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Newspaper Apologizes For Report About Iran Pondering Religious Colored Clothing
It turns out Iran isn’t quite there (yet):
Canadian newspaper apologized Wednesday for an article that said Iran planned to force Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive clothing to distinguish themselves from Muslims….The story, which included tough anti-Iran comments, was picked up widely by Web sites and by other media.
“Is Iran turning into the new Nazi Germany? Share your opinion online,” the paper asked readers Friday.
But the National Post, a longtime supporter of Israel and critic of Tehran, admitted Wednesday it had not checked the piece thoroughly enough before running it.
“It is now clear the story is not true,” Douglas Kelly, the National Post’s editor in chief, wrote in a long editorial on Page 2. “We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story.”
The article was based on a column by Iranian expatriate writer Amir Taheri, who said a law being debated by Iran’s parliament would force Jews to sew a yellow strip of cloth to their clothes. Christians would wear a red strip while Zoroastrians would wear a blue one.
Iranian lawmakers, including the country’s sole Jewish parliamentarian, have flatly denied the National Post story, saying there is no mention of discriminatory measures against religious minorities in a new dress code bill.
How big a firestorm did this set off? It was on several fronts. Not only did newspapers, radio, TV and weblogs pick it up — it was the kind of story that HAD great play because of the parallels to Nazi Germany — but officials of various governments commented on it as well. And Iran was not pleased:
Asked about the Post story last week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Iran “is very capable of this kind of action.” He added: “It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany.”A spokesman for Harper said the prime minister had started off his comments with the words “if this is true.”
But Iran summoned Canada’s ambassador to Tehran to explain Harper’s remarks, a diplomat said Wednesday.
This story points out a fact of modern media life.
Most newspapers, wire services and weblogs simply do not re-report the original source material on which they report or comment. A large chunk of news and commentary is taken on faith. The faith is that the original material was professionally reported and/or accurate.
In the case of this Canadian newspaper, it apparently did not stress enough that its account was based on a column by one expatriate. This could have been offset in the original story by seeking out several other sources (international organizations, diplomats) who could indicate whether they had heard about this being done, what they had heard and then mentioning these findings high up in the original story. OR an editor could have looked at it and concluded: “It’s interesting but it just doesn’t pan out.”
But, in the info age, it is like big fish eats the little fish eats the smaller fish, etc. Many of the reports commenting on the original reports were excellent; many of the analyses on the alleged development were highly thoughtful and provocative. It just turns out the original fish that was gobbled up at the beginning of the food chain was rotten.
There will be errors in the instant-info age. And the news outlets that continue to have credibility are the ones that correct and admit their errors, then try to do it with higher standards next time.
Yet, the controversy illustrated something else. Why did this false info resonate so quickly and internationally? Because Iran’s behavior made it seem like a credible story — as the next logical step for the Tehran regime.
The clothing story seemingly suited it.
UPDATE: Jewish Week looks in detail at this story and how it snowballed due to false info.
6 Responses to “Newspaper Apologizes For Report About Iran Pondering Religious Colored Clothing”
Iran is already far beyond yellow badges
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this story. And yes I don’t want to be fake but accurate but there is historical roots to this story.
If you examine these roots and extrapolate the data points the terminal point is an Islamic dress code which in effect visibly shows a difference between Muslims and infidels.
The NAZIS were not the first to come up with distinctive markings for others. This has ties back to the formation of Islam itself.
That’s the STORY and this is where President MAD and his religious mentor, Imam Yazdi are headed.
See this series of post on my site.
RBT
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Iran is already far beyond yellow badges
HT Dr. Zin at Regime Change Iran
RBT
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David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post:
Iran is denying reports that it has passed legislation requiring its Jews to wear yellow cloth strips to single them out, its Christians to wear a red version and Zoroastrians a blue one.
Some are unpersuaded. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Marvin Hier, for instance, is adamant “that the national uniform law was passed and that certain colors were selected for Jews and other minorities.” But Teheran is adamant and scandalized. The reports of such Nazi-echoed branding “are slanderous accusations… a smear campaign,” according to an outraged Iranian government spokesman.
So that’s all right then? We can all relax? Hardly. READ MORE
Whether or not President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Islamist regime are yet publicly marking out their non-Muslim second-class citizens is not the point. Iran has moved much further already. It is deep into a relentless campaign to delegitimize Jews and other infidels everywhere. It has leapt over a first step of denigrating its own minorities to the second step of denigrating them the world over.
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Read More [Including the links to other posts on this topic]
The story is bogus, and many realized it was almost immediately (see Taylor Marsh’s posts going back to the beginning of this bull.) And rightfully, the National Post has (finally) apologized for it.
The fact is, Iran is bad enough without making this stuff up. Is Iran hostile to Jews and Israel? Well, duh! But accepting the paid-for stories of an expat Iranian shill as fact is remarkably similar to other recent history – like launching a war based partly on the word of, oh let’s say someone code named “goofball,” or maybe Chalabi. So who exactly was paying Mr. Taheri to write this stuff?
But there are those who still “wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this story,” in spite of the facts. For some people it seems, the facts are just not enough – no matter how damning they are on their own.
I hate to post again, but it’s making me crazy – I meant to say “Curveball” above, not goofball.
Well said, Mike. That’s why I was bothered by this whole made-up story. Iran is a despicable regime. But there are those who would make up stories like this to gin up support for their own dubious plots.
Funny that, in, oh, a few months time (either right before or right after mid-terms… funny that) as the war drums beat up for an unprovoked attack against Iran, lots of people will somehow remember this story and say “F*** those Iranian bastards… they’re AS BAD AS THE NAZIS, WHAT WITH MAKING JEWS WEAR YELLOW STARS AND ALL. The fact that the underlying story was bunk from the get-go will, somehow, not be remembered.
Kind of the same kind of mental dissonance that years of mentioning Saddam Hussein and September 11th in the same sentence accomplished: most people linked the two, whether consciously or not.
The next story (which doubtless the Times or Post or whomever will sit on until its too late) will probably be about how some CIA front paid to plant that story at American taxpayer expense, even as another arm of the CIA concluded it was complete bunk. What’s old is new again. The playbook just doesn’t change.
I’m right with you, Dog. Not impressed with the immediate Nazi/Hitler comparisons–the strings are being pulled again, folks, it’s an election year.