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As Iran protests continue, media outlets are silent on crucial coverage

Coverage over the past 7 weeks has been misinformed, politically biased or absent.

9 November 2022235 views0

The Western media lens of Iran’s ongoing protests has led to continuously misinformed, misaligned and biased coverage of one of the country’s most unrelenting, historical protests.

It has been notoriously difficult to find accurate, impartial reporting since the death of Mahsa Amini sparked a revolution over 50 days ago.

This week has seen two major responses to the protests: one international, one via the Iranian government – and both largely unreported, or otherwise manipulated to fit a different agenda.

First, in a statement on Nov 4, G7 Foreign Ministers directly expressed “support for fundamental aspiration of the people of Iran for a future where human security and their universal human rights are respected and protected”. They also condemned the regime’s “brutal” crackdown against protestors.

“We urge Iranian authorities to treat women as equal, respecting the universal rights provided to them under relevant int’l human rights treaties. We also call on authorities to ensure accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses,” the statement said. ” We urge Iranian authorities to honour their international obligations under international law… and to release unjustly detained prisoners.”

At the time of writing, no Western outlets have covered this story or statement – though ABC News did run a pre-summit analysis on global issues of concern, which included Iran’s crackdown.

On Nov 6, 227 parliament members in Iran signed a letter addressed to the country’s Judiciary calling for “no leniency” in punishing the people arrested over the past 7 weeks. There are 290 seats in parliament, and at the time of writing, an estimate of over 14,000 prisoners.

The letter read: “We, the representatives of this nation, ask all state officials, including the Judiciary, to treat those, who waged war [against the Islamic establishment] and attacked people’s life and property like the Daesh [terrorists], in a way that would serve as a good lesson in the shortest possible time”, in order to “prove to all that life, property, security and honor of our dear people is a red line for this [Islamic] establishment, and that it would show no leniency to anybody in this regard.”

Human rights organisations were immediately concerned that a call for severe punishments could include the death penalty. This should have been a key international front-page story – but alas, it was not.

Here are some of the international headlines that did circulate following the parliamentary submission.

Iranian lawmakers demand ‘no leniency’ for protesters as mass demonstrations continue

CNN

‘You’re always scared’ Iranian lays bare life of fear as government plans ‘mass execution’

Express

Iran Votes to Execute Protesters, Says Rebels Need ‘Hard Lesson’

Newsweek

Iranian leaders resist growing demands for referendum on constitution

The Guardian

While the Guardian has not (yet) written about the geopolitical statements on Iran at the G7 summit or Iran’s parliamentary demands, coverage of reformist politicians within the country is an important facet to the revolution.

What the international community is telling Iran’s regime about women’s rights

Washington Post

A long overdue op-ed, it follows on from President Biden’s brief statement yesterday at a campaign speech, saying, “we’re gonna free Iran”, which was largely taken with a pinch of salt.

The moment hero learned he would die for standing up to Iran’s regime: Kurdish rapper holds his head in his hand as judge orders his execution for supporting protests

Daily Mail

It is important to remember that while the government has arrested many influential and famous people including artists, musicians and lawyers for supporting these protests, the majority of those arrested are not, and all of those who are protesting are risking their lives every day. However, credit where it’s due – the Daily Mail nonetheless brings attention to the risk of execution.

The majority of the most influential and far reaching mainstream outlets did not cover the vote or the story (at the time of writing), and have so far displayed a disappointing lack of integrity on reporting, instead covering the elements of personal or direct concern to the publication’s geopolitical allegiance or country of origin.

Iran International: TV channel says Iran threatened UK-based journalists

BBC

It is reasonable to see that this the main story of interest for the BBC since the journalists are based in the UK. Further ongoing coverage has been scant.

Iran ‘sends hit squad to murder two British journalists’

The Telegraph

Misinformation and misleading headline
Counter-terrorism officers with the Metropolitan Police have identified “lethal threats to British citizens on British soil”, the television channel Iran International said on Monday: this is incorrect. The quote about “lethal threats” was directly taken from a statement by Volant media, not counter-terrorism officers.
The Met police “formally notified both journalists that these threats represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families”.
While the threat to the journalists is itself credible and fact, the headline ‘hit squad’ is neither mentioned nor alluded to in any Met or Iran International statement, leading to a sensationalised headline.

Remaining mainstream media outlets either lacked coverage on Iran this week, or covered the controversy surrounding Iranian missiles through the prism of the Russia-Ukraine war, seemingly sewing the idea that being pro-Ukraine means being anti-Iran – even though the protestors are not representative of the Iranian government, and are, in fact, fighting against it in the name of “Women, Life, Freedom”.