Fitting: while CNN gets a Twitter beatdown for neglecting to adequately cover the Iranian election, the Iranian government's blocking the BBC's (stellar) reporting of the aftermath following yesterday's results. Peter Horrocks, the (very pissed off) BBC chief, writes:
It is important that what is happening in Iran is reported to the world, but it is even more vital that citizens in Iran know what is happening. That is the role of the recently launched BBC Persian TV which is fulfilling a crucial role in being a free and impartial source of information for many Iranians. Any attempt to block this channel is wrong and against international treaties on satellite communication. Whoever is attempting the blocking should stop it now.
Strong words. BBC's reporting of the election results has been nothing short of incredible: John Simpson and his cameraman were actually arrested before filing the following report:
And where's the American cable news media on this? Up until today, kind of absent. Flipping through cable news networks, you could've caught some sporadic coverage yesterday - as the events were unfolding - but really, not much more. As mentioned, other people noticed, too: a Twitter hashtag about the lack of MSM coverage on the Iranian elections ("#CNNfail") peaked this morning, and CNN's noticeably ramped up their coverage of the elections since yesterday.
Did the Twitteratti have the impact (and subsequent victory) on the big, bad cable networks they think they did? Normally, I'd say "no, not at all, they're Twittering," but the opinion on CNN's lackluster coverage was so unanimous, it could've been pointed to in a room somewhere as irrefutable evidence that people were turning to other outlets instead of them for the news. Meanwhile, according to Andrew Sullivan, Twitter users in Iran are organizing rooftop protests using the microblogging service. I'm still trying to figure out how to get a bag delivered using it, but to each their own.