As the government tightens its grip on the press and protesters, journalists rely on distant contacts and navigate misinformation to tell the story.
complex role. The primary method for people inside Iran to get information out, it has also enabled the spread of false information.In the early days of the protests, a video circulated online purportedly showing Kurdish fighters standing guard outside Amini’s family house in Saqqez. It was a scene that could have bolstered theBut Gol called his Kurdish political contacts — and discovered that the video was two years old and had no connection to Amini’s family.
“We realized it was the Revolutionary Guard deliberately spreading those videos,” Gol said. Other media outlets “simply saw it, and they showed it,” he said. “But we were very cautious.”When a fire broke out at Evin prison, notorious for warehousing political dissidents, social media lit up with horrifying reports that some escaping prisoners had emerged into the middle of a minefield — a detail that made it into some Western news reports.
But journalists find the details they derive from eyewitnesses and citizen reporters as essential as any digital fingerprint, Fattahi said. A video may show a massive protest, yet interviews are necessary to confirm the true scope.“We can’t be in the business of wishful reporting and thinking,” he said, “so that level of trust and access is key in terms of verification.”
Journalists are also mindful not to endanger their tipsters. “Sometimes I don’t contact my sources when something big happens, because I don’t want to create the risk. I don’t want anyone to go to jail because of me,” Esfandiari said. “If there’s something important, they will come to me and contact me.”
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