Editing Channel 4 (section)

=== Ahmadinejad's Christmas speech ===
In the ''[[Alternative Christmas message|Alternative Christmas address]]'' of 2008, a Channel 4 tradition since 1993 with a different presenter each year, Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] made a thinly veiled attack on the United States by claiming that Christ would have been against "bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers".

The broadcast was rebuked by human rights activists, politicians and religious figures, including [[Peter Tatchell]],<ref name=":2">{{cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/anger-as-ahmadinejad-delivers-christmas-message-on-channel-4-28461412.html |title=Anger as Ahmadinejad delivers Christmas message on Channel 4 |last=Belfast Telegraph |date=25 December 2008 |work=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721002154/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/anger-as-ahmadinejad-delivers-christmas-message-on-channel-4-28461412.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Louise Ellman]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7799652.stm |title=Ahmadinejad show 'causes offence' |date=25 December 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721002159/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7799652.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ron Prosor]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2008/12/2008122614288623436.html |title=UK criticises Ahmadinejad broadcast |last=Agencies |date=26 December 2008 |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721002156/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2008/12/2008122614288623436.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and Rabbi Aaron Goldstein.<ref name=":2" /> A spokeswoman for the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] said: "President Ahmadinejad has, during his time in office, made a series of appalling anti-Semitic statements. The British media are rightly free to make their own editorial choices, but this invitation will cause offence and bemusement not just at home but among friendly countries abroad".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/dec/25/channel4-iran |title=Government slams C4 over Ahmadinejad Christmas message |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Haroon |last=Siddique |date=25 December 2008 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=15 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215212203/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/dec/25/channel4-iran |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, Channel 4 was defended by [[Stonewall (charity)|Stonewall]] director [[Ben Summerskill]] who stated: "In spite of his ridiculous and often offensive views, it is an important way of reminding him that there are some countries where free speech is not repressed...If it serves that purpose, then Channel 4 will have done a significant public service".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/12/24/channel-4-under-fire-for-allowing-homophobe-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-to-deliver-christmas-message/ |title=Channel 4 under fire for allowing homophobe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver Christmas message |last=Staff Writer |date=24 December 2008 |website=Pink News |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721002155/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/12/24/channel-4-under-fire-for-allowing-homophobe-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-to-deliver-christmas-message/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Dorothy Byrne]], Channel 4's head of news and current affairs, said in response to the station's critics: "As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential... As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view...Channel 4 has devoted more airtime to examining Iran than any other broadcaster and this message continues a long tradition of offering a different perspective on the world around us".<ref name=":2" />