Iran's 16 Azar: A Tribute to Activism, Video, & EA's Readers (Wall Street Journal)

A big hat-tip to all our readers, who feature in an article this morning by Christopher Rhoads in The Wall Street Journal, "Activists Skirt Web Crackdown to Reach the Outside World". Rhoads notes:

The intensifying crackdown on supporters and leaders of Iran's opposition, and the banning of foreign media from covering it, hasn't prevented a flood of online information about Iranian protests from reaching the world.

Video, still images and text messages posted on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and news Web sites Monday chronicled the latest antigovernment action, held largely at Iranian universities on what has historically been a protest day, National Student Day.

Rhoads mentions the efforts of activists such as Mehdi Saharkhiz ("onlymehdi") and Nikahang Kowsar, and he cites a specific incident on how "new media" relies on readers to cover important events despite Government restrictions and the fog of quick-moving developments:

Even video can be false or deceptive. A video posted Monday morning on foreign events blog enduringamerica.com, hosted by a University of Birmingham professor, showed someone burning a poster of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, before a crowd of cheering people. Several readers thought the image was suspicious, in part because it didn't show the burning poster and the crowd in the same shot.

It also didn't appear to match other video taken at the university, said Scott Lucas, a professor of foreign policy at the university who started the blog.

"We consulted several people when the doubts arose," said Mr. Lucas, who added that it is possible backers of the regime make such videos to discredit the opposition. "We pulled it after it was up for about two hours."