The Damascus Dossier investigation involved dozens of journalists from at least 20 media outlets, led by German broadcaster NDR. The stories went live in December. The @newlinesmag.bsky.social story outlines shocking behaviour by some journalists, and poor coordination between outlets.
This is a introspectional must read especially for journos. It dissects how a series of investigative stories on a trove of leaked docs containing data & gruesome photos of Syria's forcibly disappeared, ended up retraumatizing families.
Critical reflection on the duty to inform, & minimizing harm.
"As Iran's January crackdown killed thousands, grieving families abandoned traditional Shiite funerary rites, refusing prayers, releasing doves and dancing at gravesides."
The Iran war isn't just disrupting oil prices; major cargo lines have halted bookings and rerouted because of threats around the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, which could push trade toward East African ports, reports @kayliwewe.bsky.social .
From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social archives:
Deep in the mountains of northern Azerbaijan, a 300-year-old community of multilingual Jews keeps "Europe's last shtetl" alive, reports Evan Pheiffer.
📹 When the powerful break the law, the consequences can differ wildly. @kayliwewe.bsky.social shows how the Epstein files reveal stark global gaps in justice and accountability.
Watch now:
🎧 Listen to “Gaza and the Fall of Western Idealism” — acclaimed writer and journalist Omar El Akkad joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social for a frank and moving discussion about the implications of the war in Gaza.
🎉 @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast The Lede has been nominated for Best Interview at the NYC Podcast Awards. Cast your vote here: https://www.silver-nyc.com/nycpodcastawards/vote
Editor’s Pick:
The strikes on Iran will wound its leadership, but regime change requires a counterforce that the U.S. and Israel simply do not have, writes @hhassan.bsky.social .
"The war on Iran is an ideological battle in which moral boundaries have been breached unconscionably, and the sheer disregard for human life that’s on display is only one aspect of it." | Kourosh Ziabari
From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social archives:
Israel’s 2025 bombings shook Tehran & killed hundreds of civilians. Sociologist Asef Bayat reflects on his hometown and its people’s spirit of care, resilience and quiet determination to carry on.
"You won't see 1979-style revolution. But the revolutionary regime built out of 1979 will be gone." Almost a week into the war, what might a new #Iran look like? @arashtehran.bsky.social tells me and Negar Mortazavi on the @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast. Full ep: newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...
During a heated parliamentary debate, Más Madrid leader Manuela Bergerot accused Netanyahu & Trump of targeting a girls’ school in Iran and said celebrating the deaths of schoolgirls “is disgraceful.” She warned that backing the war could bring instability.
Many in the MAGA-verse feel betrayed by the Trump administration’s Iran war. The uproar raises a basic question: Is MAGA about principles — like opposition to regime-change wars — or whatever Trump says? @dannypostel.bsky.social and Alec D’Angelo explore. newlinesmag.com/running-note...
A Trump escalates his war on immigrants and refugees stateside, opens a new war front in the Middle East -- implausibly labeled a "defensive operation" -- and rages against European allies, my new Nation column breaks down what all of this means. www.thenation.com/article/arch...
As US‑Israeli strikes escalate, Tehran residents have opened up their homes and shared resources, forming informal networks of solidarity to protect each other:
Current top read:
@ntabrizy.bsky.socialexplains how an open-source investigation debunked viral claims that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard accidentally bombed a girls’ school in Minab, showing the evidence circulating online was misidentified or fabricated.
For years on my old blog I published the names of servicemembers who died in Iraq & Afghanistan. No other outlets were.
These are the first 4 Americans to die in the Iran War.
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35
Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20
NEW: ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who declined to identify former clients.
In one of our current top reads, Mehrzad Boroujerdi looks at how Ali Khamenei’s journey took him from literary modernism to revolutionary Islamism, and how the impending succession places the Islamic republic’s future in question.
🎧 Listen to “Gaza and the Fall of Western Idealism” — acclaimed writer and journalist Omar El Akkad joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social for a frank and moving discussion about the implications of the war in Gaza.
.🎉 We are thrilled to announce that @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast The Lede has been nominated in the Best Interview category at the NYC Podcast Awards!
"Hezbollah fighters launched a volley of rockets at Israel from south Lebanon to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in what could be the single stupidest thing the Party of God has done since its inception."
From the @newlinesmag.bsky.social archives:
Bhimrao Ambedkar helped write the Indian Constitution and campaigned against its caste system. Scott R. Stroud explains how his democratic vision combined John Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy with a novel approach to Buddhism.
After the killing of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, Mexico faces violent fallout and uncertainty, highlighting the limits of the government’s anticartel strategy and raising fears of a destabilizing power vacuum.
“Iran’s cultural heritage belongs to a shared global history, and there is a strong case that deliberate targeting of it, if it comes to that, may be prosecutable under … international criminal law.”
"Not everyone who is happy about the killing of Khamenei is also welcoming the entirety of this foreign intervention." Negar Mortazavi on the mixed feelings of Iranians about the war. With @arashtehran.bsky.social. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...
NEW: The Damascus Dossier was described as "one of the most consequential investigations of 2025." Syrians whose families were forcibly disappeared called it a media stunt. For @newlinesmag.bsky.social , Melvyn Ingleby and Hazar Yazji unravel what went wrong. newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...
NEW: The Iran war poses threats to global shipping that go beyond the price of oil, from uncertain supply lines to Gulf states to insecurity along the East African coast, writes @kayliwewe.bsky.social in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...
