Complaint
The journalist quoted in this article had said extensive US and Israeli strickes had reduced Tehran’s communications towers, broadcasting stations and Grand Bazaar to rubble. A reader pointed out that his claims had proved exaggerated, and questioned why the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ had reproduced the unverified account of a journalist from a media organisation aligned with the Iranian authorities. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
Because of the restrictions placed by the authorities on international media the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ, like other news organisations, is often reliant on uncorroborated eye-witness sources when reporting events in Iran (a limitation acknowledged in advisory note at the foot of the article). However, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ News acknowledged that the journalist’s position at Press TV, and its status as a state-run media organisation, should have been made clear to readers, and the article was amended to make this clear (with the addition of an explanatory note) before the complaint was escalated to the ECU. This was enough to resolve the issue of complaint.
Resolved