Blurs

Iran International is a London-based Persian-language news organisation, launched in May 2017.  It broadcasts 24/7 and primarily targets audiences inside Iran and the Iranian diaspora. It is owned by Volant Media UK Ltd, a privately owned UK company. Who actually owns it though? This is where things become interesting. Iran International says it is privately owned and editorially independent, and specifically denies being funded or controlled by the Saudi government. Its parent company, Volant Media, describes its networks as editorially independent. However, there has been substantial reporting linking its financial backing to Saudi Arabia. In 2018, The Guardian reported claims from sources familiar with the operation that approximately $250 million had come from Saudi Arabia's royal court. The reporting also highlighted the involvement of Saudi-British media executive Adel Al-Abdulkarim, who had connections to Saudi media figures.  Iran International disputed the allegation...

Scroll through Facebook, X, TikTok or Instagram and you can encounter hundreds of accounts presenting themselves as news. Some look remarkably professional. Others appear to be little more than a logo, a dramatic headline and a constant stream of political stories. They may call themselves independent media. Alternative media. Citizen journalism. Breaking news. But who actually runs them? Who owns the website behind the Facebook page? Who registered the company? Who are its directors? Who pays for the operation? Who controls the advertising? And are several apparently independent news outlets actually connected to the same people? In an age when a social-media post can reach hundreds of thousands of people within hours, these questions have become increasingly important. And surprisingly often, the answers are publicly available. The brand may not tell you much One of the easiest mistakes to make is to treat a media brand as though it were a person. A page might have a name suggesting ...

The Hidden Journey of Information From Reality to Your Phone There was a time when war was something most people encountered through newspapers, radio broadcasts or the evening news. Today, it can arrive in our homes before we have even got out of bed. A phone vibrates on the bedside table. A notification appears. A video shows a missile strike thousands of miles away. Another shows a collapsed building. Another reports a bombing, a natural disaster, a mass shooting, a famine or a humanitarian crisis. Within minutes, we can move from a mental photograph of breakfast to images of death, destruction and despair. And then, almost immediately, back to entertainment, advertising and social media. The extraordinary and catastrophic has now become part of the ordinary. A World of Permanent Crisis Modern technology has fundamentally changed our relationship with catastrophic events.  A war happening on another continent is no longer simply reported to us. We can watch it unfold. Smartphone...