QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for the purpose of profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be very untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
- Overall, we rate Far News Questionable based on poor sourcing, reporting unproven or debunked conspiracy theories, promoting pro-Government propaganda, and publishing fake news stories.
Detailed Report
Reasoning: Government Propaganda, Conspiracy, Fake News
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: Iran
Press Freedom Rating: TOTAL OPPRESSION
Media Type: News Agency
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in February 2002, Fars News is an English-language news website from Iran. The Editor in chief is Morteza Ghamari Vafa and Seyyed Nizamdin Mousavi is the managing director.
In addition to Persian reporting, Fars News Agency also provides Turkish and Arabic news, which features World and National Politics, Opinions, Society and Culture, Sci-Tech, and more. Fars News Agency is described as a pro-government news agency.
Please read our report on how Government influences media in Iran.
Funded by / Ownership
Fars News is funded and supported by the Government of Iran.
Analysis / Bias
Reporters Without Borders has reported Iran as “One of the most oppressive countries” for press freedom.
In review, the content of headlines and articles use minimal loaded words about national news, such as “Energy Ministry Caretaker: Iran to Reconstruct Syria’s Power lines, Power Plants.” However, they poorly source their articles, heavily quoting without providing links to sources such as this article.
According to The Guardian, In September 2012, the Fars News Agency sourced The Onion website’s news on Ahmadinejad as actual news without crediting the Onion. In April 2013, Fars News Agency ran a story about an Iranian Scientist who claimed to build a “Time Machine.” Further, according to the Huffington Post, in January 2014, Fars News reported Nazi space aliens have run the US. I
Finally, when reporting on the USA, they are harshly critical in promoting negative propaganda such as this America’s lost dreams; Washington fell to the corner of the ring. In general, this is a government propaganda source that is not credible for reliable news.
Failed Fact Checks
Overall, we rate Far News Questionable based on poor sourcing, reporting unproven or debunked conspiracy theories, promoting pro-Government propaganda, and publishing fake news stories. (M. Huitsing 9/12/2017) Updated (08/17/2022)
Source: https://www.farsnews.ir/
Last Updated on May 24, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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