US Overture to Iran

[Dolan50]

The Fars News Agency (FNA) is a news agency in Iran.

While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", news organizations such as CNN and Reuter describe it as a "semi-official" news agency with ties to the government.The Wall Street Journal has stated the agency is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Fars news looks to me like the radical US equivalent of Fox news with its fondness for yellow journalistic propagandist spin,which it often uses to sell its readers more what they want to hear rather than actually reporting the facts and confirming the information they supposedly pass off as news.

I would go as far to say that you can expect the same kind 1/2 truths and disinformation from Fars as you could from Fox if a Republican was sitting in the White House right now.

Much like the same type of garbage being spun by Time,Huffington Post and MSNBC presently in this country.

[LongBlade]

Fars news looks to me like the radical US equivalent of Fox news with its fondness for yellow journalistic propagandist spin,which it often uses to sell its readers more what they want to hear rather than actually reporting the facts and confirming the information they supposedly pass off as news.

I would go as far to say that you can expect the same kind 1/2 truths and disinformation from Fars as you could from Fox if a Republican was sitting in the White House right now.

orly?

[Dolan50]

"Even before the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 world powers ended in Geneva early Sunday with no deal, an Iranian general lashed out at America Saturday and warned both the U.S. and Israel that they will be attacked.

According to Fars News Agency, the regime's outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, said "America's interests and all of Israel are within the range of the Islamic Republic and there is not the slightest doubt among Iran's armed forces to confront the American government and the Zionists (Israel)."

You would think this would be very important news and the rest of the major world news sources or at least the news world that still has some semblance of ethical journalistic integrity would be all over this story.

Yet,they seem to be very disinterested in this revelation.
Could it be that they find the so called news agencies involved unreliable?

[JasonPratt]

The Fars News Agency (FNA) is a news agency in Iran.

While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", news organizations such as CNN and Reuter describe it as a "semi-official" news agency with ties to the government.The Wall Street Journal has stated the agency is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Yes, I know, that information was in the article you were previously deriding as bogus. ;)

The point is that when a news agency heavily affiliated with propaganda for the state and especially the chief military arm of the state, puts up a story like this, it doesn't matter whether the quote is bogus or not: the state is telling its people (and maybe those outside its borders) what kind of narrative to expect. In other words, this is one "official" government position being accurately reported by the government's own propaganda arm, precisely because the apparatchiks are writing the text, and says something about their intentions, even if their intentions should be regarded more as wishful thinking than strictly literal.

[Dolan50]

My point was I don't think they speak for everyone in the government or even the majority of the Iranian people,no more than Fox speaks for everyone in our government or the majority of the people in the US.

I find neither Fox news or Fars news credible or ethical.
And think Fars is a propaganda tool used by certain fringe elements of the government to get their message out the same way Fox promotes the Republican agenda.

I also found no reference about this so called attack on the US or Israel in regards to the nuclear peace initiative this weekend,but did find a similar statement made by Fars a few months ago in regards to any kind of attack by the US or Israel  if ever a first strike attack was made on their nuclear sites in Iran.   

I have no doubts that there are war mongers in Iran just like the ones we have here,that have no problems with distorting the truth as long it coincides with their agenda.

I also know that wars and rumors of war have a strange way of galvanizing people towards your way of thinking and fear will always be a tool for these types of people.
"The first casualty of war is the truth!"