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From mission to profession: Journalism in Iran, 1979–2004

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Hossein Shahidi
Hossein Shahidi*
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, American University of Beirut
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Abstract

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Type
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Iranian Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2006 , pp. 1 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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Footnotes

The article, based on the author's doctoral dissertation at Oxford University, is focused on newspapers and the recently emerging online news sites, the only segment of the Iranian media where independent journalism has had an opportunity to develop.

References

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4 Based on tables in Nemagarha-ye Jam'iyati-ye Iran, 94.

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47 Article 3 of the Iranian Press Law.

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65 Ketab-e Jashnvareh-ye Sheshom-e Matbou'at [The Book of the Sixth Press Festival], 7.

66 Ali Rabi'i, “Khat-e Nofuz ra Jeddi Begirid” [Take the Infiltration Line Seriously], Ketab-e Jashnvareh-ye Sheshom, 91–93.

67 Photograph by Javad Montazeri and cartoon by Mana Neyestani, Ketab-e Jashnvareh-ye Sheshom, 203 and 287, respectively.

68 Asadi, Abbas, “Otaq-e Izoleh, Akharin Istgah-e Mobtalayan-e AIDS” [Isolation Room, the Last Stop for AIDS Patients and other reports], Ketab-e Jashnvareh-ye Sheshom (Tehran, 1999), 227–262Google Scholar.

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73 Salam front page, 6 July 1999, reproduced in Mohakemeh-ye Salam, 367.

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75 Pourostad, Mohakemeh-ye Salam, 210–211. The Court later imposed a five-year ban on Salam.

76 For comments by Ayatollahs Fazel-Lankarani, Makarem-Shirazi, Nouri-Hamadani, Behjat, Mousavi-Aredebili and Sheikh Javad Tabrizi, see Rasai, , Payan-e Dastan-e Gham-angiz, 1:213–225Google Scholar.

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78 BBC World Service report, 12 March 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/674499.stm.

79 BBC World Service report, 17 May 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/752624.stm, and BBC Persian Service report, 16 August 2003, http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/030816_mf-asgar.shtml.

80 For details of the conference and its aftermath, see Zakariaee, Mohamad-Ali (ed.), Conferans-e Berlin: Khedmat ya Khiyant? [Berlin Conference: Service or Treason] (Tehran, 2000)Google Scholar.

81 Rasai, , Payan-e Dastan-e Gham-angiz, 1:206–209Google Scholar.

82 Association of Iranian Journalists, Daghdagheh-ye Azadi [Angst for Freedom] (Tehran, 2003), 201–202Google Scholar.

83 Rouznamehnegar, no. 27 (February–March 2001): 4.

84 Rasai, , Payan-e Dastan-e Gham-angiz, 2:247Google Scholar.

85 Asar-e Bargozideh-ye Haftomin Jashnvareh-ye Matbou'at [Selected Works from the Seventh Press Festival] (Tehran, 2001), 7Google Scholar. Iran's Reporters' Day is named after Mahmoud Saremi, a correspondent for the national news agency, IRNA, who was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1998.

86 Rouznamehnegar, no. 13 (September–October 2000): 2.

87 Seyyed-Ebarhim Nabavi, quoted in Rouznamehnegar, no. 30 (May–June 2002): 6.

88 Asar-e Bargozideh-ye Haftomin Jashnvareh, 27.

89 Daghdagheh-ye Azadi, 201–203.

90 Association of Iranian Journalists' Secretary, Massoud Hushamand-Razavi, interviewed by the author, Tehran, 4 Jan 2005.

91 Asar-e Bargozideh-ye Haftomin Jashnvareh, 24.

92 BBC Persian Service reports on 28 July 2004: http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2004/07/040728_a_mb_mohajerani.shtml, http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2004/07/040728_a_mb_mohajerani.shtml, http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2004/07/040728_mf_mohajerani01.shtml, and http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2004/07/040728_mf_mohajerani.shtml. http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/030623_mf-icdac.shtml.

93 Rouznamehnegar no. 23 (September–October 2001): 3.

94 Daghdagheh-ye Azadi, 205–206.

95 Rouznamehnegar, no. 32 (July–August 2002): 2.

96 Reuters, 16 July 2001, carried by Gulf News Online: http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=22330.

97 Rouznamehnegar no. 32 (July–August 2002): 1.

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99 Rasaneh Supplement, weekly publication of the office of Deputy Minister for Press and Publicity Affairs, Minstry of Culutre and Islamic Guidance 1 (May 2004): 5.

100 Rasaneh Supplement 1 (May 2004): 3.

101 Rasaneh Supplement 1, no.1 (16 June 2004): 4.

102 Rasaneh Quarterly 15, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 230.

103 Rouznamehnegar no. 39 (May–June 2003): 1. The paper named the detainees as Ali-Reza Jabbari, Reza Alijani, Taqi Rahmani, Hoda Saber, Amin Bozorgian, Ensaf-Ali Hedayat, and Mohammad-Mohsen Sazegara.

104 In July 2004, the judiciary announced that the “sole defendant” in Zahra Kazemi's case, an Intelligence Ministry agent, had been acquitted and that Zahra Kazemi's death could only have been caused by “a drop in her blood pressure caused by her hunger strike, thus making her fall from a standing position and get hurt.” Zahra Kazemi's family and reformists in Iran said the trial was part of a cover-up to protect a high ranking judiciary official. The ruling was also dismissed by the Canadian government. (BBC World Service, 29 July 2004: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3936021.stm.)

105 Rouznamehnegar no. 40 (August 2003): 1–6.

106 Rouznamehnegar no. 40 (July–August 2003): 8.

107 Rouznamehnegar no. 40 (July–August 2003): 9.

108 The then Director of Research at the Centre for Media Studies and Research, Bahrampour, Ali, “Aasibha va Masaae'l-e Herfei-ye Matbou'at” [Professional Failures and Problems of the Country's Press], Rasaneh Quarterly 14, no. 2 (Summer 2003): 42–49Google Scholar.

109 Rouznamehnegar no. 42 (April–May 2004): 4.

110 Rouznamehnegar no. 42 (April–May 2004): 1.

111 Rouznamehnegar no. 44 (August–September 2004): 8.

112 Safdari, Akbar, “Herfeh Rouznamehnegar” [Profession, Journalist], Rasaneh Supplement 1, no. 5, 5–20 (August 2005)Google Scholar: 8–9.

113 Jahan-e-Football [World of Football] editor, Laroudi, Ardeshir, Rasaneh Supplement 1, no. 10 (22 October–5 November 2004): 6–7Google Scholar.

114 Sohofi, Rasaneh Supplement 1 (June 2004): 5. The “Press Council” was later renamed the “Media Council.”

115 Sohofi, , meeting the managers of sports and popular newspapers, Rasaneh Supplement 1, no. 4 (22 July–5 August 2004): 4Google Scholar.

116 The Director General of the Stock Exchange, Abdoh-Tabrizi, Hussein, Rasaneh Supplement 1, no. 3, 6–21 (July 2004)Google Scholar: 1–2.

117 Rasaneh Supplement 1, no. 12 (21 November–5 December 2004): 1–3Google Scholar.

118 Fariborz Rais-dana, “Miz-e-gerd-e Towlid-e Melli” [National Production Roundtable], Naqd-e Now [New Critique] monthly, no 4 (January–February 2004): 8.

119 Shenasnameh-ye Mowzoui'-ye Matbou'at-e Keshvar. The smallest groups of newspapers listed in the catalogue, with five titles each, were the “Holy Defense Literature” and “Satire and Cartoons.”

120 Shenasnameh-ye Mowzoui'-ye Matbou'at-e Keshvar [Subject Catalogue of the Country's Press], (Tehran, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 2004)Google Scholar.

121 For instance, the November 2004 issue of the quarterly Me'mar [Architect] had a cover price of 40,000 rials ($4.5), five times greater than the women's monthly Zanan. One-third of Me'mar's glossy, full color pages carried advertisements for construction material, equipment, fittings, and furniture.

122 Issa Saharkhiz, quoted in Rouznamehnegar no. 42 (April–May 2004): 12.

123 For a list of the online services, see: http://www.parstimes.com/IL5.html.

124 Reporters Without Borders' website, http://rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=10733, accessed 16 January 2005.

125 Internet Filtering in Iran in 2004–2005: A Country Study, http://opennetinitiative.net/studies/iran/.

126 Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Seyyed-Ahmad Mo'tamedi, Shargh, 24 January 2005, 4.

127 Shargh daily, 25 December 2004, 4.

128 Deputy Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Sadri, interviewed by Jahan-e San'at daily, 2 March 2005, 5.

129 Internet World Stats, Top Twenty Countries, http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm, 12 February 2005.

130 Internet World Stats, Internet Usage in Asia, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm, 3 February 2005.

131 Internet World Stats, Internet Usage in the Middle East, http://www.internetworldstats. com/stats5.htm, 3 February 2005.

132 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_weblogs.

133 Badjens [Iranian Feminist Newsletter], September 2004, http://www.badjens.com/rediscovery.html.

134 Data compiled by the author from various Iranian newspapers.

135 ISNA, 11 December 2004, http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-454945.

136 Arash Sigarchi, editor of Gilan-e Emrouz (Gilan Today), based in Rasht, Shargh, 23 February 2005, 2. Mr. Sigarchi's lawyer said he would lodge an appeal. Mr. Sigarchi was arrested in January after using his weblog to criticize the arrest of other online journalists, BBC World Service report, 23 February 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4292399.stm.

137 Shargh, 2 March 2005, 6, quoted Reporters Without Borders as saying that Webnegar writer Mohammad-Reza Abdollahi-Nasab had been arrested and sent to central prison in Rafsanjan. He had been found guilty of “publishing lies and insults” and sentenced to 6 months in prison and payment of 1 m rials [$112]. The sentence was confirmed by the Court of Appeal on 24 February.

138 Baztab news site, 4 June 2005, http://www.baztab.com/news/25020.php.

139 In January 2005, Iran's SMS service already had 1.4 million subscribers – Hamvatan Salam daily, 8 January 2005, http://itiran.net/archives/001202.php.

140 Eqbal daily, 7 March 2005, 9.

141 Shargh, 2 March 2005, 11.

142 Shargh, 25 December 2004, 4.

143 For the definition and elaboration of the concept of Iran as a “short-term” society, see Katouzian, Homa, Iranian History and Politics (London and New York, I.B. Tauris, 2003)Google Scholar.

144 Mohammad Qouchani quoted by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), reproduced by the German-based Persian language news site, Iran-e Emrouz, 3 August 2004, http://news.iran-emrouz.de/more.php?id=6792_0_21_0_M.

145 Kayhan daily, 5 July 2005, available online: http://www.nasle3.com/archives/000045.html.

146 Ghaed, Mohammad, “Taqaddos va Ebtezal-e Sotoun-ha-ye Chaapi” [The Sanctity and Vulgarity of Printed Columns], introduction to Ghaed's Persian translation of Martin Walker's The Powers of the Press (Tehran, 1993), 10–11Google Scholar.