6 ms·

Buried under the rest of the article is this, since some people only do headlines I'll copy it here for visibility: >Shanbehzadeh was sentenced to five years f

Buried under the rest of the article is this, since some people only do headlines I'll copy it here for visibility: >Shanbehzadeh was sentenced to five years for alleged pro-Israel propaganda activity, four years for insulting Islamic sanctities, two years for spreading lies online and an additional year for anti-regime propaganda. >His lawyer, Amir Raisian, told Shargh Network, a reformist newspaper in Iran, that he would appeal the verdict, especially the accusation of pro-Israel activity. The prosecutor’s office in Ardabil alleged that Shanbehzadeh had been in contact with Israeli intelligence officers and was arrested when trying to leave the country, according to Voice of America.

Moorko 2y ago
Anyone opposition who gets arrested will get those allegations by default in Iran. It doesn't mean that those are the real reason. The real reason is exactly what's written there: twitting a dot at supreme leader and getting more likes than him (he previously did say that 'If I post a dot, I'll get more like than the supreme leader hahaha'). He was also posting satires about the religion of peace.... :) Source: I'm Iranian.
avodonosov 2y ago
I sometimes asked people on HN, what news sites they consider to be of decent quality. And npr.org was recommended several times. Seeing this cheap manipulative article suggests they were mistaken. PS. Maybe his 12 years sentence is completely unjust, I don't know. But titles like this... How about "A man is sentenced to death after having cofee for breakfast" for an article about Charles Manson? (I suppose he had cofee sometimes, so formally a true title).
- Moorko 2y ago
  [flagged]
- bufferoverflow 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - defrost 2y ago
    > NPR is very very far left. Nonsense. Not even by US standards and absolutely not by global standards. Overall, we rate NPR (National Public Radio) Left-Center Biased (a slight to moderate liberal bias) based on story selection that leans slightly left and High for factual reporting due to thorough sourcing and accurate news reporting. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/npr/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/npr/ For comparison: Overall, we rate Ground News Least Biased based on publishing news stories from both sides of the political spectrum and appropriately labeling their bias. We also rate them mostly factual rather than High due to the use of poor sources that can publish false or misleading information; however, these news stories are typically reported by other credible media outlets meaning they most likely are factual. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ground-news/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ground-news/ So it's a toss up between the two; one with a mild left bias and high factual reporting Vs one with less bias but not so well researched.
    - bufferoverflow 2y ago
      Nonsense? Show me 3 stories from NPR in the last month (among hundreds they've reported in that time frame) with a right-wing flavor. You know, things like articles against abortion, critical of Kamala, supporting mass-deportation of illegal immigrants, etc.
      - defrost 2y ago
        They're left of the US centre (not global, US). Not "far left", not "very far left", and not "very, very far left".
        bufferoverflow 2y ago
        Ok, you failed to show a single article with the right-wing perspective. How are they not far-left again?
        defrost 2y ago
- EasyMark 2y ago
  Speaking out against a repressive regime is always okay, the problem is it’s a violent repressive regime who will throw you in prison for criticizing it. So his 12 years sentence is completely unjust like nearly all of Iran’s tossing people in prison for simply expressing free thought. He was not trying to inspire violence.
- ripjaygn 2y ago
  AP News has been posting fake news about Tesla, it's sad to see.
- pas 2y ago
  it can still be decent quality despite having clickbait titles (which is nowadays basically a must in this "media ecosystem") but of course to a certain degree it's subjective. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/sorry-i-still-think-i-am-right-about https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/sorry-i-still-think-i-am-ri...
  - avodonosov 2y ago
    Yes, selective presentation of facts is one of the main methods of manipulations today. The author of your link argues that the biased reporters are not necessarily evil. I think this is not the main concern for a reader. His main goal is to build a world view as adequate to reality as possible. My take on how to approach that as a news consumer: https://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for-news-reading-and.html https://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-fo... Of course, some reporters are genuinely mistaken despite trying to do best reporting. Others are intentionally manipulative - no doubt that happens often too. But even they can think it is for good. And I agree with your author we should not translate this into hostility in the society by declaring all biased reporters as evil. But we can note their quality. Speaking of npr.org, I can not decide conclusively from this single example whether they stay in the "decent quality" category. But it suggests they are ready to compromise on quality. It's not only the title that is misguiding. The article body is not keen to make the things clear. I suppose many readers left with a firm belief the man was really sentenced for the dot posted alone.
    - pas 2y ago
      I agree that NPR is regurgitating the narrative by "Iran International English", but to me the body of the article is crystal clear, this guy was an activist, and this particular "ratio-ing" was a likely trigger that led to him being included in this batch of people "to be made example of". I think NPR is providing a disservice by reporting the actual "charges" he was found guilty of in 2020, because they don't matter. It's a brutal dictatorship, of course there are laws against criticizing the government ("anti-regime propaganda", and of course anyone can be charged with treason-lite (pro-Israel propaganda) and ... it's a theocracy, of course there are blasphemy laws, yeey! We don't have high-certainty information about the proximate causes that landed this guy in prison, but it doesn't matter (it matters for scholars if they are doing some kind of deep dive on crackdowns, and of course it matters for actual people on the ground, who are trying to contest the charges, but even then the statistics is not kind to their efforts). Similarly putting the photo of the ayatollah there is a disservice to Hossein. And ... when it comes to what to do with this as a news consumer, the sad fact is that this is not news. There's zero new bit of actionable information in this. (NPR published this because "Iran International" published this on 31 Aug, the "trial" was apparently on 7th of August. He tweeted in June, and was released from prison sometime around April in 2023. Wikipedia says 2024, but it's likely wrong.)
- limit499karma 2y ago
  Their source is Iran International and that outfit is propaganda and agitprop oriented. It is as unbiased as their opposite number PressTV (run by IRI) or RT (Russian) or an ideologically committed red/blue outfit in US. These days Reuters is the closest thing to relatively unbiased reporting in the West. imo.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

Moorko 2y ago

Anyone opposition who gets arrested will get those allegations by default in Iran. It doesn't mean that those are the real reason. The real reason is exactly what's written there: twitting a dot at supreme leader and getting more likes than him (he previously did say that 'If I post a dot, I'll get more like than the supreme leader hahaha'). He was also posting satires about the religion of peace.... :) Source: I'm Iranian.

avodonosov 2y ago

I sometimes asked people on HN, what news sites they consider to be of decent quality. And npr.org was recommended several times. Seeing this cheap manipulative article suggests they were mistaken. PS. Maybe his 12 years sentence is completely unjust, I don't know. But titles like this... How about "A man is sentenced to death after having cofee for breakfast" for an article about Charles Manson? (I suppose he had cofee sometimes, so formally a true title).

Moorko 2y ago
[flagged]
bufferoverflow 2y ago
[flagged]
- defrost 2y ago
  > NPR is very very far left. Nonsense. Not even by US standards and absolutely not by global standards. Overall, we rate NPR (National Public Radio) Left-Center Biased (a slight to moderate liberal bias) based on story selection that leans slightly left and High for factual reporting due to thorough sourcing and accurate news reporting. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/npr/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/npr/ For comparison: Overall, we rate Ground News Least Biased based on publishing news stories from both sides of the political spectrum and appropriately labeling their bias. We also rate them mostly factual rather than High due to the use of poor sources that can publish false or misleading information; however, these news stories are typically reported by other credible media outlets meaning they most likely are factual. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ground-news/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ground-news/ So it's a toss up between the two; one with a mild left bias and high factual reporting Vs one with less bias but not so well researched.
  - bufferoverflow 2y ago
    Nonsense? Show me 3 stories from NPR in the last month (among hundreds they've reported in that time frame) with a right-wing flavor. You know, things like articles against abortion, critical of Kamala, supporting mass-deportation of illegal immigrants, etc.
    - defrost 2y ago
      They're left of the US centre (not global, US). Not "far left", not "very far left", and not "very, very far left".
      - bufferoverflow 2y ago
        Ok, you failed to show a single article with the right-wing perspective. How are they not far-left again?
        defrost 2y ago
EasyMark 2y ago
Speaking out against a repressive regime is always okay, the problem is it’s a violent repressive regime who will throw you in prison for criticizing it. So his 12 years sentence is completely unjust like nearly all of Iran’s tossing people in prison for simply expressing free thought. He was not trying to inspire violence.
ripjaygn 2y ago
AP News has been posting fake news about Tesla, it's sad to see.
pas 2y ago
it can still be decent quality despite having clickbait titles (which is nowadays basically a must in this "media ecosystem") but of course to a certain degree it's subjective. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/sorry-i-still-think-i-am-right-about https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/sorry-i-still-think-i-am-ri...
- avodonosov 2y ago
  Yes, selective presentation of facts is one of the main methods of manipulations today. The author of your link argues that the biased reporters are not necessarily evil. I think this is not the main concern for a reader. His main goal is to build a world view as adequate to reality as possible. My take on how to approach that as a news consumer: https://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for-news-reading-and.html https://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-fo... Of course, some reporters are genuinely mistaken despite trying to do best reporting. Others are intentionally manipulative - no doubt that happens often too. But even they can think it is for good. And I agree with your author we should not translate this into hostility in the society by declaring all biased reporters as evil. But we can note their quality. Speaking of npr.org, I can not decide conclusively from this single example whether they stay in the "decent quality" category. But it suggests they are ready to compromise on quality. It's not only the title that is misguiding. The article body is not keen to make the things clear. I suppose many readers left with a firm belief the man was really sentenced for the dot posted alone.
  - pas 2y ago
    I agree that NPR is regurgitating the narrative by "Iran International English", but to me the body of the article is crystal clear, this guy was an activist, and this particular "ratio-ing" was a likely trigger that led to him being included in this batch of people "to be made example of". I think NPR is providing a disservice by reporting the actual "charges" he was found guilty of in 2020, because they don't matter. It's a brutal dictatorship, of course there are laws against criticizing the government ("anti-regime propaganda", and of course anyone can be charged with treason-lite (pro-Israel propaganda) and ... it's a theocracy, of course there are blasphemy laws, yeey! We don't have high-certainty information about the proximate causes that landed this guy in prison, but it doesn't matter (it matters for scholars if they are doing some kind of deep dive on crackdowns, and of course it matters for actual people on the ground, who are trying to contest the charges, but even then the statistics is not kind to their efforts). Similarly putting the photo of the ayatollah there is a disservice to Hossein. And ... when it comes to what to do with this as a news consumer, the sad fact is that this is not news. There's zero new bit of actionable information in this. (NPR published this because "Iran International" published this on 31 Aug, the "trial" was apparently on 7th of August. He tweeted in June, and was released from prison sometime around April in 2023. Wikipedia says 2024, but it's likely wrong.)
limit499karma 2y ago
Their source is Iran International and that outfit is propaganda and agitprop oriented. It is as unbiased as their opposite number PressTV (run by IRI) or RT (Russian) or an ideologically committed red/blue outfit in US. These days Reuters is the closest thing to relatively unbiased reporting in the West. imo.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]