John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY THOMAS DAIGLE ON CBC NEWS
“Toronto-based fact-checking site tries to loosen Iranian regime's grip on the truth
“FactNameh purports to reach 1 million Iranians”
“Iranian regime”? Why are you using that term?
It is the Iranian government.
Its president is elected. Very much so. The Leader is not, but he serves a role similar to the British Queen in many ways.
Use of the word "regime" in any news source is always a signal that what follows is propaganda.
Please note that you do not use the term "Saudi regime" despite its being a genuine tyranny. Nor do you call the British government serving the unelected Elizabeth II a regime.
Poor work, CBC, but then you've been rather active in promoting America's line on Iran, the line our Prime Minister embraces and promotes. A Prime Minister, by the way, elected by just less than one-third of voters.
And note the claim of reaching one million Iranians, even if true, is actually a pretty small one. That’s slightly more than one-percent of the population of the country.
I'll add the thought that the term "fact checking," used virtually anywhere in media is an inappropriate claim. It not only often represents pretensions by people not qualified by their hard knowledge, but more generally it represents a mechanism for persuasion - that is to say, propaganda.
