For those who use PressTV as a source.... Comparison on media reporting.

MODS - This post is going to center on how a news story is reported. For this I am going to post the entire article instead of just a portion of it since the manner in which this story is being reported is the focus, and not the actual incident itself.

There have been back and forths on these forums discussing the manner in which PressTV reports news. They have been accused of purposely misleading people by tweaking news stories to suit their propoganda push. People have wanted proof, and here it is.

Comparison - 19 year old shot by San Francisco Police.

US News -
CBS San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A man who was thought to have died from an officer-involved shooting in San Francisco last weekend appears instead to have been killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, investigators revealed Thursday.

Kenneth Harding Jr., a 19-year-old Seattle resident, allegedly ran from officers who had attempted to detain him Saturday for fare evasion at a San Francisco Municipal Railway light-rail stop at Third Street and Palou Avenue.
Police had originally said Harding had turned to his left while running and fired at the officers, who fired several shots in return and fatally struck him.

However, the bullet believed to have killed Harding was removed from his head by the medical examiner, who discovered it was a .380-caliber bullet, which is not consistent with the service ammunition used by San Francisco police.

The bullet had entered his body from the right side of his neck before lodging in his head, chief medical examiner Dr. Amy Hart said.

Police said they also found an unused .380-caliber bullet in Harding’s right jacket pocket.

“We believe the fatal wound on Mr. Harding’s body was self-inflicted,” said police Cmdr. Mike Biel, who said it was still unclear whether the wound was accidental.

Many questions still remain, however, about what happened out in the Bayview that day.

No weapon was found by police at the scene, but amateur video footage taken in the aftermath of the shooting showed a passerby picking up what investigators believe was Harding’s gun and taking it from the area before police could establish the crime scene.

A cellphone and several bullet casings were also apparently taken from the scene, police said.

A .45-caliber gun was later found at a local parolee’s house that investigators initially believed was Harding’s gun, but the new ballistic evidence has shown that not to be the case.

Biel said police are still seeking the man who picked up the gun, as well as the firearm, and said the department is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone with information that will help to recover the gun.

Harding was considered a person of interest in a shooting in Seattle last week that killed a 19-year-old pregnant woman and injured three other people. Biel said he did not know whether the weapon used in that shooting was consistent with the .380-caliber bullets found in the San Francisco case.

Harding was also shot in the leg, Hart said, but the bullet passed through and has not been recovered, so investigators do not know whether that wound was from a shot by the officers.

The shooting has triggered several protests around the city since last weekend, including one Tuesday that led to 45 people being arrested.

Critics of the shooting have said the video footage shows Harding did not receive medical treatment immediately after the shooting despite several officers being in the area, and some have even questioned whether he had a gun or fired it at police.

At a town hall meeting held at the Bayview Opera House on Wednesday, police Chief Greg Suhr tried to address about 300 community members but was shouted down by the angry crowd and the meeting was stopped early.

Biel said Thursday, “I understand how the community feels. However, our investigation is based on total facts.”

He said anyone with information in the case is encouraged to call the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or the homicide detail at (415) 553-1145.

Obviously the above is the US media reporting on the issue. Now for PressTV's coverage -

PressTV - Iranian news

San Francisco police officers have shot an unarmed black teenager dead during an inspection for tickets on a light rail, claiming that the boy was armed and fired at them first.


Two police cops shot Kenneth Harding, a 19-year-old black boy from Seattle, five times and killed him while conducting a Muni bus fare inspection in the Bayview, San Francisco, a video footage of the incident on INFOWARS website shows.

The teenager death has sparked outrage among the local people, who point the finger of blame at police officers, stressing that the victim was an unarmed civilian.

Harding had allegedly refused to pay bus fare and tried to flee from the cops. The footage shows the scene of a black boy lying on the street and bleeding, while the police officers refuse to let anyone near him for help.

Statistics published by the Stolen Lives Project estimate that the number of cases in the United States relating to police brutality has reached thousands.

Most of the American people who suffer abuse from the police do not report the case. Those who do file complaints find that police departments tend to be self-protective and that the public tends to side with the police.

In 2010, there were at least 2,541 reports of misconduct by the US police.

This is just one example of Iranian media twisting twisting a story out of context in an effort to portray the US in a certain way.

To those who use PressTV as a source I ask this - Based on the above comparison, does this change your view about PressTV and their credability on reporting in an unbiased and factual manner? Why would PressTV report this story in the manner they did?

Now, with that being said, turn about is fair play. If someone on the other side of the fence could provide a comparison between US media reporting on an internal Iranian issue and compare it to Iranian media reporting to see if US media is guilty of the same (the argument that comes to mind for me is the manner in which President Ahminedejad's speeches are reported (wiping ISrael off the map etc)..

Ground rules for this thread -
The purpose of this thread is to compare the different media outlets on how a story is reported.
It is NOT to discuss the actual incident (the shooting).
Please limit comparisons to PressTV and US media, since its the basis of this thread.

Please try to stay on topic and try to avoid dragging other countries into this discussion.

Well.... if you read ATS regularly it makes the American police force sound much worse than the Iranian state media. It's really out of hand lately.

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reply to post by Xcathdra


and your source is from the corporate propaganda american media. which is worse than press tv

Originally posted by USAisdevil
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

and your source is from the corporate propaganda american media. which is worse than press tv

So you arent even going to attempt to participate in the thread.. Just going to throw out some snide ass remarks and leave? Apparently you didnt bother to read the thread, since I asked for both sides of the story.

Typical behavior.....

However its nice to know that when confronted with a discrepancy about a source, people who use presstv dont even bother to participate.

i cant remember the so called "news source" from the middle east

one of their stories was that condaleeza rice owned exxon or chevron or something to the effect it was a long time ago

with its sole purpose of demonizing whoever they didnt like at the time.


twisting a "news article" about an "officer involved " shooting comes as no surprise.

yet the villans is the "american corporate media" and no one can say one bad word about "iranian state run media"

hmnmm.

www.presstv.ir/detail/189942.html Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:34AM GMT

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/07/21/sfpd-says-man-killed-in-bayview-shot-himself/ July 21, 2011 11:54 PM

July 21 - Thursday

CBS said

(...) investigators revealed Thursday. (...)

reply to post by neo96


Thats one of the issues that irks me, and its also the reason why I want feedback from people who trust PressTV on the above articles and why their is such a wide discrepancy.

I also want people who trust PressTV to give an example of internal Iranian issues and how US media reports on them to see if their is a discrepancy or added / tweaked / etc info placed in by US media..

reply to post by jjjtir


The incident itself occured on Saturday July 16th. PressTV had plenty of time to run information down for an informative report, which they did not do.

reply to post by Xcathdra

This is just one example of Iranian media twisting twisting a story out of context in an effort to portray the US in a certain way.

Only by as much as the US twists its stories about Iran. Only a few years ago the president of the united states of America, called Iran part of "the axis of evil". The influence America has on a lot of Western countries made it so that these other countries started posturing up against Iran and Iranians. What the Iranian media is doing now is giving the Americans a taste of their own medicine...watch as the world turns on America - a country once admired for its freedoms...but as it loses the image it loses everything. Cops are not supposed to be shooting people in a free, democratic and bound-by-law country.

To those who use PressTV as a source I ask this - Based on the above comparison, does this change your view about PressTV and their credability on reporting in an unbiased and factual manner? Why would PressTV report this story in the manner they did?

You don't really need to ask why. If you take the Western media and see how much anti-Iran they are, how they misinterpret Farsi and spin it into fear mongering talk...

Then you can take Press TV as a more defiant and up front RT. Remember the cold war? How did the Russians portray America? How did the Americans portray Russians? What we are seeing now, the media fighting each other, are first steps that will lead to an all out war if nothing changes.

It's pretty simple and clear cut to me.

US media reports Iranians being oppressed.

Iranian media reports Americans being oppressed.

Of course, an intelligent person would by now notice that the only losers here are the people, not the media nor the governments. So in that light I would say the media are playing ball together - together against each other or together together. If that makes any sense

reply to post by Xcathdra


no personal attacks please. secondly the american propagAnda media lies a lot . so if you want to attack iranian media , post alternative sources not western propaganda media sources which are worse than soviet era pravda.

in soviet nazi america, media fools you.

reply to post by Xcathdra


The majority of the media will twist a story to fit their agenda..

It's why anyone with a brain checks multiple sources..

To single out Iranian media just further shows your personal bias..

Originally posted by USAisdevil
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

and your source is from the corporate propaganda american media. which is worse than press tv

I second that.

You need to watch both sides before coming to a inteligent deission and the fact is our western media is only showing half the news and adding spin to it.

Originally posted by USAisdevil
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

no personal attacks please. secondly the american propagAnda media lies a lot . so if you want to attack iranian media , post alternative sources not western propaganda media sources which are worse than soviet era pravda.

in soviet nazi america, media fools you.

My response to your post was to point out that you either didnt read, or you didnt understand my initial post. I pointed out the differences between US Media and Iranian media on the same topic. I then asked for people who are on the other side of the fence, IE trust PRessTV but not US media to get that perspective.

You did not do that. You just made comments about American media without answering or even touching on the request. Thats why I responded the way I did.

Do you have any examples of an internal Iranian issue that is reported on by Iranian media and US media? If so, can you post the articles to see the comparison and manner in which they are reported in each others media?

Thats what im looking for. You guys say US media is misleading and thats fine. I am looking for an issue that reflects that, if that makes sense.

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

The majority of the media will twist a story to fit their agenda..

It's why anyone with a brain checks multiple sources..

To single out Iranian media just further shows your personal bias..

And you did not read my post in its entirety either. Please go back and read it beore commenting. It has nothing to do with bias since I specifically stated I wanted people on the other side of the fence to comment and weigh in.

First off thanks for responding and answering the question and bringing up the issues as you see it. I appriciate your point of view on this one.

Originally posted by Zamini
Only by as much as the US twists its stories about Iran. Only a few years ago the president of the united states of America, called Iran part of "the axis of evil". The influence America has on a lot of Western countries made it so that these other countries started posturing up against Iran and Iranians. What the Iranian media is doing now is giving the Americans a taste of their own medicine...watch as the world turns on America - a country once admired for its freedoms...

You say Iran and Iranians... The distiction I saw in those media reports (US) and comments by Bush was our issue was with the Iranian Government, not with the Iranian people. This distinction has been made time and again in US media when talking about Iran. Our Secretary of State and Defense have made the same distinctions as well.

In Iranian media on that topic, was that included in the reporting or did they stick with just the axis of evil and leave out the distinction?

Originally posted by Zamini
but as it loses the image it loses everything. Cops are not supposed to be shooting people in a free, democratic and bound-by-law country.

This comment here is a bit off. While I understand that is the impression of what a Democracy is suppose to be, in reality and practice we have crime just like any other country, regardless of political ideology. The reason I used that shooting incident as a comparison was specifically the way it was reported.

The kid was armed, he did shoot at police, and he was not shot because of the 2 dollar fare. Someone pointed out the date difference in the PRessTV report at the US media report. I noted the incident took place on July 16th, so all sides had the ability to have all the information when they did their reporting.

My question on this incident and reporting is this:
Doe the Iranian Government or PressTV have issues with the US Government, the State Governments or just the American people?

The reason I ask is this incident was local, not state nor federal. I dont understand why they would report on such a local issue (this was not even a state issue, by local city).

Originally posted by Zamini
You don't really need to ask why. If you take the Western media and see how much anti-Iran they are, how they misinterpret Farsi and spin it into fear mongering talk...

Interesting... When I see US media reporting on Iran, I see a difference. I see US media reporting on the Iranian Government and its policies, and not its people. When the reporting does go local it usually revolves around the Iranian criminal justice system and a punishment (most recent was the female who was to be put to death by stoning).

On the judicial system and punishment - When US media reports on that, the focus is on the Iranian Government. Out of curiosity (I am not all that familir with how Iran is governed internally other than the federal level (President Ahmadinejad / Ayatollah etc) does the top level government have anything to do with crime and punishment in the same manner its dealt with in the US?

In the US we are broken into the following -
Federal - President / Congress / Federal Courts
State - Govenor / Legislature / Courts
Local - City / county governments / city councils / municipal courts.

Is US media, when reporting on the woman who was to be stoned to death, focused on the Iranian top level government (Ahmadinejad). Is that the correct focus or should it be local?

Originally posted by Zamini
Then you can take Press TV as a more defiant and up front RT. Remember the cold war? How did the Russians portray America? How did the Americans portray Russians? What we are seeing now, the media fighting each other, are first steps that will lead to an all out war if nothing changes.

An intresting perspective. Growing up during the cold war (later half of it anyways) I always took the media reports as directed towards the governments and ideology and not neccissarily the people themselves.

As far as media and all out war I can see that, since the respective media outlets are reporting on established foreign policies.

I guess the question then becomes how do we counter / fix it?

Originally posted by Zamini
It's pretty simple and clear cut to me.

US media reports Iranians being oppressed.

Iranian media reports Americans being oppressed.

I can agree with this...

Originally posted by Zamini
Of course, an intelligent person would by now notice that the only losers here are the people, not the media nor the governments. So in that light I would say the media are playing ball together - together against each other or together together. If that makes any sense

I think I understand what your saying... Since the media, when it comes to government actions, is pretty much nothing but a court stenographer, reporting on what they are being told by their respective governments. In that sense, media on both sides re reporting in a manner that creates the tension and issues.

So, as intelligent people, how do we counter it?


As a followup - Why would Iranian media seize on this one particular topic, a local shooting, and report it they way they did? Especially when its very local and not Federal. That confuses me unless I add in to the thought that its intentioanlly being mis reported to evoke a response from the Iranian people (and judging by some of the comments on that article it had a response alright) as well as an attempt to paint the US as something its not.

Is my thought process far off by seeing that?

Also, do you have any local Iranian issues reported in Iranian news that has also been reported in US media in a completely different manner? I know you commented on Farsi and words being taken out of context by President Ahmadinejad?

How about the internal issue between Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah? In Us media its being reported as a huge rift between the 2, with the possibility of Ahmadinejad being removed from his position by either IRanian legislature or the Ayatollah. Its also been reported in US media that several of Ahmadinejad cabinet ministers have been arrested. Part of that basis for the arrest was that insinuation they are sorcerers.

Is that even close to being accurate?

reply to post by Xcathdra


us media has lied too many times like on wmd ,bailouts, libya ,9/11,murder and coverup of whistleblowers, mega trillions of money stolen and no reporting ,BP oil spill misreported,Fukushima disaster understated .

so why should I trust the american propaganda media .

Originally posted by USAisdevil
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

us media has lied too many times like on wmd ,bailouts, libya ,9/11,murder and coverup of whistleblowers, mega trillions of money stolen and no reporting ,BP oil spill misreported,Fukushima disaster understated .

so why should I trust the american propaganda media .

Last time before I start asking the mods to remove your comments.

Please abide by the OP guidelines or dont post. I dont want this thread to devolve into a back and forth name calling / accusation thread.

What I want is intelligent discussion and comparison between the 2 view points.

Now, do you have anything to compare, other than just lobbing issues that are not relevant to the conversation? If not, then I respectfully ask that you not comment in the thread.

Please keep it on topic and constructive.

reply to post by Xcathdra


then i ask you a question , why should we use american propaganda sources.. they are worse than presstv..

so if you want to attack iranian media , post alternative sources not western propaganda media sources which are worse than soviet era pravda.

reply to post by Xcathdra


All media has bias, always question your sources. Generally, on issues pertaining to the USA or 'the West' news outlets like Presstv or RT are more likely to provide a platform for alternative opinion when compared to Sky/BBC/Fox News/CNN etc.

For generally balanced reporting, I've found that Al-Jazeera is quite a good source but again as I said, always question the sources and never rely on just one.