Dorothy Byrne, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4
“As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad’s views are enormously influential,” said Channel 4’s head of news and current affairs. “As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view.” “We are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view.”
But in fact Ahmadinejad’s ‘Alternative Christmas Message’ did not offer any insight into what he really thinks and what he really does.
His message offers a pseudo left-wing and pseudo spiritual critique of British and American policy with regard to the ‘war against terror’.
But in reality Ahmadinejad is an antisemite and a tyrant. He supports and arms antisemitic terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah which want to kill Jews and who want to ‘wipe Israel off the map‘. Ahmadinejad is an active Holocaust denier and he gives material and political support to Holocaust deniers.
In reality Ahmadinejad supports the violent suppression of strikes and the killing of Trade unionists.
In reality Ahmadinejad allows the stoning of adulterers in Iran and he sanctions the execution of gay people.
If Dorothy Byrne wants us to know about the “alternative world view” which Ahmadinejad stands for, then why doesn’t C4 news and current affairs tell us about it, instead of offering lies and propaganda?
Does Byrne believe that Ahmadinejad’s “message” was what he really thinks and what he really does or is she aware that it is just dishonest propaganda? Would C4 offer us a message from Ahmadinejad in which he really said what he thinks? Would it carry his Holocaust denial, his racism, his bigotry, his propaganda?
What kind of negotiations went on between C4 and Ahmadinejad beforehand? Was it agreed explicitly, for example, that he wouldn’t include homophobic or antisemitic statements or was it just understood that he would be too smart to do so?
More from Jpost.com here.
Engage 
December 26, 2008 at 12:19 pm
[…] ringde för en telefonintervju. Här är översättningen av Ahmadinejads tal.) (Tillägg 26 dec: David Hirsh skriver väl om C4 och Mahmoud. Jag irriterar mig dock på en grej i både Hirsh text, […]
December 27, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Whereas Hirsh supports a state that has committed an act of mass murder this morning in Gaza. I can’t wait to read his ‘justification’ for it.
December 28, 2008 at 1:09 am
resistor–
The British media “forgot” to report that “80 Kassam rockets, Grad-model Katyushas and mortar shells pounded southern Israel throughout the day. One rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building in Netivot, killing 58-year-old Beber Vaknin and wounding several others.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111718610&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Probably because (according to the British media–which from what I hear reflect the general mood in Europe) it’s perfectly OK to kill Jews.
Regards,
Inna
December 28, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Byrne should resign. Simple as that. it was a shamful decision. She clearly has a political agenda
December 29, 2008 at 2:40 am
I understand that C4 invited Mearsheimer to comment on the situation in Gaza. So I am not sure that calling Byrne a sucker is accurate. She may well have just been following orders.
Regards,
Inna
December 29, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Re Inna’s first comment —
That kind of thing seems to be fairly common (at least in Europe). Germany’s major news-magazine Der Spiegel accompanied it’s ongoing coverage of the events in Gaza with a time-line headed ‘The causes of the conflict’ from 1967 till the present day. The final two entries of said time-line read:
‘December 18, 2008: Hamas officially declares the truce to be over.
December 27, 2008: Israel starts air strikes, killing more than 200 palestinians on the first day.’
So accoring to Der Spiegel, Israel killed 200 people in response to Hamas merely declaring the truce to be over. Go figure.
The time-line (in German) is here:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,598621,00.html
December 30, 2008 at 10:19 am
“That kind of thing seems to be fairly common (at least in Europe).”
I know. That’s why I spend time at Engage. Here, at least, I feel like I am helping to fight “that kind of thing”.
Regards,
Inna
January 2, 2009 at 10:09 am
British journalism used to be a bastion of truth, now elements within are using it to propagate their own views rather than to report facts. Iran ‘is’ a torture state & yet Channel 4 goes out of it’s way to bend the knee to such evil.
Good job Channel 4 wasn’t around during world war two. We might have been treated to ‘Hitlers festive message’.
August 19, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Sir,
Does no-one give the great British public the credit for knowing that Ahmedinadjad is a liar, a bigot par excellence, a crook, a murderer, a sponsor of terrorism, a subverter of his country’s declared purpose in this world and no example with which to define Iranians. All this, for the purpose of brevity can be taken as understood, and the point of the invitation to send a message becomes luminously transparent. It was an invitation to him to condemn himself out of his own mouth, and he did that with great aplomb. That he should be left with the idea that he had hoodwinked these uninformed, unintelligent jackals was all part of the purpose of the invitation. Try not to run away with the idea that the only person to have seen through his counterploy was sitting at your computer.