This is a cross post by Arash from Observing Iran
Hat tip to my friend Folderol for his help.
This post is really a follow on from what was written by Folderol a few months back, in a post entitled “The Ayatollah’s Propaganda“, a good analysis of how PressTV is simply the Mullah’s English mouthpiece. PressTV’s head of news, Roshan Mohammad Salih has whined about how “it is simply not fair to characterise Press TV as a mouthpiece for the Iranian government”, so let’s examine this and see if PressTV is really as detached from following the Islamic Republic line as it claims to be.
When Neda was killed by the Islamic Republic’s mercenaries, PressTV ignored the story at first, but a few days later when they realised it was actually a big deal, the IRIB goons began to spin it according to what the Islamic Republic’s leaders ordered. So naturally everyone from Dr Arash Hejazi, the doctor who tried to save her life, to the CIA to the MKO was blamed for the death of Neda…basically everyone except the Basij militias that were running amok during the protests, murdering and raping countless innocents. PressTV even went as far as to assert that there weren’t even any Basijis present in the area at the time of the killing. Very truthful, I’m sure.
When PressTV finally got round to reporting the story, unlike most media outlets they didn’t post the video of Neda’s shooting, or even a decent picture showing the true extent of the violence behind the crime…no, the Mullah’s official English language news website decided to show a blurred, out of focus shot.
Well, some might argue that PressTV were simply being compassionate towards the sensitivities of children and those with weak stomachs by not showing visceral images…but in case any of you actually believe this swill, please note that just four days ago, PressTV brazenly posted the following graphic image, of corpses and blood, warts and all, as a part of its story on the Israel/Palestine organ harvesting controversy. This isn’t the first time either, as Folderol wrote earlier, this has happened on at least three seperate occasions over the months, as seen here, here and here.
So in summary, PressTV is fine with showing graphic images showing the extent of civilian injuries when it happens in Palestine, but it’s not okay with showing the gruesome reality of life under the Islamic Republic police state, or showing the true face of the Mullah’s mercenaries and what happens to those that cross their path. With regards to Roshan Mohammad Salih’s whinges, it is actually incredibly fair to characterise PressTV as a mouthpiece for the Islamic Republic. So, in closing, does anyone still have any doubts about PressTV’s allegiances?
