100,000: Oh really?

Balatarin
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100,000: Oh really?
by CIM
30-Jun-2012
 

The city of Lodi, California has 100,000 inhabitants (as you can see from the aerial photograph); and those homes in the photograph of Lodi have several people in them (that is, the crowd would be bigger than what you see in the picture of Lodi if people stood on the street at the same time).  Now that you have a feel for what 100,000 strong crowd of people looks like from the air, the point is clear: The notion that "100,000 people" attended the MEK rally -- as featured on the front page of Iranian.com -- is a falsification.  Were a couple thousand people there?  Yes.  100,000?  Absolutely not. Double the size of the Super Bowl attended this group's speech?  Oh really?  The only question for Iranian.com -- which has presented the false and bloated figure on the front page of its website -- is whether Iranian.com can quickly produce a source for it to show that another media source made an error and Iranian.com negligently allowed the falsification to be reprinted as fact.  (1)  If you have a source for the 100,000 size of the crowd claimed, you print it.  It will not change that the figure is still false; at best it just shows that make-believe is presented as reality without editorial scrutiny.  (2) However,  if you do not have a source, it is standard practice to print a retraction to summarize your reasons for publishing falsehoods and not checking sources.  It is common knowledge that falsified and exaggerated figures are often presented on behalf of groups seeking recruits; Groups and their propagandists commonly do this to give the outward appearance that the group enjoys more popularity than their actual smaller number of supporters.  Let's be clear: this website is publishing a common form of recruiting propaganda on the front page.  It's up to Iranian.com to show the public that this is not being done deliberately because the logical inference presently is that it is.  You can always overcome that by addressing facts.  

Balatarin
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more from CIM
 
First Amendment

....

by First Amendment on Sat Jun 30, 2012 06:08 AM PDT

....One thing is for sure........their organizational skills seem surpassing those of any other opposition group. That makes it absolutely worthy of an investigative report void of any bias.


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CIM

Sources / Photo of MEK Rally

by CIM on Sat Jun 30, 2012 02:52 AM PDT

Make sure to take a look at a photograph of the rally and how sources are properly attributed. 

 

Blogs don't allow the posting of 2 photos - see the link for clarification of the rally size; and you can see where the information came from (i.e., "a source").  Was it a claim of the group itself?  Or was it reported by a media outlet that either judged the size of the crowd or quoted someone unrelated to the group (e.g., the fire department).   


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acopier101

You asked for source?

by acopier101 on Sat Jun 30, 2012 01:58 AM PDT

Here are some sources:

 

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Reported by: Nima Sharif
On Saturday, June 23 2012, about a hundred thousand supporters of the Iranian resistance gathered in a Rally in Paris

Copyright © 2004-2012 Stop Fundamentalism in Iran.
All Rights Reserved.

***

“One hundred thousand of you came here today because you believe in democracy, freedom and change,” said Philip Crowley, former Undersecretary of State and State Department spokesman adding, “I am here to tell you that we hear you in the United States.  And even more importantly, the regime in Tehran hears you as well, which is why they fear you as they do.”

***

By Organizing Committee for Convention for Democracy in Iran
Published: Monday, Jun. 25, 2012 - 3:55 am

LONDON, June 25, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ --

Subsequent to the gathering of 100,000 Iranians in Paris yesterday, Mr. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke before a large number of supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Paris on Sunday, June 24, 2012. 

Read more here: //www.sacbee.com/2012/06/25/4586507/newt-ging...

***

Key public figures from all over the world joined the massive rally that saw 100,000 protestors coming together to declare solidarity with the Iranian opposition in the northern Paris suburb of Villepinte.

By Saad al-Massoudi
Al Arabiya Paris

//english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/24/2...

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The National Council of Resistance of Iran — which organized Saturday’s event at a convention center in the northern suburb of Villepinte — estimated the turnout at nearly 100,000 people.

The Associated Press

//articles.boston.com/2012-06-23/news/3238392...

***


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