Labour gives banned channel free rein
Despite ban, propagandist and party supporter who called Israel a terror state was able to film meeting
PRESS TV, the Iranian state broadcaster, has long been a source of controversy. In January 2012 it was banned from broadcasting in the UK.
Critics of the English-language news network call it a propaganda channel, as it is funded by the Iranian state.
Meanwhile, its director is reportedly appointed by the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, which has led to accusations that its output reflects the strict conservative ideology of its religious establishment.
The broadcaster has previously been criticised for giving a platform to David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, and for being overly critical of American and Western foreign policy.
Press TV had its broadcasting licence in the UK revoked by Ofcom, with the satellite news channel taken off air in Britain after it was judged to have repeatedly broken the broadcasting code.
Much of the furore around the decision to revoke the licence focused on an interview broadcast by the channel in 2009. Press TV had shown an interview with Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek journalist jailed in Tehran while covering mass protests against a disputed presidential election.
Mr Bahari said the interview had been conducted under duress and his captors threatened him with execution unless he said what they wanted him to.
In 2011, Ofcom fined Press TV £100,000, reversing an earlier decision to revoke the licence. As part of its investigation, Ofcom found editorial decisions were being taken in Tehran.
It wanted Press TV to be under the editorial control of the same company in London that held the broadcasting licence or for the licence to be transferred to Tehran. Ofcom said Press TV refused and consequently lost its licence.
BSKYB, the satellite broadcaster, was ordered to drop it from its network in the UK – a decision that Press TV claimed amounted to a “clear instance of censorship”.
Ofcom said: “Through the course of 2011, Ofcom was engaged in a sanctions case with Press TV regarding an interview obtained under duress from the Newsweek and Channel 4 journalist Maziar Bahari while in an Iranian prison which Ofcom had held to be a serious breach of the Broadcasting Code. This resulted in the imposition of a £100,000 fine on Press TV Ltd.
“During the course of the sanctions hearing the licensee made representations that suggested to Ofcom that editorial control of the channel rested with Press TV International (based in Tehran). Broadcasting rules require that a licence is held by the person who is in general control of the TV service: that is, the person that chooses the programmes to be shown in the service and organises the programme schedule.
“Ofcom gave Press TV Ltd the opportunity to apply to have its operations in Tehran correctly licensed by Ofcom and Ofcom offered to assist it to do so.
“Press TV Ltd has failed to make the necessary application and Ofcom has therefore revoked Press TV’S licence to broadcast in the UK.”
Prominent UK politicians have featured on Press TV in the past, including George Galloway, the former Labour MP, and Ken Livingstone, the former Labour mayor of London. Perhaps the most notable politician to have appeared on the channel is Jeremy Corbyn who reportedly accepted up to £20,000 for his appearances, the final one apparently taking place six months after Ofcom revoked Press TV’S licence.
Mr Corbyn defended his appearances on Press TV, telling the BBC in January 2018 they had taken place a “very long time ago”.