Iran's female ninjas sue Reuters, Tehran bureau closed

Iran’s state-owned Press TV channel ran a television report in February about a group of women in Karaj, outside Tehran, dressing as Japanese warriors to practice the martial art Ninjutsu. Reuters television’s version said “Iran is training thousands of female ninjas as assassins,” ostensibly to defend the Islamic Republic from possible foreign attacks.

“The athletes say the Reuters journalist had asked them what they would do if their country came under attack. Reuters used the girl’s patriotic response as an excuse to call them assassins,” Press TV later reported. It said the journalist who conducted the interview left Iran after a court case was opened.

New York magazine said on Thursday: “Though the women toss shurikens and deliver crushing roundhouses, it’s all for practice and show – they don’t actually stalk and kill political targets under the cover of night.

“Unfortunately, the Reuters story called the ladies ‘assassins’ and alleged that they would be deployed to kill foreign invaders. Other British news outlets repeated the false claim. Realizing its mistake, Reuters quickly corrected the report, but the peaceful martial artists claim that the damage to their reputation has already been done. They’re now suing for defamation of character. As one of them put it:

“‘We are taking legal action because the ladies that train in Ninjutsu first and foremost enjoy it as a sport. It’s about working out and staying fit. Reuters has blatantly lied about us.’”

Press TV quoted a female Ninjutsu practitioner as saying: “The lady from Reuters asked me only one question which had a very obvious answer. I believe that anyone anywhere in the world would defend his country if it were attacked … but she twisted our words to make us look bad and described us as assassins in the headline of her story.”

Reuters corrected the story’s headline, “Thousands of female Ninjas train as Iran’s assassins”, to read “Three thousand women Ninjas train in Iran”.

The guidance ministry contacted Tehran bureau chief Parisa Hafezi about the video and its publication, as a result of which Reuters’ 11 personnel were told to hand back their press cards.

“We acknowledge this error occurred and regard it as a very serious matter,” editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said on Thursday. “It was promptly corrected the same day it came to our attention. In addition, we have conducted an internal review and have taken appropriate steps to prevent a recurrence.”

Adler said that Reuters was in discussions with Iranian authorities in an effort to restore the accreditation.

“Reuters always strives for the highest standards in journalism and our policy is to acknowledge errors honestly and correct them promptly when they occur,” he added.

All that survives of the erroneous video report online is a slideshow, below.

SLIDESHOW

Postscript: The Reuters bureau in Tehran has been closed and correspondents have been expelled on several occasions since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah. Barry May, now editor of The Baron, was ordered to leave in 1981. ■