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.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.