Why West wants to throttle Press TV
Hamid Reza Emadi
It was an interesting year on Press TV’s calendar. The channel was taken off the air in Europe, Asia and South America. If you think this happened in the censorship era of the 1950s think again; it all took place in 2012.
The attack on the news channel was so belligerent that it was reasonable to think that even if the world survived the 2012 ‘end of the world’ scare, Press TV wouldn’t. It suffices to say that the scale and intensity of the war on the increasingly popular channel has been unprecedented in international television history.
But what does Press TV say that’s causing so much anger in Western capitals, and where does the violation of Press TV’s right to free expression leave the West’s claims of protecting media? And will the increasing pressure on Press TV force the channel to stop telling the truth to gain the West’s permission to stay on a little longer?
Iran’s 24/7 English-language international news channel hit the airwaves in 2007. Press TV appeared on TV screens around the world to cover the story - with a focus on topics that the ‘free’ world’s mainstream media tends not to cover. From revealing the real faces of democracy-looking dictatorships in Europe to divulging covert ties between the West and terror rings in Syria and highlighting the plight of women and children in war-torn countries, Press TV has sought to be a voice for the voiceless.
Press TV has established a distinctive discourse that communicates the message directly to the audience like no other. It has raised many fundamental questions and made sure that they remain in the minds of its audience: Why has al-Qaeda, as a questionably Islamist group, never attacked or done anything against the interests of Israel?