Covering Iran in the New York Times

The New York Times does the worst job in covering Arab-Israeli issues and Iranian affairs. I would even say that its coverage of Iranian affairs is the most flimsy and worst-documented, along with Arab-Israeli issues. Rumors and websites (not to mention the musings of Nazila Fathi in Toronto) are sufficient to make point and to offer generalizations about the situation. You read this sensational headline in the New York Times and you think there is some story there (it got my attention because Iranian media have in fact peddled the conference for obvious propaganda purposes). And here is the evidence for the sensational headline: "But no sooner had the visitors arrived in Tehran than hard-liners condemned them as traitors. Some clerics were offended by the musical event, which featured women playing traditional music alongside men. The visit aroused such a storm in the media that the Tehran City Council removed all banners and billboards advertising it, said Khabar Online, an Iranian Web site."