General

A lesson in objectivity

Iran to force its journalists to criticize the government in a “non-judgmental manner”

The Iranian regime is proposing a simple solution to the problem of widespread reports of government misbehaviour: stamp out the reports. Iranian officials have proposed a new set of media guidelines that would require future criticism of the country’s institutions to be “constructive and presented in a non-judgmental manner,” according to a state media report. The new law is intended to prevent the country’s media from once again becoming “awash with provocative, insulting, derogatory and defamatory reports,” as it apparently did following the June 12 election and during the subsequent protests. “When it comes to rules and regulations,” says the head of Iran’s General Investigation Organization, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, “each and every individual is duty-bound to go by the book.”

Tehran Times

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