Press TV

Press TV   (Independent media)
Formation	2007-07-02
Headquarters	Tehran, Iran
Type	media
Interest of	"Philip Cross"
An Iranian English-speaking media channel notably banned from the UK and US

Press TV is an Iranian state-owned news and documentary network that broadcasts in the English and French languages. Since its modern, well-presented shows often give news from a different angle than Western corporate media, it has found itself sanctioned,threatened and banned on several occasions.

In June 2021, the United States government seized the domain name Presstv.com.

In June 2021, the United States government seized the domain name Presstv.com. The channel is still available at http://www.presstv.ir/

Own Presentation

Press TV's mission is to offer a different point of view on world events, to free the global mass media market from the dominance of Western opinion; overcome cultural differences; and highlight the universality and vitality of political and cultural differences. The TV channel declares that it is not dependent on any commercial or government structure. Press TV seeks to compete, in particular, with Al Jazeera English, France 24 and Russia Today.

Serena Shim

Serena Shim

Serena Shim (1985-2014) was an American journalist working for Press TV. Reporting from the Turkish-Syrian border, she reported about fighters from ISIS crossing from Turkey into Syria, disguised in trucks carrying the symbols of NGOs and the World Food Programme. Serena told her employers that she was threatened by Turkish intelligence and accused of espionage. Two days later, she was suddenly killed in a suspicious car accident in October 2014, the circumstances of which have remained murky since that time. When she was threatened by the Turkish intelligence, she continued to report despite her well-founded fears, and "paid the ultimate price for her uncompromised integrity in journalism".

The Serena Shim Award for independent journalism, unrelated to Press TV, is named in her honor.

Ramin Mazaheri

Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for PressTV and has lived in France since 2009. A declared communist, he regularly writes columns for alternative media, like The Saker and the Greanville Post. He has covered the Yellow Vests protests extensively.

Ramin Mazaheri

Censorship in the UK

The British government gave PressTV large fines several times over the years. The British government (via its media regulator Ofcom) decided that the UK public should be prevented from hearing what Press TV had to say.

Banning

On 19 December 2011 Press TV interviewed David Halpin about the plea to judicially review UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve's refusal to instigate an inquest into the premature death of weapons inspector David Kelly. On 20 January 2012, Press TV's licence to broadcast in the UK was revoked by Ofcom with immediate effect.

Censorship

On April 3, 2012, Munich-based media regulator Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM), announced it was removing Press TV from the SES Astra satellite, as they did not have a licence to broadcast in Europe.

In July 2013 Press TV and other Iranian channels were removed from several European and American satellites (amongst others those of Eutelsat and Intelsat), allegedly because of the Iran sanctions, even though an EU spokesperson told the channel that these sanctions do not apply to media. In November 2012, the Hong Kong-based AsiaSat (owned by the Carlyle Group) took Iranian channels off air in East Asia, and in October 2012 Eutelsat and Intelsat stopped broadcasting several Iranian satellite channels, though the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting managed to resume broadcasts after striking deals with smaller companies that are based in other countries.

United States Bans

Since the United States government currently leads trade and economic sanctions against Iran, and does not allow Iranian journalists into the country, Press TV's only official presence in the United States was their representation at the United Nations.

Youtube has deleted several of Press TV's channels over the years. Google blocked Press TV access to their Gmail and YouTube in April 2019; although the latter remained active no new content could be added. YouTube removed Press TV UK from its platform in January 2020. In April 2019, Press TV reported that Google blocked their access (along with HispanTV) “without prior notice, citing “violation of policies,” and that they received a message saying “your Google Account was disabled and can’t be restored because it was used in a way that violates Google’s policies.” Although their YouTube channels remain open, no new content can be published.

On June 26, 2008, Florida congressman Gus Bilirakis proposed to declare Press TV, Al-Alam News Network and several IRIB-affiliated channels as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity."

According to the CIA front group NewsGuard, PressTV often presents disinformation and unverified information (without sources or evidence), notably from Russian media (Sputnik) or RT or coming from sites (French in particular) which have contributed to spreading conspiracy theories.

Domain name seized by US government

On June 22, 2021, the United States Department of Justice "seized 33 websites...in violation of U.S. sanctions." All of them were Shia-muslim websites, some of them Iranian, and included the domain name Presstv.com. The US government stated that PressTV was "disguised as news organization" and "targeted the United States with disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations".

 

Employee on Wikispooks

Employee	Job	Appointed	End
Mohammad Sarafraz	Chairman	2007	2014

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:An open letter to Mr Graham Howell, Director, Secretary, Ofcom	open letter	21 January 2012	Felicity Arbuthnot	A short complaint to Ofcom about the "media restrictions" in support of "democracy"
Document:Britain Bans Press TV	article	22 January 2012	Ashfin Rattansi	The story of the banning of Press TV from the UK Sky Platform channel 515 that you will not see covered in the commercially controlled media.
Document:Press TV CEO response to Ofcom	open letter	28 December 2011	Mohammad Sarafraz	The response by the CEO, Dr. Mohammad Sarafraz, to Ofcom's decision to ban Press TV from the UK air waves

 

Documents sourced from Press TV

Title	Type	Subject(s)	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:How to identify CIA limited hangout operation	article	Whistleblower Wikileaks Daniel Ellsberg Edward Snowden Affair Limited hangout Pentagon Papers	18 June 2013	Webster Tarpley	Citing the Pentagon Papers as an example, Tarpley suggests that both Wikileaks and the Snowden affair are limited hangout operations by the CIA.
Document:Press TV CEO response to Ofcom	open letter	Press TV	28 December 2011	Mohammad Sarafraz	The response by the CEO, Dr. Mohammad Sarafraz, to Ofcom's decision to ban Press TV from the UK air waves

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