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In the Name of God, the Almighty
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A Glance at the Press and Journalists in the Islamic
Republic of Iran
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Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran 27 years ago, Iranian
press and media have experienced many ups and downs. Before the Revolution
during the time of Shah's regime the number of the printed press was
limited and strict censorship was enforced against them to the extent that
public and critical views were not permitted to be reflected in the
newspapers. But the Islamic Revolution at the leadership of late Imam
Khomeini (RA) influenced Iranian press and journalists and most of the
Iranian press people joined wide spread strikes in the country on
29.Nov.1978 namely less than three months to the victory of the Islamic
Revolution. It is to be mentioned that before the victory of the Islamic
Revolution, around 74 different newspapers and magazines could be
purchased in the Iranian news-stand.
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But after the victory of the Islamic Revolution and establishment of the
Islamic Republic of Iran great importance was attached to the Iranian
press and media. As a proof to this claim we refer to the Article 24 of
the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran as follows: "All
publications and the press are free to express and print materials and
ideas unless they damage and violate the Islamic principals or public
rights". The press law which was adopted by the Islamic Consultative
Assembly in 1985 stipulates: "Main tasks of the press in the Islamic
Republic of Iran are as follows:
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- Informing people and promoting their knowledge.
- Promoting the objectives stipulated in the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Diluting false and divisive segregation based on peoples' race,
language, customs, traditions.
- Combating colonialist cultural presentations (including
extravagances (Israf), squandering (Tabzir), conspicuous consumption,
prostitution and ….) and preserving and promoting pure Islamic
culture and spiritual virtues.
- Preserving and promoting No-east, No-west policy.
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Article 3 of the same law refers to the right of the press and stipulates:
"All the press enjoy the right to publicly inform the ideas, fruitful
critics, proposals of people and the officials with observance of Islamic
norms, to the benefit of the society.
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Article 4 of the said law also stipulates: "Government officials or
non-Government parties do not have the right to exert pressure upon the
press for publishing biased materials or censor or control the materials
printed by magazines and newspapers".
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Views and ideas of Imam Khomeini (RA), Founder of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, are indicative of the Importance attached by him to the role and
position of the media and the press in the development of the society.
Imam Khomeini (RA) believed that the press, playing vital role in
deviating or correcting the society, are considered as main parts of the
present world.
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The General strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based upon giving
priority to the media activities and freedom of speech and opening the way
in favor of the press unless they violate other parties freedom. This
policy has prepared the ground in favor of pluralism, promotion of fair
and just political rivalries and tolerance, further exchange of diverse
views, promotion of the supervisory role of people, parties and the press,
tracking different social affairs by the media, expressing further
critical views on government activities and government officials and
finally giving the government a further responsive character toward the
demands of the people.
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It is to be mentioned that during the campaigns for the presidential
election, deputies of the election of Islamic Consultative Assembly, and
members of city councils and … the press played very important role in
the promotion of participation of people for determining their destiny and
future. In this respect we can refer to the ninth presidential election of
the Islamic Republic of Iran which as one of the most successful elections
witnessed the vital role played by the press holding different political
views. Statistics on the Iranian press in the past decade shows that the
number of newspapers concessionaires increased form 575 in 1994 to 2961 in
2005 which indicates a %19.3 growth within a decade. Within the same
context the number of permits issued for publishing newspapers from 2001
to 2002 was 162 while this figure increased to 191 in 2003. This number in
the current year (2005) has so far reached to 205 which implies a daily
growth in this respect.
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By taking a look at the related statistics on all the printed press we can
see a remarkable growth in the number of people, organizations, parties as
well as real and legal entities willing to join the information sector
aiming to disperse information in the society. It is to be mentioned that
the number of the permits for all printed press in 2004 stands at 418 out
of which 159 publications were specialized and 259 were for public
purposes. Out of the 418 publications 44 were published by governmental
sector and 374 were published by non-governmental sector. Therefore the
number of all publications by the end of 2004 reached 2817. Out of this
number 177 newspapers were published nation-wide and 119 newspapers were
published only in Tehran and 58 newspapers were published in other cities.
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It is to be added that 4 newspapers in English language, 2 newspapers in
Arabic language and one newspaper in Armenian language are published in
Iran. Besides one newspaper is currently published for the blind and one
newspaper is published for the children.
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Facilities and Services for Journalists:
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In addition to the permit facilities and related statistics, the Ministry
of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the
responsible authority for the press and journalists affairs, due to the
relations among information and media sectors and given the fact that as
compared with other employment, journalism is in the category of harsh
jobs and with the purpose to realize the contents, of Paragraph 12 of the
Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan, introduced the health and
social security insurance plan for creators of cultural and artistic works
to the legislative authorities.
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This plan which includes a number of facilities and services such as
retirement pension, the disabled pension, financial aids for the treatment
and, in case, death of the creators of artistic and cultural works who
include journalists, correspondents and photographers as well is
indicative of the importance the government attaches to the press people.
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Among other activities of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in
the recent years aiming to support the press people is the establishment
of the Credit Fund to support authors, journalists and artists.
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Activities of this Found include the following:
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- Providing members with financial assistance, for earning their
livelihood.
- Providing members with required financial resources in form of loans
for creating artistic and cultural plans and programs.
- Granting members interest-free loans (Gharzol-Hassameh)
- Providing financial resources for developing activities in the
fields of culture and art.
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Formation of guilds and unions by Iranian journalists and press people is
considered as another admeasure to defend and protect their there rights.
Among these guides and unions presently acting in Iran we can mention the
Guild Association of Journalists, the Muslim Journalists Union and the
Female Journalists Association.
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In General during 2004 to 2005 the cultural development policies were
further promoted in form of issuing related permits and further government
support for publications and they even covered journalists welfare and
livelihood. Therefore with respect to the basic guidelines of the new
government which revolve around justice-based policies and attention to
the poor we will further witness more attention to the press and
improvement of their situation in the future
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