The latest FAIR Action Alert asks readers to contact MSNBC and USA Today for corrections of misreporting in their coverage of Iran. Read the alert here and, if you send the outlets a letter, please share it in the comments section below.
Jim Naureckas
Jim Naureckas is the editor of FAIR.org, and has edited FAIR's print publication Extra! since 1990. He is the co-author of The Way Things Aren’t: Rush Limbaugh’s Reign of Error, and co-editor of The FAIR Reader. He was an investigative reporter for In These Times and managing editor of the Washington Report on the Hemisphere. Born in Libertyville, Illinois, he has a poli sci degree from Stanford. Since 1997 he has been married to Janine Jackson, FAIR’s program director.
Comments
below is my e-mail sent to USA Today & to Rachel Maddow:
I have learned from FAIR that your reporting of Iran’s plan for nuclear weapons is Inaccurate.
Please rectify!
Elizabeth H. Anderson
USA Today and Rachel Maddow:
You may have seen this FAIR critique of your coverage of the Iranian elections: https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/usa-today-maddow-and-iran-misinformation/. As the article points out, there is no firm evidence that Iran is indeed pursuing a nuclear weapons program, even though the unprovoked US invasion of Iraq gave them greater incentive to do so. Parroting US government claims that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons is extremely irresponsible, particularly given the contribution of such propaganda to the Bush administration’s case for invading Iraq. Journalists and editors who are truly concerned about peace in the Middle East should subject all such claims to careful scrutiny. Though it would entail an even more dramatic break with past practice, media outlets might also examine the primary actual threats to regional peace: the US military presence, the US-Israeli nuclear arsenal, and continous threats by both of those governments in violation of the UN Charter. Meaningful action toward the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East, as mandated by the UN Security Council, would be a crucial step, but not one that is typically discussed in the US media.
Brent Jones–Sorry to learn you are repeating the AIPAC/Israeli false/misleading assertions about Iran’s nuclear POWER program. Inaccurate reporting like yours feeds the warmongers. STOP it. Thank you. -Jonathan Carlson
EPIC Media
jon@joncarlson.com
Minneapolis, MN 55405
my email to rachel maddow:
subject: a chance for change
i love you and your show and have the utmost respect for your journalistic integrity.
therefore i would hope that you would please correct the reporting re: iran and nuclear weapons. on 6/10/13 you said ahmedinajad “defended” iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons but in fact he “denied” the pursuit according to FAIR
“…a CBS interview (9/24/12) from last year, helpfully titled “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Or as Reuters (11/8/12) quoted him, “The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb.” ”
with a new president and the crazy guy out of power, there is a chance for change, but we need to keep the facts straight.
Rachel Maddow–Sorry to learn you are repeating the AIPAC/Israeli false/misleading assertions about Iran’s nuclear POWER program. As a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker for 40 years, I have admired your reporting immensely, starting when you first appeared on Stephanie Miller’s radio show (before I had cable). Now, with your regrettable choice of words, I find I must doubt your accuracy. Inaccurate reporting feeds the warmongers. Please STOP it. Thank you. -Jonathan Carlson
EPIC Media
Minneapolis, MN 55405
Dear Rachel Maddow Show,
I have enjoyed watching your program but have been disappointed recently to hear your comments about Iran and nuclear weapons that are inaccurate. You stated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. Yet Ahmadinejad regularly did the opposite, insisting that Iran had no such program, as a simple Web search would reveal–see a CBS interview (9/24/12) from last year, helpfully titled “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Or as Reuters (11/8/12) quoted him, “The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb.”
I was happy to see Iran’s election results which suggests there is an opening to change the state of relations between Iran and the United States. But U.S. media will make that more difficult especially when a more progressive show like yours cannot get these simple facts straight. Clearly a review of your attention to accuracy and fairness is in order.
Best,
David Zupan, Director
Progressive Voices
ph: 541-484-9167
email: zupandavid@gmail.com
http://www.progressivevoices.org
Dear Rachel Maddow:
Please use your intellect to discern your own view of Iran and stop with the peddling of USA propaganda. Iran and the US intelligence folks say they are not making or developing a nuclear bomb or that capability.
The propaganda seems so neo-con I am surprised you buy into it.
Herb Davis, Jr.
to Rachel
ahmadinejad may be a loathsome holocaust denier and many other things but he is only known for defending iran’s pursuit of atomic weapons in the various right- and left-wing warmongering publications in our benighted nation. kindly correct this misinformation. iran does not have an atomic weapons program.
–and–
to accuracy
rowhani represents iran’s atomic energy program, not its non-existent atomic weapons program. kindly correct your misinformation.
You make of fool of msnbc, insisting that they are building nuculear weapons. An Iran watcher for years, I feel that only the most mentally limited, or deliberately misleading, person could draw that conclusion. Rachael, maybe you should drop the journalism pretense and go to Hollywood. Jan Chastain, senior citizen
Both of your comments about Iran and it’s nuclear weapons are inaccurate. This is beginning to look a lot like a re-run of Iraq!
Check your facts and report them instead of blindly following the lead of those that would take us into another senseless and costly (in money and the lives of many good Americans) war!
David Hollister
Hey, Rachel — are you really a liberal? If so, what kind?
A Tom Friedman establishment liberal? A Norman Podhoretz cold war liberal? A Judy Miller war-mongering liberal?
Asking what you’ve got against Iran would be asking too much (American media is required to be anti-Iran), but what have you got against accuracy and responsible reporting?
Here is my email sent to Rachel Maddow and, mutatis mutandis, to Brent Jones.
Dear Rachel Maddow,
You may have seen this FAIR critique of your coverage of the Iranian elections: https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/usa-today-maddow-and-iran-misinformation/.
Please correct your reporting and coverage regarding Iran and its nuclear program. On 06/10/13 you said the following regarding president Ahmadinajad.
“The current president of Iran has had the job for the last eight years. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he’s known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
The consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies is that Iran is not trying to make a nuclear weapon (New York Times, 2/24/12). There is also a consensus amongst all US intelligence agencies that there is no evidence Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Far from “defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Ahmadinejad regularly did the opposite, insisting that Iran had no such program, as a simple Web search would reveal–see a CBS interview (9/24/12) from last year, helpfully titled “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Or as Reuters (11/8/12) quoted him, “The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb.”
Please be mindful about the power and influence of television and major newspapers. As someone in the television business, you should not be reminded about how virtually all media outlets in the U.S claimed Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Such media coverage contributed to countless deaths in Iraq. With your position of employment. and with a moral conscious, you have the power to provide coverage that can serve as an example of honest journalism.
-Sena
Rachel,
I love your show, but sometimes find fault with a few facts presented. As a Vietnam-era Veteran, I am very aware of the need to provide accurate public information, so we can all make informed decisions.
The unproven notion that Iran has a weapons program is widely accepted in the corporate media, but on June 10th you went even further in spreading misinformation, in stating:
“The current president of Iran has had the job for the last eight years. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he’s known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Far from “defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Ahmadinejad regularly did the opposite, insisting that Iran has no such program, as a simple Web search would reveal. Check out a 9/24/2012 CBS interview, helpfully titled “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Or as an 11/8/2012 Reuters interview quoted him, “The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb.”
Media commentary about Iran’s election results suggests there is an opening to change the state of relations between Iran and the United States. But our U.S. media will make that more difficult if they cannot get these simple facts straight.
Yours truly,
Robert Keilbach
Sent to USA Today:
Standards Editor,
I enjoy your paper, but sometimes find fault with a few facts presented. As a Vietnam-era Veteran, I am very concerned about the need to provide accurate information, so we citizens can all make informed decisions.
The recent elections in Iran may change some things, but inaccurate media depictions of Iran might not change much at all. The unproven notion that Iran has a weapons program is widely accepted in the media, but on June 17th, after moderate presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani emerged victorious, you went even further in spreading misinformation, in stating that:
he “is known for his negotiating skill over the country’s nuclear weapons program.”
That is incorrect; Rowhani has represented the country in discussions of its atomic energy program. There have been charges that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons program, but that is an allegation, not a fact. Actually, the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies is that Iran is not trying to make a nuclear weapon, as reported in the New York Times on 2/12/2012.
In a recent interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on 6/12/2013 Rowhani said that “Iran has an exclusively peaceful nuclear program…. Nuclear weapons have no role in Iran’s national security doctrine, and therefore Iran has nothing to conceal.”
Media commentary about Iran’s election results suggests there is an opening to change the state of relations between Iran and the United States. But our U.S. media will make that far more difficult if they cannot get these simple facts straight.
Yours truly,
My email to Rachel Maddow re Iran’s New President —
Dear Ms. Maddow:
You have a tough job, and no one should be surprised when you make a gaffe on air, your rigorous editorial standards notwithstanding. But indeed I was saddened to hear you, of all journalists, describe the former Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as world-renown for “defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons,” as you stated in your recent report about Iran’s latest presidential election.
A quick internet fact-check shows that the opposite is true:
See, e.g., a CBS interview (9/24/12) from last year, helpfully titled “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Or as Reuters (11/8/12) quoted him, “The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb.”
With your typically well-informed investigative reputation, certainly you already are aware that the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies is that Iran is not trying to make a nuclear weapon (New York Times, 2/24/12).
I look forward to your on air correction.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Pool, Attorney
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Rachel I respect you very much and I would hate to think that you are deliberately misinforming your views about Iran and nuclear weapons; I say this because it has not been verified that Iran is in fact manufacturing a nuclear weapons. So the information you gave to your views was inaccurate. Please make a public correction on your show for creditable sake because I do not want to look at your show in the same light as FOX LIES.
FAIR should keep an eye on the Jon Stewart/John Oliver Daily Show and Colbert Report as well as the mainstream supposed news providers. While Stewart/Oliver/Colbert have wide latitude in satire, their underlying and sometimes explicit assumptions are often disturbingly close to, say, Tom Friedman’s. This week, for example, both Oliver and Colbert lambasted Iran and Ahmedinejad for the supposed nuclear weapons program and other mainstream shibboleths.
Neither show likes Republicans much, and so they come off as somewhat progressive on most domestic issues. But the sharpness of the satire often doesn’t go deep, particularly on foreign policy.
Despite being satire, these shows provide much of the news that particularly young people absorb (a comment on the rest of the media, of course). And neither provides even an email address to respond to, let alone a comment page, AFAIK.
So I suggest monitoring them, and when necessary challenging them as you do Maddow, etc.
Dear Rachel Maddow,
Going to Dr. Maddow’s poli-sci class has been one of my nightly rituals for years. The historical context and inside-game political insights you offer have been invaluable to me and, of course, unavailable anywhere else on TV. In other words, I’m a big fan.
I’ve come to take your usual thoroughness and accuracy for granted, and hardly noticed your little comment on the 10th, about Ahmadinejad “defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.” I remember thinking at the time that that could be taken as implying Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is a fact. But I figured that crazy holocaust denier probably did threaten to get nuclear weapons, and after all, Rachel said it was so.
Well, the folks at FAIR alerted me to the fact that, besides the intelligence community not believing Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons (which I already knew), crazy Ahmadinejad also disavowed it. I’ve already been beside myself about the way the mainstream media keeps trying to beat the drum for war with Iran and now Syria, just as they did for Afghanistan and Iraq Please don’t allow your otherwise impeccable reporting to become a part of that.
Your “Department of Corrections” is clear and forthright, unlike the woefully rare and typically obscure or obtuse TV news mia culpa. Given the risks of yet another and even more horrible war, this time with Iran, please make the time in your show to provide this important correction.
Mike Smith
Rachel Maddow:
The current president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has not defended Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. He has said that Iran is not seeking an atomic bomb. You do not advance the cause of peace by fear mongering. Some people may be mislead. They may be unable to discern opinionated entertainment from responsible editorializing.
Dear Mr. Jones:
On 6/17/2013 USA today published that the winner of Iran’s presidential elections: “is known for his negotiating skill over the country’s nuclear weapons program.”
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2013-06-17-Reformist-Rowhani-surprises-with-lead-in-Iran-election_ST_U.htm
Iran has no nuclear programs, and Mr. Rowhani has never had any role in negotiating nuclear weapons (again, they do not exist).
You must print a visible correction to your inaccurate reporting of this. Iran does not have a nuclear program. This has been confirmed even by US intelligence agencies.
Thank you for your action on this important matter.
*****
Dear Ms. Maddow:
On your program on 6/10/2013 stated the following:
“The current president of Iran has had the job for the last eight years. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he’s known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons”.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp/52163385#52163385
This is a blatant lie. You should make an on air apology to your audience and clarification. If your statement is true, then you should provide references as to where and when he made such defense.
These are important matters. As with the war in Iraq, the mainstream media continues to propagate lies about Iran. Please be honest with and respectful to your audience.
Thank you very much for your immediate action on this important matter.
Dear Ms. Maddow,
On June 10, you claimed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “is known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.” This is not true. In fact, Ahmadinejad has frequently denied both that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, and that it has a need for one.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Irwin
Dear Mr. Jones,
On June 17, USA Today reported that Hasan Rowhani “is known for his negotiating skill over the country’s nuclear weapons program.” As the FAIR blog points out, this is grossly incorrect. Rowhani has negotiated on behalf of Iran’s nuclear energy program. It is not known that Iran has a nuclear weapons program at all, and the Iranian government denies that one exists.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Irwin
>To: accuracy@usatoday.com Rachel@msnbc.com
>Date: 6/24/2013 8:41:50 PM
>
USA Today, Maddow and Iran Misinformation
>Treating nuclear claims as facts
>https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/usa-today-maddow-and-iran-misinformation/
>
>I agree with FAIR, shame on you.