Only one message this Christmas… you’re all crazy.
So Channel 4 screen an “Alternative” Christmas Message from Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad and with unwavering predictability, nobody gets it.

On Boxing Day the Express printed a page long comment piece by “columnist” Leo McKinsky, an outspoken individual at the best of times, he’s usually a credible journalist (not just by the Express’ standards) yet it seems even he has missed the point this time.

I don’t believe Channel 4 is priming us to believe Ahmadinejad’s words, that if Jesus were here today he would be “on our side” i.e. anti-west. I believe they’re fulfilling their role as informants, peddling facts as opposed to opinion; a role the mainstream media (especially the Express) could do with being reminded of from time to time.

Since coming into power in 2005, Ahmadinejad has made more oratorical clangers than Dubya himself; denying the holocaust and calling for the end of Israel, he often criticises the US and once claimed Iran should be moved to Europe.

The fact he enjoys the right to free speech may be perceived as a joke, but surely it highlights the fact his own people live in oppression and fear of their basic human rights much more than an NGO making the same claims.

Channel 4 have shown us something we need to know when they know we’re not in a rush to go to work, do the dishes, let the dog out.

They predict Ahmedinejad will be a major player in international affairs in 2009; he’s up for election in August 2009, the outcome of which will have impacts around the globe, and for this reason alone I am willing to learn everything possible about the man.

Channel 4 are not saying “listen to him”, “obey him”, “follow him”… no branch of the media should be saying that. The role of the press (and considering its easy accessibility, TV in particular) is to inform people; to empower them so they can make their own choices.

We can’t make our own choices based on what Jacqui Smith tells us to think, and neither should we want to. By the same token, we shouldn’t believe everything we read in the papers; we should take the information, put it into context and if need arises, question it.

Leo McKinsky, continued his rant by calling channel 4 “adolescent, left wing students… who challenge the establishment”. Well thank God someone does. Ahmadinejad’s previous speeches, and the speeches he wasn’t allowed to deliver, are well documented and this one only strengthens previous conclusions about his character and intentions.

All Channel 4 want us to do is put the facts together; facts which, in this era of instant communication, are out there for everyone to find.

The way columnists are shouting down Channel 4’s bravery for airing the speech is as good as saying “don’t do that, the viewers are too thick to get it”.

Channel 4 is far from anti-British or pro-extremist… does nobody remember the undercover mosque film, when Channel 4 was accused (and cleared) of “inciting racial hatred” for uncovering extremism in British mosques?

They investigative journalists and it’s investigation at its best.

Leo McKinsky, like many other columnists adopting the cookie-cutter view, goes on to say “Hitler would never have been broadcast on the BBC, so why does Channel 4 feel the need to dedicate airtime to Ahmadinejad?”

If we can’t learn from the mistakes of WWII then maybe we’re powerless to stop it being repeated. The BBC hardly championed Hitler, but ignoring him did little good for the rest of us. For the millions killed in battle and PoW camps and even in their own homes by Nazi soldiers, greater coverage of Hitler prior to his invasion of Poland, showing him in the light we came to see him in, could have sent things in a different direction.

If the world learned anything between 1930 and 1945, it was not to simply hope that evil will go away, but expose it and keep a very close eye on it.

Channel 4’s Christmas message wasn’t the only one to make the news. The Queen’s speech was concerned with the state of our finances (and no doubt our tax paying status), The Bishop of Blackburn, Nicholas Read, called for us to pray for abusers and Dr Rowan Williams said no single hero will come and save us from our greed and temptations… what, not even Jesus?

So thank you Channel 4, not only for believing the public has the intelligence to piece together the evidence (even if swathes of opinionated and published members of the public didn’t) but for taking an alternative approach to everything, on our behalf, and taking the risks and flack that come with it.

In today’s climate of manipulation and bias, people need a source of news and information they can trust.

So thank you again Channel 4, and Merry Christmas to you too.