SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
US Pulls Plug on Iran Cable News
'A flagrant violation of freedom of speech'
Feb 09, 2013
As part of the United States expansive new sanctions against Iran, North American cable networks have pulled the plug on the country's state-run, English-language news network Press TV.
Calling the move a "flagrant violation of freedom of speech," Press TV announced Saturday that they had been dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform which had previously broadcast the channel in the United States and Canada.
New sanctions announced by the US Treasury Department this week blacklisted Iran's state-run television network, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as well as its director, Ezatollah Zarghami.
"So long as Iran continues to fail to address the concerns of the international community about its nuclear program, the U.S. will impose tighter sanctions [...] against the Iranian regime," David S. Cohen, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. "We will also target those in Iran who are responsible for human right abuses, especially those who deny the Iranian people their basic freedoms of expression, assembly and speech."
According to Al Jazeera, IRIB launched Press TV, Hispan and Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam in order to reach a wider global audience to broadcast world news and communicate pro-government views beyond Iran's borders.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
As part of the United States expansive new sanctions against Iran, North American cable networks have pulled the plug on the country's state-run, English-language news network Press TV.
Calling the move a "flagrant violation of freedom of speech," Press TV announced Saturday that they had been dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform which had previously broadcast the channel in the United States and Canada.
New sanctions announced by the US Treasury Department this week blacklisted Iran's state-run television network, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as well as its director, Ezatollah Zarghami.
"So long as Iran continues to fail to address the concerns of the international community about its nuclear program, the U.S. will impose tighter sanctions [...] against the Iranian regime," David S. Cohen, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. "We will also target those in Iran who are responsible for human right abuses, especially those who deny the Iranian people their basic freedoms of expression, assembly and speech."
According to Al Jazeera, IRIB launched Press TV, Hispan and Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam in order to reach a wider global audience to broadcast world news and communicate pro-government views beyond Iran's borders.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
As part of the United States expansive new sanctions against Iran, North American cable networks have pulled the plug on the country's state-run, English-language news network Press TV.
Calling the move a "flagrant violation of freedom of speech," Press TV announced Saturday that they had been dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform which had previously broadcast the channel in the United States and Canada.
New sanctions announced by the US Treasury Department this week blacklisted Iran's state-run television network, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as well as its director, Ezatollah Zarghami.
"So long as Iran continues to fail to address the concerns of the international community about its nuclear program, the U.S. will impose tighter sanctions [...] against the Iranian regime," David S. Cohen, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. "We will also target those in Iran who are responsible for human right abuses, especially those who deny the Iranian people their basic freedoms of expression, assembly and speech."
According to Al Jazeera, IRIB launched Press TV, Hispan and Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam in order to reach a wider global audience to broadcast world news and communicate pro-government views beyond Iran's borders.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.