Tehran Bureau arose as a response to the shrinking of foreign news coverage in U.S. media. The concept disrupted entrenched models of international reporting because Tehran Bureau would not be based inside Iran. Using digital tools, it would have full access to reporters and experts in the field.
Founder Golnoush Niknejad began developing networks in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, New York and the Bay Area.
With no funding, Tehran Bureau launched on Blogpost.com and published its first article “Iranians React to Obama Win.” BBC World Service and ABC News picked up the piece right away.
This early success led to syndication with Agence Global, the exclusive syndication agency for The Nation and Le Monde diplomatique.
Tehran Bureau begins in earnest its coverage of the elections in Iran.
Tehran Bureau launches a new website designed pro-bono by Amir Ebrahimnia of Derooted Immersive, who also orchestrated a successful social media campaign on Facebook.
The New York Times is the first publication to syndicate our election coverage. The piece, published on June 9, 2009, was a dispatch from one of our in-country correspondents, Jason Razaian.
As Tehran Bureau leads the story, its website becomes the target of a cyber attack. This prompts Tehran Bureau to migrate content to Twitter and social media, an unprecedented move at the time that would later credit Tehran Bureau as one of the pioneers for live blogging and digital news forever changing the journalism landscape.
One month later, PBS / Frontline reaches out to Tehran Bureau and we enter into a partnership.
We win our first journalism award: Denmark’s Victor Prize for Critical Journalism
Also, our first editorial partnership on a documentary with Frontline--titled "A Death in Tehran”--wins an Emmy Award
Tehran Bureau founder receives the inaugural Innovator Award from Columbia School of Journalism.
The Daily Beast names Tehran Bureau founder as one of “17 people who are changing the world" through their editing, blogging, reporting, videos and Twitter feeds.
Columbia School of Journalism honors Tehran Bureau by naming it one of “50 Great Stories” in the last 100 years, a rare honor bestowed by the University’s top faculty and historians.
Tehran Bureau’s Coverage of Modern Iran is featured in the Columbia School of Journalism’s centennial commemoration.
Tehran Bureau enters into a partnership with the Guardian newspaper, and moves into the newsroom at Kings Cross in London.
The Iran Deal changes the geopolitical landscape, so Tehran Bureau launches another disruptive paradigm to cover the economy.
Tehran Bureau devotes its resources to mapping Iran’s economy from the ground up. The result is unprecedented data journalism on the topic.
Launch of Tehran Bureau Business targeting policymakers, think tanks and international conglomerates.
Launch of Doublethink Institute, a think tank that publishes findings based on Tehran Bureau’s database.
Pandemics and the environment know no borders. Journalism beckons. Our team is itching to get back into the newsroom. Tehran Bureau is re-launched.