On March 5th, 2010, Canadian journalist and Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari was interviewed by the Toronto Star’s Martin Regg Cohen. The interview marks Bahari’s first public appearance in Canada since his imprisonment and release in Iran, following the disputed June 12th elections. The event was hosted by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) in collaboration with Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies, Iranian Association at the University of Toronto (IAUT), and Campaign (Cycling) for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). At about 1min50secs into the video below, Bahari says good-naturedly that despite any of the international media’s short-comings, none would torture or imprison you for what was said – a dig at the months he spent in prison following his own reporting following the election. Bahari laughed as he continued, in a show of spirit, a testament to persistence, joking that some of his more conventional editorial sessions might qualify as torture also. Watch below as Maziar Bahari addresses a variety of topics at the University of Toronto interview, including the struggles of journalists, the risks of writing articles that can be “misinterpreted,” taking into account media biases, and more.
Much thanks to the organizers for forwarding this along.