Wednesday, December 14, 2005

IRIB Transcript of Ahmadinejad's Address

Here is IRIB's version of Ahmadinejad's address given in Zehedan, Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran today. Nadir, a writer from the U.K., contributes an interesting and perceptive comment (obviously, based on an actual reading of the full address) at News Forum on the BBC Online.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Reuters and The New York Times

When it comes to accuracy of reporting, even when it concerns simple items of news such as accurate quoting of world politicians, The New York Times proves itself to be miles behind Reuters (in written form).


What is surprising is that The New York Times can give itself the luxury of deleting words out of Reuters reports and replacing them with "..." when this fits the Times' editorial inclinations!

It is good to see that International Herald Tribune editors do not allow themselves such luxuries when they use Reuters' stories.

How long will Reuters' independence last?

I guess as long as its board is organized the way it is.

Friday, April 08, 2005

BBC or Reuters

The more I listen and read, the less I get to like the BBC and the more I get to like Reuters.

Often it is because of particular reports. For example, I've never quite liked the reports by Judy Swallow of the BBC. She cuts people off and seems to be totally open to the spread of mis-information of all kinds. Since she is such a strong presenter, I'm not sure whether it is her editorial staff to blame or she herself as the presenter and shaper of the news. She is one of those few presenters that I know who seem to be a real shaper of the news that comes. In other words, her selections and mode of presentation are very skilled to push a particular view (i.e. hers) while sounding quite professional.

This is in sharp contrast to reporting by Retuers.

Could this great gap in reporting quality be due to the independence clauses built into Retuers' corporate structure that give Reuters' reporters and editors such a great edge over the ones at the BBC?

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Jawad al-Khalisi on the War

For The Guardian, Jawad al-Khalisi has written a very compelling essay on the war.

Monday, March 14, 2005

The Wall Street Journal and the Facts

The Wall Street Journal is one of the best papers published in the U.S.

The fact-checking in most articles is quite impeccable, and the reporters respond positively to the occasional request for correcting errors.

However, when it comes to opinion (and some editorial) pieces, the Journal takes greater liberties and commonly falls quite short on facts, and sometimes, long on fable.

In some cases (for example today's editorial and similar opinion pieces on Iran), the essayist repeats a number of false claims (also made in earlier editorials and opinion pieces), perhaps cognizant that such repetition through time and across pieces will help give such questionable claims greater validity in some minds.

Alas!

This sort of editorializing, whether formally or as an opinion piece, only misguides the reader into beliefs that have no basis in real facts.

Instead of an attempt to help comprehend that which is at stake, the practice clouds and stupefies the mind.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Ashura

Tomorrow is the day of Ashura . . .

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Muharram

Here are three English blogs on Muharram: 1, 2 and 3.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

The Man Who Moved A Nation

Ayatollah Sistani, the man who moved a nation . . .

Monday, January 17, 2005

Price of Power

I read Seymour M. Hersh's book, Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House, in the mid 1980s while I was an engineering graduate student. Unfortunately, this superb example of American investigative journalism seems to have gone out of print.

The most recent example of Hersh's investigative work that I can find is in the January 17th edition of The New Yorker magazine: "The Coming Wars".

It is an ominous piece raising some eyebrows, as reported in The Financial Times.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Committee on the Present Danger

When the powerful think really hard, they are fully capable of producing a load of very hazardous garbage.

The purpose of the garbage (its "recommendation") is to force the center of debate, dialog and deliberation from where it inherently and indigenously belongs, to a place where they can be in full control to set the agenda. (The rise of authentic, indigenous democracy appears to be the real present danger.)

Daydreams are not just solace to the poor and the downtrodden. They afflict the rich and the powerful, too.