Western Media Inaccuracy & The Iran Twitter Grid

Interpretations of problems in Iran by shows like "Meet the Press" completely miss the point.

The color green signifies the movement of protest against the recent Iranian presidential election.

(SALEM, Ore.) - It had seemed in recent weeks that members of western society, namely the electronic media, were giving Iran a fair shake.

They were actually speaking in factual terms about Iran's aspirations to have nuclear power, and even dropping the unfounded line about Iran "developing nuclear weapons".

In reality, there is not a shred of evidence to indicate that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. The country's embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for all of his problems, also has stated over and over again that he does not deny the Holocaust.

Iran's state TV recently aired a multi-part series on the plight of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

The problems over the election in Iran signaled the end of a momentary lull in false propaganda on American TV. On Meet The Press with David Gregory Sunday morning, proof of the utter and total disregard for facts was laid out like a court case against the show itself.

First, Gregory or his producers selected two Senators properly prepared to deliver the line about "Iran's nuclear weapons program" as if it were factual data.

Then, he had Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear as an expert on Iran, which made no sense. Gregory allowed the man behind the recent deaths of 1400 people in Gaza, including over 400 children, to give the overview on what President Obama should "do about Iran" as it is a U.S. problem.

He asks questions and approaches subjects in ways his predecessor Tim Russert, never would have considered.

What they left out of the program was relevant, honest and interesting data about the way the social networks are becoming the primarily and possibly only tool of communication for members of the "Green" movement in Iran who aupport Mousavi. I've known for some time that MySpace and places like that are the way to go if you want to ask questions from real people in real places.

Now the Americans and other westerners who care about the people of Iran who are demonstrating in the streets over the recent presidential elections, are becoming part of the solution.

Thousands of people who support the Green movement in Iran are switching their locations and time zones to indicate they are in Tehran, thus confusing Iranian authorities as they try to sensor and shut down the country's networking sites.

A message from Mousavi supporters on Facebook read, "If anyone is on twitter, please set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians' access to the internet down. Cut & paste & pass it on."

This is the site for those who want to help the people of Iran in a show of Online solidarity:

http://tweetgrid.com/grid?l=2&q1=%23iranelection&q2=%23gr88&q3=%23cnnfail&htag=iran%20election

This is the Mir Hossein Mousavi's میر حسین موسوی Facebook

This is an entry from Sunday, translated into English:

Dear dignified and intelligent people of Iran,

A turning point in the history of our nation is emerging these days and nights. People are asking themselves and, in their rallies, me about what should be done [about the present situation], and which direction should be taken [to continue the protests]. I consider it my duty to explain to you what I think, and to tell you and be taught by you, so that we will not forget our historic mission, and take the responsibility for the future and fate of many [future] generation and eras.

30 years ago a revolution under the banner of Islam was victorious; a revolution to revive freedom and human rights; a revolution for honesty. During this period, particularly when our enlightened Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] was still living, the nation invested heavily in terms of human lives, wealth, and credibility, in order to consolidate this achievement, which brought us further achievements. The light that we had never experienced before filled our society, and people gained new lives that, although very difficult [a reference to the Iran-Iraq war], were sweet and rewarding. What our people had gained were human rights and freedom, and uncorrupted lives. I am certain that those who experienced this life will never settle for anything less.

Other items easily and quickly noticeable tonight on the Twitter page, is a petition drive by ipetition.com We dispute the outcome of Iran's presidential election

The Iranians behind the petition drive wrote, "As responsible voters and patriotic Iranians, we all dispute the outcome of that election and we do not consider "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" the 10th president of our nation."

Another entry which is disturbing reads, "they r spraying people with acid. invading homes. 23 journalists arrested. Neda buried in Behesht Zahra cemetary earlier #iranelection"

Mousavi has stated that he is "willing to become a martyr" which seems to be a clear indication of his desire to keep pushing his case of election fraud.

DISCLAIMER: NOT FOR UNDER 18: GRAPHIC SCENES OF DEATH AND TRAUMA; Disturbing video from YouTube:

Video

This one is simply titled "Hamleye Basijiha Be Mojtamae Sobhan":

This is the Neda Clip from YouTube [Warning: Distressing Content]

Per mashable.com, "Warning: this video is extremely graphic and troubling. Viewer discretion is strongly advised – if you’re at all uncomfortable with violent scenes, you should not view it. Please also view the description below, and be aware that the clip is absolutely unsuitable for minors."

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com