Dorothy Parvaz, Al Jazeera journalist and Nieman Fellow, released from Iranian custody

By Joshua Benton @jbenton May 18, 2011, 8:50 a.m.

Last night, I started writing a post about our friend Dorothy Parvaz, the Al Jazeera English journalist and former Nieman Fellow (class of ’09) who went to Syria to report on the uprising there, then was detained and sent to Iran. It was going to be another post calling for her release, as the Nieman Foundation already had.

I was very happy this morning to find out I can leave that post in draft form: she was released by Iranian authorities overnight and is back in her base in Doha. We’re extremely grateful to all who helped achieve her release, and that she reports she was treated well in Iranian custody. She’ll be heading back to Vancouver soon to visit her family.

Here’s more on her release from the NYT, Seattle Times, and Canadian Press.

Joshua Benton is the senior writer and former director of Nieman Lab. You can reach him via email (joshua_benton@harvard.edu) or Twitter DM (@jbenton).

POSTED May 18, 2011, 8:50 a.m.

Show tags

TWITTER FACEBOOK EMAIL

Sarah Scire

Seeking “innovative,” “stable,” and “interested”: How The Markup and CalMatters matched up

Nonprofit news has seen an uptick in mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidations. CalMatters CEO Neil Chase still says “I don’t think we’ve seen enough yet.”

Jonathan Stray

“Objectivity” in journalism is a tricky concept. What could replace it?

“For a long time, ‘objectivity’ packaged together many important ideas about truth and trust. American journalism has disowned that brand without offering a replacement.”

Renee DiResta, Abhiram Reddy, and Josh A. Goldstein

From shrimp Jesus to fake self-portraits, AI-generated images have become the latest form of social media spam

Within days of visiting the pages — and without commenting on, liking, or following any of the material — Facebook’s algorithm recommended reams of other AI-generated content.