. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/04/world/middleeast/iran-us-zarif-nuclear-deal.html
14/ Then, there's the way she includes pro-IRI editorialization in her articles. This is a doozy. Fakhrizadeh was a pro-regime nuclear scientist. Largely unknown to the public. But in a news piece, she just inserts the view that he was a "national hero". https://twitter.com/kshahrooz/status/1332358682630365185
15/ While her default is to characterize someone like Fakhrizadeh as a hero, it is also to question and undermine journalists and reports that make the regime look bad.
16/ So, when Reuters reports that 1500 were killed in the #IranProtests in 2019, Fassihi demanded more proof. But when the IRI arrests a journalist, she just repeats the IRI's characterization of him. Funny how her journalistic skepticism is so selective. And how it cuts one way.
17/ Dissidents often compare Fassihi to NYT's Walter Duranty, the infamous reporter who wrote positively of the USSR. Duranty often didn't lie, per se. He just presented an airbrushed, happy version of Soviet life. Sound familiar?
18/ To clarify, there's nothing wrong with showing the world that, amidst the misery, Iranians also enjoy Zumba and dancing in parks. But if you're devoting only 3.7% of your reporting to the misery, and the rest of the time on Zumba classes, you're in Walter Duranty territory.
19/ And, even in presenting the happy picture of Iran, Fassihi insists on telling lies that make the regime look better. Funny how again her errors always cut in favour of the regime, no?
20/ And, then, of course, is the endless blocking of anyone that voices even mild disagreement with her. This includes families of those killed on #PS752.
21/ There's much more I can post in this thread. The level of journalistic bias and bad faith is really astounding. But I think the above should be enough.
22/ If, after all that, you still believe that Fassihi is "one of the best reporters out there", then you may think that an org that lobbies for Zarif is also interested in representing our community's interests. Oh, wait.....
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#NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby
![22/ If, after all that, you still believe that Fassihi is "one of the best reporters out there", then you may think that an org that lobbies for Zarif is also interested in representing our community's interests. Oh, wait..... [/END] #NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ey4GDoXWYAMUx8V.png "22/ If, after all that, you still believe that Fassihi is \"one of the best reporters out there\", then you may think that an org that lobbies for Zarif is also interested in representing our community's interests. Oh, wait..... [/END] #NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby")
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#NYTimesPropaganda #IranLobby
