Watch Iran's new media coup, Press TV, online

July 4, 2007 4:21 PM

Watch Iran's new media coup, Press TV, online and take a look at its news website.
posted by hoder (35 comments total)

I looked at it and I thought it looked very familiar... then I took a look at the BBC's page.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 4:24 PM on July 4, 2007

Latest: Al Gore's Son Arrested With Drugs

Also, yeah, way to gank the BBC website.
posted by Avenger at 4:27 PM on July 4, 2007

Who cares about the appearance. Their content, voice and their politics is fresh. Pay attention to that!
posted by hoder at 4:29 PM on July 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fresh? Fresh how? I think you're a little biased judging by your prior posts... IranFilter, much?

If by fresh you mean short and concise and lacking some detail, yeah I agree. It's easy to digest, but I won't be using it for my daily news update.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 4:35 PM on July 4, 2007

Wow, it really is a news.bbc.co.uk rip off.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:44 PM on July 4, 2007

I like how there's no Politics section, and the 'Society' page is a dead whale, a moderate earthquake, and why it sucks to live in America.
posted by bukharin at 4:50 PM on July 4, 2007

So, it's Iran's version of Fox News?

Yawn.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:54 PM on July 4, 2007

Clicking on the 2nd link I get redirected to presstv.ir/mobile...?
posted by carsonb at 4:54 PM on July 4, 2007

They definitely don't adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style:

Happy Women's Day

Fatima appears as a halo in the visages of all of the oppressed who later become the multitudes of Islam.

You can have the slickest web interface you want, but, in the end, it's the quality of the content that counts.

GONG!
posted by KokuRyu at 4:58 PM on July 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

I like how there's no Politics section, and the 'Society' page is a dead whale, a moderate earthquake, and why it sucks to live in America.

Still beats the Fox society section, though. I'd take Dead Whale over Paris Hilton any day.
posted by Avenger at 5:00 PM on July 4, 2007

Search Results for : homosexuality ( Found : 0 )

No results found.

Search Results for : execution gay teenagers ( Found : 0 )

No results found.
posted by jason's_planet at 5:20 PM on July 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hoder, you are a boring propagandist who pimps out the front page of MetaFilter to advance the interests of a loathsome fascist theocracy.

Have a happy Fourth.
posted by jason's_planet at 5:23 PM on July 4, 2007

I guess this is something you need to be an Reformist Iranian Ex-pat to enjoy?
posted by chunking express at 5:23 PM on July 4, 2007

jason's_planet, I think you're wrong about hoder. Check his profile.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:33 PM on July 4, 2007

jason's_planet, what's this "boring propagandist" shit? Don't you see any contradiction with this accusation when you go on to call Iran a "loathsome fascist theocracy"? Isn't that a jingoistic term in itself? I would think the term applies to the US just as much as Iran, personally. People in glass houses, etc.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 5:42 PM on July 4, 2007

Y'know, Henry, you make a very good point.

(But still, the IranFilter propaganda is quite tiresome.)
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 5:45 PM on July 4, 2007

I would think the term applies to the US just as much as Iran, personally.

Then you are an idiot.
posted by Krrrlson at 5:55 PM on July 4, 2007

Ah, such reasoned debating skills, Krrrlson. Completely changed my opinion in an instant. /sarcasm.

If the statement makes you so angry, then I imagine that you must feel a bit defensive about it. Maybe you're worried that there is some truth to it.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 6:07 PM on July 4, 2007

And yes, despite hoder's previous posts highlighting censorship in Iran, shilling for the mullahs' latest propaganda effort is pretty low.
posted by Krrrlson at 6:07 PM on July 4, 2007

If the statement makes you so angry, then I imagine that you must feel a bit defensive about it.

You imagine a lot of things, evidently.
posted by Krrrlson at 6:09 PM on July 4, 2007

Still not convincing me. Snappy comebacks do not a coherent argument make.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 6:11 PM on July 4, 2007

Not to be paranoid or anything, but will I be going on some Homeland Security watch list because I clicked on that link? Just wondering.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 8:25 PM on July 4, 2007

Well, Henry C. Mabuse, I don't think the two are equivalent, and while I'm sure actually convincing you will take more time than I have, consider for example, the flow of expatriates. I know more than a few Iranian expats myself, and they're hardly raving Bush supporters. I keep hearing about an Iranian brain drain. Hundreds on hundreds leaving, a fair number for the US. I've never heard of an American expat in Iran without family ties, much less someone who would support Ahmadinejad. It's easy to make the comparison you did living in a country that won't punish you for saying so.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 10:18 PM on July 4, 2007

Also, Hoder, do you seriously believe what you said earlier? Read this and tell me what you think.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 10:28 PM on July 4, 2007

Being non-American does not a non-sucky newslink post make.
posted by fleacircus at 10:29 PM on July 4, 2007

Don't you see any contradiction with this accusation when you go on to call Iran a "loathsome fascist theocracy"? ... I would think the term applies to the US just as much as Iran, personally.

I'll keep your opinion in mind the next time I see a group of fundamentalist Christians out on the street in NYC beating the shit out of a teenage girl for showing too much leg.

Oh wait...

It's not exactly perfect here in the U.S.A., but describing it a "loathsome fascist theocracy" is overheated, undergrad baloney.

I'll talk about it more later, but right now I'm on my way to my town's annual gay pride parade. Do they have those in Tehran? No? So which one is the theocracy again? I get confused sometimes...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:29 PM on July 4, 2007 [3 favorites]

"loathsome fascist theocracy"

You mean United States or Iran? I'm a bit confused.
posted by hoder at 12:16 AM on July 5, 2007

I really like this bit on the right bar
Quick Vote
Do you think the withdrawal of the occupation forces is the best solution to the restoration of peace in Iraq?
O Yes
O No

It thanks me for voting but doesn't display any results.

Search results for "holocaust" were predictable. Search results for "cat stevens" were amusing.
posted by Martin E. at 5:58 AM on July 5, 2007

On the other hand...

Search Results for : paris hilton ( Found : 0 )
No results found.
posted by Martin E. at 5:59 AM on July 5, 2007

I prefer the North Korean news website (found in StrikeTheViol's link)
posted by patricio at 7:00 AM on July 5, 2007

After watching it for 10 minutes, I now have a source for up-to-date information on the Ayatollah recent comments about the West, videos of recently killed Palestinians at the hands of the IDF and agitation amongst the people in Pakistan against their militaristic government.

As I was watching the show, they had a title time spacer with a big O circling a graphic of the planet Earth, followed by the words Press News

OPress News, how apros.

I'm gonna pass on this channel.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 10:39 AM on July 5, 2007

Consider the Source: 'NYT' Reporter Targets Iran
posted by homunculus at 11:41 AM on July 5, 2007

There is all sorts of stupid scare mongering taking place with regards to Iran. More so, this sort of thing is nothing new. US papers publish all sorts of crap. Noam Chomsky wrote a really good book on this called Necessary Illusion. This news site isn't going to change much of anything state side I suspect.
posted by chunking express at 12:11 PM on July 5, 2007

Really hoder, you're an independent media activist, a reformer, the kind of person outsiders expect to lead the way to a more open, less isolated Iran, and you think the expansion of a tightly controlled state media outlet many Iranians will never see is a good thing? I'm not quite sure I follow.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 2:14 PM on July 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

People seem surprised by this post, but I don't see why. If you read Hoder's site you'll see he has a very narrow view of how things should progress in Iran. He fiercely pro-Reformist. He dedicates a lot of time trying to put down other Iranian ex-pat activists, writers, etc, whose opinions differ from his own. (You can see this in his past posts on MetaFilter as well.) I think because he was one of the earliest Iranian bloggers, his voice is given more credence then it deserves. There are certainly more thoughtful people writing about Iran now that don't get the same sort of press coverage Hoder garners. Read his site now, and it's all just nationalist bull shit -- pages and pages and pages of it. He does do a good job of pointing out Iranian ex-pat groups that are a bit too in bed with American neocons, but then he ruins it by being a jerk-ass in most of what he writes. My fiancee can't stand his site, and I know a lot of other Iranian ex-pats feel the same way.
posted by chunking express at 7:01 AM on July 6, 2007