CHRIS WATTIE

'Chris Wattie', is a Canadian journalist who writes predominantly for Canada's ''National Post'' newspaper as well as the Reuter's news service. Wattie is based in Toronto, Canada.

Contents

Career

Awards

References

Career

From August to mid-September 2003, Wattie was embedded with the Canadian military contingent in Kabul, Afghanistan^[1]
Main articles: 2006 Iranian sumptuary law controversy

On May 19, 2006, the National Post, a major Canadian daily newspaper, headlined a story bylined by Wattie claiming that Iran was enacting a law requiring non-Muslim religious minorities to wear "special insignia": yellow for Jews, red for Christians and blue for Zoroastrian ^[2]. These claims spread quickly, particularly over the Internet, causing significant and widespread reaction, but were challenged when they could not be independently confirmed. According to Ha'aretz, while the story spread quickly among blogs, "serious news publications such as ''The New York Times'', on the other hand, chose to ignore the affair pending further examination." By the end of the day, the original article was no longer available on the news website. Instead a new story by Wattie questioned the accuracy of the earlier claims, which he attributed to "a news story and column by Iranian-born analyst Amir Taheri in yesterday’s National Post". ^[3]. The National Post's published an apology and an explanation for the erroneous reporting in its May 24, 2006 issue^[4].

Awards

★ Ross Munro Award Honorable Mention (2005) ^[5]

References

1. "Embedded in Afghanistan", Rosemary Poole, ''Thunderbird'' (UBC School of Journalism), November 2003
2. "Iran eyes badges for Jews: Law would require non-Muslim insignia", Chris Wattie, ''National Post'', May 19 2006 ''(no longer available)''
3. "Experts say reports of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue", Chris Wattie, ''National Post'', May 19 2006
4. "Our mistake: Note to readers", ''National Post'', May 24 2006
5. Ross Munro Award & Vimy Award Dinner, LtGen (Retired) R. J. Evraire, November 18, 2005