Media seeks ways around Iran clampdown

Reports from 'citizen journalists
At CNN, more than 2,000 reports from "citizen journalists" related to Iran have been received since the day after the election, and more than 80 "fully verified" videos and photos have been aired, spokesman Nigel Pritchard said.

CNN also has reported on content carried by Twitter and other social networking sites, but "always placing it in context for viewers," he said.

"It is important that the audience has a clear understanding of not only that (vetting) process, but also the fact that in some cases we are not able to fully verify content from those third-party sites," Pritchard said. "Especially in a media situation like we have in Iran, it is vital that all elements of our reporting are placed in full context."

The AP monitors Twitter and other sites and has reported some posted comments on known events. But a campaign was initiated by anti-government campaigners for Twitter users outside Iran to reset their location as the Tehran area — knowing that it would increase their global exposure.

"That's great for activists, but it's terrible for journalists," said Sree Sreenivasan, dean of student affairs and a professor at Columbia Journalism School in New York. "You've been following these people who you thought were in Iran and they're not."

Last week, the British Broadcasting Corp. said it was using two extra satellites to broadcast its Farsi-language service to try to bypass jamming by Iranian authorities. The Voice of America also has added new satellite paths to counter Iranian blocks.

BBC correspondent ordered to leave
On Sunday, the BCC said its Tehran correspondent, Jon Leyne, has been ordered to leave the country. The Fars news agency said Iranian officials have accused Leyne of "dispatching fabricated news and reports, ignoring neutrality in news, supporting rioters and trampling the Iranian nation's rights."

In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the news director for Al-Arabiya television, Nakhle Elhage, said Iranian authorities have suspended the network until further notice.

Newsweek spokeswoman Katherine Barna said that the magazine's resident correspondent in Iran, Maziar Bahari, was detained without charge by Iranian authorities on Sunday. There was no contact with Bahari, a Canadian citizen, since his detention.

Newsweek called the detention "unwarranted and unacceptable" and demanded Bahari's release.

The Reporters Without Borders researcher Hervieu said blogs, Twitter, YouTube and other Internet methods are increasingly the only way for Iranians to reach the outside world. But the use of anonymity by blog posters trying to avoid repercussions makes information difficult to verify.

Many of those posting "are both spectators and activists," blurring lines of impartiality, he said.

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