''Rooz'' ( fa, روز, literally ''day'') was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

news website. It is mostly staffed by exiled Iranian journalists including

Masoud Behnoud Masoud Behnoud ( fa, مسعود بهنود; born in Tehran) is an Iranian journalist, He began his career as a journalist in 1964. Since then he has worked as an investigating journalist for different newspapers. Behnoud lives in the United Ki ...

Ebrahim Nabavi Seyyed Ebrahim Nabavi ( fa, سید ابراهیم نبوی; born 1958 in Astara, Iran) is a prolific Iranian satirist, writer, diarist, and researcher. He currently writes in the news website '' Gooya'' and the online newspaper '' Rooz'', and ha ...

and

Nikahang Kowsar Nikahang Kowsar ( fa, نیک‌آهنگ کوثر, born 1969), also known as Nik Kowsar is an Iranian-Canadian cartoonist, journalist, and blogger, currently living in Washington, D.C., US. Kowsar was also a reformist candidate for the second term ...

with occasional articles by activists and journalists inside Iran, including

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was ...

and

Ahmad Zeidabadi Ahmad Zeidabadi fa, احمد زیدابادی (born 21 July 1965 in Zeidabad, Sirjan) is an Iranian journalist, academic, writer and political analyst and the secretary general of Office for Strengthening Unity. He is one of the notable figure ...

. Another contributor is

Hossein Derakhshan Hossein Derakhshan ( fa, حسين درخشان; born January 7, 1975), also known as Hoder, is an Iranian-Canadian blogger, journalist, and researcher who was imprisoned in Tehran from November 2008 to November 2014. He is credited with starting ...

, who has been under arrest in Tehran since 1 November 2008. It was first published on the web on May 10, 2005. It is published by "Iran

Gooya Gooya ( fa, گویا) is a Persian-language website started by Belgium-based journalist Farshad Bayan in 1998. At that time, there were a few Iran-related websites and most Persian media did not have online editions. Manually prepared electronic c ...

" (registered in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Controversy

Iranian critics of the website argue that it does not work in the interest of that nation, and does not represent factual accuracy of the events. Their reasoning is based on the website's funding by

Hivos Hivos ( nl, Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation) is an international cooperation organization, with its global office in The Hague, The Netherlands. Hivos provides support to civil ...

,http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JjK9K-KdXTAJ:www.hivos.nl/nederlands/layout/set/print/partners/moretest%3Fid%3DIR007+site:http://www.hivos.nl+iran+gooya&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a a Dutch organization which in turn is funded by the government of

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In November 2006,

who maintained the Rooz website claimed on his blog that he was accused of working for the Islamic Republic government and therefore not paid for a year by Rooz.Hossein Bastani, editor of Rooz, a Hivos-funded project, refuses to pay staff's rights, accusing them of working with Islamic Republic to stifle free speech
Furthermore, he hoped that Hivos, a Dutch organization that helps to fund for Rooz, would pressure them to allow more freedom of speech to their staff. In response,

claimed that Derakhshan has taken the website "hostage" and that he demands "ransom", and asked director Hossein Bastani to confront Derakhshan.http://nikahang.blogspot.com/2006/11/blog-post_116326605491307166.html

References

External links

*
Archive of English articles on Rooz

Hivos website
Mass media in Iran {{Iran-stub

Controversy

See also

References

External links