National Post = National Disgrace.

gerryhatrick · May 20, 2006

They are being ridiculed accross the world for the false story about a new Iranian law.

How embarrassing. The National Post just threw it's credibility out the window.

And the Jerusalen Post wasn't far behind, although they've laid all the blame at the National Posts doorstep.

They have a bizarre story titled "New Iranian law to require Jews to wear yellow band" which contains most of the evidence that debunks the story, and then does a wierd two-step to rationalize the story headline. Very strange. They have since changed the headline to "Iran denies religious dress code law [iI]".

What terrible journalism.

And now, not even a full news-cycle later, they have ANOTHER story that seems planted in reality and blaming the National Post for their previous zealousness:

n Friday, a Canadian newspaper, The National Post, quoting Iranian exiles, said the law would force Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear special patches of colored cloth to distinguish them from Muslims.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...icle%2FShowFull

This is a f$%k up far beyond anything I've ever seen in the media, bar none. The National Post better issue a retraction and apology tomorrow. The half-assed excuses they printed today only add to their disgrace.

And there's Stephen Harper yesterday...even AFTER experts were denying the story, drudging up shit to throw at the fan.

"It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that would remind people of Nazi Germany."

Another embarrassment.

scribblet · May 20, 2006

They have posted another article:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/st...fe805ec&k=31543

but how do you explain this in the first one:

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Iranian expatriates living in Canada had confirmed that the order had been passed, although it still had to be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect."

From this one would think the story is true, so the Post can be forgiven for believeing this. Also, it is not something unexpected from the like of the Iranian leader.

gerryhatrick · May 20, 2006

They have posted another article:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/st...fe805ec&k=31543

but how do you explain this in the first one:

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Iranian expatriates living in Canada had confirmed that the order had been passed, although it still had to be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect."

From this one would think the story is true, so the Post can be forgiven for believeing this. Also, it is not something unexpected from the like of the Iranian leader.

They need to post a retraction and an apology.....the newest article don't cut it.

As for your question, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre is a Jewish organization self-described as "dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust". Why would the National Post expect them to know anything about what's been passed in the Iranian Parliament? When you look at the people who've denied the story (including a Jewish Iran parliamentarian) it makes you wonder why they didn't check with these sources first.

Same point regarding "Iranian expatriates living in Canada". Do these expatriates have some direct condiut into Irans affairs? Obviously not. It's pathetic sourcing.

The Post certainly cannot be forgiven until they issue an apology, and then it's up to the individual. I won't forgive them personally. They've broken a public trust in stunning fashion.

gerryhatrick · May 21, 2006

Still no retraction or apology.

It sickens me that this newspaper is being referred to as "Canada's newspaper" by international media covering this f$%kup.

The media conglomerate that the National Post is part of uses canada.com as a domain, furthering the notion that this insideous rag with it's garbage claims is somehow associated to our nation.

What a disgrace.

lost&outofcontrol · May 21, 2006

Still no retraction or apology.
It sickens me that this newspaper is being referred to as "Canada's newspaper" by international media covering this f$%kup.

The media conglomerate that the National Post is part of uses canada.com as a domain, furthering the notion that this insideous rag with it's garbage claims is somehow associated to our nation.

What a disgrace.

That's what you get when the (former)owners of media conglomerate say and believe things like this:

"one of the greatest myths of the industry: that journalists are essential to producing a newspaper."

Corad Black

"I have a right to support whoever I want to support, or not support."

Asper (CanWest Media)

"In all our newspapers, including the National Post, we have a very pro-Israel position."

Asper (CanWest Media)

gerryhatrick · May 21, 2006

Look at this from Reuters today:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's new dress code bill is aimed at encouraging designers to work on imaginative Islamic clothing, lawmakers said on Sunday, dismissing a report that the bill sought special outfits for religious minorities.
Canada's National Post on Friday reported the draft bill approved last week would force Jews, Christians and other religious minorities such as Zoroastrians to wear colour-coded clothes to distinguish them from Muslims.

A copy of the bill obtained by Reuters contained no such references. Reuters correspondents who followed the dress code session in parliament as it was broadcast on state radio heard no discussion of proscriptions for religious minorities.

Senior parliamentarian Mohsen Yahyavi described the Canadian report as "completely false".

That paper is an embarrassment to our country. CanWest Global has gone and gotten a domain of canada.com and it's flagship newspaper has pulled an idiot move and it appears to the world like Canada is somehow to blame.

Where is the apology? Where is the retraction?

Montgomery Burns · May 21, 2006

gerryhatrick:

They are being ridiculed accross the world for the false story about a new Iranian law.

How do you know it it false? Amir Taheri is a reputable analyst. The article is 3 pages long and is chock full of details. It seems odd that Taheri would risk losing his credibility to make up a false story. From Tehari's article at the NP:

While the Iranian economy appears to be heading for recession, one sector may have some reason for optimism. That sector is the garment industry and the reason for hopefulness is a law passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) on Monday. The law mandates the government to make sure that all Iranians wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions reflected in clothing, and to eliminate "the influence of the infidel" on the way Iranians, especially, the young dress. It also envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct colour schemes to make them identifiable in public.

[...]

The new law cannot come into effect until consensus is reached on what constitutes "authentic Islamic attire."

[...]

A committee that consists of members from the Ministry of Islamic Orientation, the Ministry of Commerce and the Cultural Subcommittee of the Islamic Majlis is scheduled to propose the new uniforms by next autumn. These would then have to be approved by the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei before being imposed by law.

This is a f$%k up far beyond anything I've ever seen in the media, bar none.

Far beyond Rathergate and Korangate? Oops. I forgot. Those 2 bogus stories embarrassed the Bush administration so those were merely wee "f$%k ups".

And there's Stephen Harper yesterday...even AFTER experts were denying the story, drudging up shit to throw at the fan.

What experts? Who are they?

"It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that would remind people of Nazi Germany."

Can you tell me the name of the last regime (besides Iran) who wanted to wipe out the Jews? Hint: The answer is in Harper's quote.

Another embarrassment.

If it does turn out to be false, I agree with you. The MSM has been caught lying far too many times. I understand that mistakes can happen, but with all their claim of "layers of fact-checkers", you'd think this would rarely happen.

Just off the top of my head:

- The bogus TANG memos (Rathergate).

- The bogus story about US soldiers flushing the Koran down the toilet at Gitmo (Korangate).

- The bogus Associated Press story that the crowd at a Bush/Cheney rally booed when Bush wished Clinton well in his upcoming heart surgery. Fox News was there and played the audio tape of when Bush wished Clinton well and we all heard that there was no booing. Damn that evil Faux News! :angry:

- The NBC reporter, after Hurricane Katrina hit, sitting in a canoe, with an oar in one hand, reporting that the flooding was very high where she was....and then 2 people walked in front of her canoe and we saw that the water was ankle-deep. Actually, this one was pretty funny. :lol:

No wonder their newspaper circulation and TV ratings are dropping...

Edited to delete:

- my claim that the FNC was also reporting the "non-Muslims will have to wear different clothing" part. I only caught the end part of it when I clicked on the TV. However they just reported it again (bottom of the hour) and they are only showing excerpts of the law concerning the "Iranian women having to cover up" part.

scribblet · May 21, 2006

I tend to agree with MBurns, we don't know yet if it is false. There is an article here, which leads me to wonder if maybe it was true, or was intended but are going to have to back down due to publicity. Maybe, the token Jewish MP had no choice with his comments.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=684952006

Even though the regime officially recognises Judaism as an official religious minority and the Jewish community is even allocated a seat in the Iranian parliament, the reality on the ground is different.

Jewish leaders are reluctant to draw attention to incidences of mistreatment of their community, due to fear of government reprisal, along with fear of being arrested or accused of being spies. In 1999, 13 Jews were arrested in the city of Shiraz and charged with spying for Israel. While eventually all were pardoned, it exposed the fragile position of the country's Jewish community.

here is another joke "Jewish schools in Iran":

"While there are Jewish schools, the principals and most of the teachers are Muslim, the Bible is taught in Farsi, not in Hebrew, and the schools are forced to open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath," Amir said, as he played Hebrew music for his listeners.

"So while the regime declares that there is freedom of religion, it is all just for the sake of appearances."

gerryhatrick · May 22, 2006

I tend to agree with MBurns, we don't know yet if it is false.

If that what you and MBurns think then both of you have obviously not been following the story.

Catch up, it's debunked fully. 100% false without question.

They eventually did more homework than just listening to a few ex-pats and checking with a Jewish human rights group.

Wake up. Several news organizations have looked at the bill and confirmed there's nothing like what the NP claimed. As well, news organization reps who were present at the debate have confirmed that there was not even any discussion of religious minorities.

As well, a Jewish member of the Iranian parliament states the story is false.

I could go on, but maybe you and MBurns are just going to believe what you want to believe.

The truth is such a cheap commodity these days.

KrustyKidd · May 22, 2006

I could go on, but maybe you and MBurns are just going to believe what you want to believe.

Gerry, for once you have a one hundred percent bonafide point. It is bullshit that they don't retract it and appoligize for not doing it sooner. There is no defence for it other than shoddy research and all.

However, let's put this into perspective. To me, this is atune to the Dan Rathergate affair with the doctored evidence he was so egar to jump on for his story, nothing more. Hardly a conspiracy or movement to do anything other than be the first with the news. I hope they learned from this but, without a retraction, they prove they haven't.

gerryhatrick · May 22, 2006

I could go on, but maybe you and MBurns are just going to believe what you want to believe.

Gerry, for once you have a one hundred percent bonafide point. It is bullshit that they don't retract it and appoligize for not doing it sooner. There is no defence for it other than shoddy research and all.

However, let's put this into perspective. To me, this is atune to the Dan Rathergate affair with the doctored evidence he was so egar to jump on for his story, nothing more. Hardly a conspiracy or movement to do anything other than be the first with the news. I hope they learned from this but, without a retraction, they prove they haven't.

Kudos Krusty. Respect for that. I like the "for once" part, nice touch.

I dont see a conspiracy, but when you look at the neo-con associations of the author (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Taheri) we can assume he's not all that interested in accuracy. Screw him, I care nothing of him. I care about Canada and it's reputation, and a newspaper that calls itself "Canada's national newspaper" and operates off of an internet domain of canada.com is damaging the reputation of Canada when it comes out with over the top b#llsh@t like this.

KrustyKidd · May 22, 2006

I care nothing of him. I care about Canada and it's reputation, and a newspaper that calls itself "Canada's national newspaper" and operates off of an internet domain of canada.com is damaging the reputation of Canada when it comes out with over the top b#llsh@t like this.

Well here is where we go our separate ways Gerry. The NP is a single paper and, intelligent people don't rely on one paper for their information as they are often following the wrong source or are opinionated hence, any moron that sees the NP as the national Voice of Canada needs a brain transplant.

See, the whole thing works on scores for smart people. IE; publications get marks for being less opinionated than others. USA today is slightly left, the Guardian is very left, the Sun series is right, the NP is right, the Globe is left, the TS is left and on and on and on. You have to read them all to get the facts of any story to a degree where you can see what was ommited and thrown in. Or, better yet, go to other countries papers to get the hash from a diffeerent spin and then make your decision. I took out a membership in an intelligence service to get a different slant on things to compliment all of this. Even bloggers that see the event cannot be trusted as they are often the most biased so one is left to getting the info from as many sources as possible. So, rreally, if the NP has discredited Canada in any form, it is with the idiots that only use one single source to get information from. Their disappointment I can live with.

I suppose what I'm saying is that the NP is as unrelieble as all of them.

gerryhatrick · May 22, 2006

I care nothing of him. I care about Canada and it's reputation, and a newspaper that calls itself "Canada's national newspaper" and operates off of an internet domain of canada.com is damaging the reputation of Canada when it comes out with over the top b#llsh@t like this.

Well here is where we go our separate ways Gerry. The NP is a single paper and, intelligent people don't rely on one paper for their information as they are often following the wrong source or are opinionated hence, any moron that sees the NP as the national Voice of Canada needs a brain transplant.

How many sources a person relies on for information is irrelavent.

The NP story was spread worldwide.

As for the NP appearing as a "national Voice of Canada" you take the narrow view. The rest of the world is not as informed about Canada as you are, and that should be our concern.

Montgomery Burns · May 22, 2006

The Associated Press is claiming they have looked at the bill. As Gerry's link shows, so has Reuters. Neither have a good reputation, but it is difficult to believe that both would be lying. It will be interesting to hear what Taheri has to say. He is a reputable analyst; he's no progressive liberal. Did he let emotion get the better of him when he was writing about the Mad Mullahs in Iran? If so, it was a foolish thing to do and will hurt his credibility in the future. Did his source(s) give him bad info? If so, that is still no excuse. He should not have act liked the liberal MSM, he should've held back until it could was confirmed. Did the Mullahs quickly delete that part from the bill? The Jewish guy in Parliament claiming it never happened means nothing. He might've been threatened with death to himself and his family. Remember, these people care not whit for int'l law. Remember 1979 and the attacking of the US embassy. Irregardless, Taheri has some 'splainin' to do. Should be interesting.

KrustyKidd · May 22, 2006

As for the NP appearing as a "national Voice of Canada" you take the narrow view. The rest of the world is not as informed about Canada as you are, and that should be our concern.

Well, I'm sure now they are either doing the smart thing by looking at other papers as this one has erred or they will continue to look at this one because they are too stupid to figure out that a newspaper in a capitalistic democratic country is not the 'Voice' of that country. In any case, if anybody out there wants to know the true skinny on what Canada is all about, consider me the 'voice of the country.'

Just talk to ol' uncle Krusty.

BHS · May 22, 2006

1) I get the feeling Gerry works for one of those crusty little free papers that like to point out how flawed the regular media is in between bursts of crazy leftist agitprop. I'm no fan of the MSM either, but the tone and frequency of his posts in this thread are almost frantic. Yes, the NP fallen for a bad story. It's not the first time a national daily in the West has published before adequately confirming the details. It isn't the end of the world. No one thinks badly of you personally because of it. In the words of some people you may respect more than me, it's time to Move On.

2) A couple of points that make the story plausible even though it isn't true: i) Islam has a history of imposing a dress code on religious minorities. The dress code even has it's own name: the Zhimma, or Dhimmitude. ii) Iran currently employs a dress code based on gender. iii)Ahmadinejad is exactly the sort of guy you'd expect to revive the Dhimmitude dress code, if only to irritate Westerners.

gerryhatrick · May 22, 2006

1) I get the feeling Gerry works for one of those crusty little free papers that like to point out how flawed the regular media is in between bursts of crazy leftist agitprop. I'm no fan of the MSM either, but the tone and frequency of his posts in this thread are almost frantic.

You either don't have the brains to understand the significance of this event or you have an axe to grind. Which is it?

geoffrey · May 22, 2006

1) I get the feeling Gerry works for one of those crusty little free papers that like to point out how flawed the regular media is in between bursts of crazy leftist agitprop. I'm no fan of the MSM either, but the tone and frequency of his posts in this thread are almost frantic.

You either don't have the brains to understand the significance of this event or you have an axe to grind. Which is it?

What's the significance, they made a mistake? Whoop-de-do.

Any problem with the CBC showing last night 'Bowling for Columbine', a documentary filled with so many factual holes? Same idea my friend.

gerryhatrick · May 22, 2006

What's the significance, they made a mistake? Whoop-de-do.
Any problem with the CBC showing last night 'Bowling for Columbine', a documentary filled with so many factual holes? Same idea my friend.

What absolute nitwittery.

A mainstream media source makes a false claim about a nation passing a law, and you think that's akin to the CBC showing a movie?

I don't even know where to begin with that. I don't think I even need to respond, it defeats itself.

Michael Hardner · May 23, 2006

The comparisons with Rathergate are apt, but didn't that story cause a few people to be fired/retired ?

Montgomery Burns · May 23, 2006

Gerryhatrick:

The rest of the world is not as informed about Canada as you are, and that should be our concern.

The rest of the world is not informed about Canada because we had become a unimportant nation on the int'l stage. We had become a nation with questionable morals content to do little. It was surreal hearing Paul Martin claim that "we lead the world." If Canada led the world, like he claimed, then why did the room almost empty when he would give a speech at a world conference?

Don't worry Gerry. Canada will soon rise again and the int'l community will become more informed about us. It's already happening. I visit a lot of different sites on the Internet and when we became the first country (after Israel, of course) to stop funding to Hamas, many many people noticed. I'm not just talking the US. Australia, Western and Eastern Europe, and the people of the Mid East. Probably Asia and Central and South America too.

Our embarrassing refusal to ban the terrorist group Tamil Tigers swiftly changed. We have now showed the world that we are willing to help create democracies and support human rights with our new govt's determination to stay in Afghanistan and get the job done, instead of whining that it is hopeless and we should bring them home so we can spend the money saved to institutionalize our pre-school children. From what I have read from embedded reporters, our soldiers are kicking the crap out of the Taliban - taking the fight to them, not playing social workers or "peacekeeping." You think they haven't noticed this? Do you think the int'l community hasn't noticed this? It sends a message. Now with us trying to get out of the bogus Kyoto protocol, the many countries who are wavering will follow our lead.

The True North is fast becoming a respected member on the world stage and - soon - when our PM has something to say, the world's ears will perk up and they will listen, and consequently become more informed about this country, its people, and our character.

August1991 · May 23, 2006

It is odd to see GerryHatrick defending the Iranian theocracy as a way to attack the National Post. Gerry must be frustrated.

Whether the Iranian regime has pending legislation to identify religious minorities by ribbons is rather beside the point. Anyone who knows anything about Iranian society knows that any Jew or Christian in Iran would be obvious to anyone in the neighbourhood. A regime that can commit such atrocities as its police did to Zahra Kazemi is perfectly capable of being overtly racist.

Machinations · May 23, 2006

The True North is fast becoming a respected member on the world stage and - soon - when our PM has something to say, the world's ears will perk up and they will listen, and consequently become more informed about this country, its people, and our character.

The National Post posted a story without checking - completely incompetent, or purposeful omission? They know that repetition = truth, and even if half the people find out later its not true, half never will, and a perception of Iranians as hateful and backwards people will at least be gestated.

A retraction would be in order, if we had any respect for Iran or Iranians, but of course it will not be forthcoming. I hope I'm not alone in being able to distinguish the actions of clerics, which rule the country, and the sentiments of the younger people (they had a baby boom) who are mostly pro-West. The law, requiring Islamic dress, was passed in reaction to many of these younger people adopting American-style dress.

The clerics are deeply conservative, this is a backlash. What they need in Iran is not an intervention, its a revolution. The problem is the state is well-armed. I don't believe an attack is the most prudent action currently - if we waited, engaged in diplomacy, eventually social attitudes will soften. Trade makes money, which causes exchange of ideas. Iran will open up, and adopt some Western ideals..but these things take time.

Why am I so apprehensive about intervention? Because America would presumably be in the lead, and their reconstruction efforts (we're talking present, Japan et al. excluded) are spotty, to say the least. The last thing we need is to throw more fuel on the fire that is the chaos and instability of the current Middle East. Also, so-called collateral damage (an offensive term, really) assessments - even the most conservative - are rather steep.

Montgomery Burns · May 23, 2006

Machinations:

...if we waited

Until Iran gets nukes...

engaged in diplomacy...

With a man who has threatened to wipe Israel off the map...

eventually social attitudes will soften.

And then we can gaily skip through fields of organic daisies and watch the unicorns graze.

Montgomery Burns · May 23, 2006

The comparisons with Rathergate are apt, but didn't that story cause a few people to be fired/retired ?

4 people were fired over Rathergate. I am unaware of anyone retiring because of this. Dan Rather did step down sooner than he originally planned. I think he knew this incident was the final nail in the coffin regarding his credibility. He had a long history of liberal bias. Indeed, he even attended (not in a journalistic sense) a Democrat fundraiser.

As far as I know, no one was fired from Newsweek for Korangate (the false story that US guards at Gitmo flushed a Koran down the toilet).

I don't know if the National Post's Chris Wattie will be fired for this. He was the original author of the May 19 NP article. The next day Wattie bizarrely wrote that the May 19 NP article was written by Amir Taheri. As far as I know, this story did come from Taheri, but it's a confusing mess. I don't think that Taheri is a regular contributor, or even a contributor, to the NP, so I don't know how they could fire him. In Taheri's bio, the only reference to Canada is that a book he wrote (The Cauldron: The Middle East Behind The Headlines) has been used in various Canadian colleges.