Iran Front Page (IFP) was officially launched at a gathering dubbed Iranian Media and the International Community in Tehran on Wednesday August 20. One of the speakers at the event was Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Forghani, a veteran journalist and prominent journalism professor at Tehran’s Allameh Tabatabai University. The following is the translation of the speech Dr. Forghani delivered at the meeting:

First of all, let me greet all those who have gathered here for this event. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take up a few minutes of your time. I would like to offer congratulations to Mr. Askarieh on the latest of his innovative moves which is expected to be unveiled later tonight.

I know him for almost 38 years now. His willingness to take risks and sail into uncharted territory is his outstanding quality, something which is not so common these days. That is the quality I have always stayed away from. Naturally, I am a conservative person. Over the years, the people I know have asked me: “Why don’t you launch a newspaper or a magazine?” I have never done that because as the name uncharted waters suggests stress and anxiety come with the territory. He [Mr. Askarieh] has launched Safheyeavval [name of a magazine Mr. Askarieh has launched in the 1990s] and embarked on many other journeys. This latest push is meant to paint a better picture of Iran for the world public opinion.

I think what is going to be unveiled tonight is a symbol of the age we live in, an age which has been dubbed as the age of communications, an age in which media reign supreme.

Let me shift to another subject which is worth mentioning. I think what is going to be unveiled tonight is a symbol of the age we live in, an age which has been dubbed as the age of communications, an age in which media reign supreme. Willingly or unwillingly, we all live in an environment eclipsed by the media.

Jean Baudrillard has argued that all human knowledge comes from media, either directly or indirectly. In other words media have conquered our lives. Of course, such pervasive presence can be used for both positive and negative purposes. The presence of media in our lives is not always black and white. They are not necessarily an ailment, neither are they a cure. In some cases, they emerge as an ailment and in others as a cure. Depending on who is running them and what policies they follow, media can serve different purposes.

The website which is going to be launched later tonight is the result of what was thrust onto the world stage by communications technology, especially after the 80s. I believe, just like every other civilizational product, new technologies do have the potential to be used for negative goals. There are positive uses as well, just like the site which is going to be launched later tonight.

For decades we have complained about the hegemony of global media which are also known as mainstream media. We have complained about their monopoly, about the fact that they file reports containing millions of words on a daily basis without mentioning the Third World and if there is any mention of the Third World it simply involves things which are taken there from nearby countries to be processed.

Initially these technologies made cracks appear in the prevailing discourse of media. As time passed those cracks grew wider and wider. This is a great achievement. Media, whether within a country’s national borders or at an international level, have rivals. Although these rivals are mostly pressed for cash and lack a cohesive structure and strong human resources, they are very competitive.

Gaza provides a perfect example.People took to the streets in cities in the US, Britain, France, Spain and some other countries to condemn Israeli crimes and protest against their governments. The end result was not what the mainstream media covered. In those protest rallies participants even criticized the mainstream media for censorship.

How did the public learn about what was really happening? Governments were unable to censor the news that spread through social networks. As a result, cohesion developed in the court of public opinion. Never has the Israeli government been under so much pressure in the court of public opinion. Similarly, Western governments have never been under so much pressure at home to do something to stop this bloodletting and savagery.

That means each and every international citizen has been empowered. Sometimes an eye-witness account a person shares with others on a blog can not only compete with what Jean Baudrillard describes as hyper-reality but overshadows it to a large extent. We saw that happen during the wars in Iraq and Syria and in Arab countries swept by the Islamic Awakening and more recently in Gaza.

This is a positive phenomenon, it has some negative aspects too. It gives everyone a chance to speak, but who answers for what is published remains unanswered. It is also unclear how truthful the things which are published are. It is unclear how accurate the stories are and how much of a role personal hostilities have played in its content. These are two sides of a single incident. We need to make efforts to improve the positive aspect.

As Mr. Askarieh said he has received no government aid and that is what is important. We so badly need to get the private sector involved in these activities.

What is going to happen [the launch of the IFP website] is an auspicious move. As Mr. Askarieh said he has received no government aid and that is what is important. We so badly need to get the private sector involved in these activities.

Over the decades, in our country state-run media including print media have prevailed. When independence, freedom and pluralism are talked about in international communications and journalism, private media are being referred to.

I don’t want to imply that the government-run media cannot or should not exist. What I am saying is that private media should be given more room to focus on realities. Government elements should not trample them. We hope to see more such activities in our country and a more robust private sector on the media stage.

It seems that in local and global media spheres which are full of excitement we need a code of conduct more than ever before. I believe ethics are conspicuous by its absence in our society and in the international community today. Media should develop the code of conduct in question and remain committed to its provisions. However, one should not forget that such a thing cannot happen in vacuum. It should be part of a wider professional journalism structure.

Although journalism made its debut in Iran 180 years ago, journalistic professionalism is still absent in the country. There are some principles which should be worked into a comprehensive system of media rights. Professional independence is one of these principles. Any such system should cover the definition of professional journalists, their salary, and the terms of their insurance and retirement, etc. It should also guarantee their right to investigate and freely publish information, news and opinions.

Economic independence is of the essence too. In the absence of such independence a journalist’s performance might get dangerous.

A former student of mine who works for a news agency called me a few days ago and said he wanted to interview me on the phone. As part of the first question he asked he said he had heard reports that in the West journalists are encouraged to buy the shares of companies to minimize their financial dependence on the media company they work for. Is it true that such a practice gives them more independence, he demanded.

In response I said, the definition of a professional journalist is clear. A professional journalist is one who makes a living through working for an agency. When a person becomes a stakeholder in a company and the dividends that firm pays become the main source of his income, he cannot be viewed as a professional journalist. Such attitudes are becoming more and more mainstream these days.

A supreme media council that would protect the professional and social responsibilities of journalists on the one hand, and supervise their performance on the other should be created.

Professional and economic independence which brings about job security, specialized training, and a code of conduct should all be part of the package. A supreme media council that would protect the professional and social responsibilities of journalists on the one hand, and supervise their performance on the other should be created.

As a person who has been involved in journalism for more than four decades, I should tell younger journalists that in the absence of ethics journalism is a crime. When we are not committed to the truth, when we don’t make efforts to keep away from insults, slander and bribery, and when we don’t act in keeping with professional ethics, we are doing injustice to our fellow citizens. We need to be committed to global ethics and add our own cultural values to the universal convention.

In the absence of such criteria it would be difficult to determine when a journalist is serving his community and when he is committing treason. So let’s make a call for creation of an ethical movement in the journalistic community. That is the thing that should happen.

All of us should know how important this code of conduct is. We should also know that any profession which has its own code of conduct is viewed as more significant. You can’t expect journalists to answer for their conduct and abide by professional ethics without ensuring their professional rights.

I hope we can join hands and help realize something that has eluded us over the past 180 years. Thank you very much.

Iran Front Page (IFP) was officially launched at a gathering dubbed Iranian Media and the International Community in Tehran on August 20, 2014. One of the speakers at the event was Dr. Sabah Zanganeh, a veteran diplomat who quit politics a few years ago and began to offer counselling to private-sector players on cultural and economic fronts during his retirement years. In his speech, Dr. Zanganeh described Iran as a land of culture and civilization which continues to draw global attention to date. He called on the private sector to step into the realm of media, citing the fact that state-run media cannot be as successful as their private peers in interactions. He also offered congratulations on the launch of such a move in the form of Iran Front Page by veteran journalist Mahmoud Askarieh. The following is the translation of the speech Dr. Zanganeh delivered at the get-together:

It is an honor to be at a gathering which is at the center of an independent, constructive and vital push. As it was said earlier after leaving office as a member of parliament I was appointed as deputy director of the Islamic Republic News Agency. Dr. Kharrazi was to vacate the position, and I was offered the job, but later the then minister of culture and Islamic guidance asked me to take charge of the Cultural Department of his ministry which has since turned into two departments which separately deal with cultural and media affairs.

There were certain difficulties associated with that job. At the same time one had to deal with cultural questions which normally require patience and media affairs which are part of a fast-paced current. I feel duty-bound to recall the patience Mr. Khatami exercised back then. As part of my job, I had to sign off on applications for establishment of printing houses and oversee the distribution of paper to publishers of magazines and newspapers. [The Iran-Iraq] war was still in progress and we did not have much foreign currency at our disposal. Thanks to the support we received, we were able to raise some money.

Two big institutes whose owners were bitterly opposed to the then minister of culture applied to set up their own printing houses and I would not approve their applications. In a graceful way that was typical of him, Mr. Khatami criticized me and asked me why I had not approved their applications. “We don’t have any foreign currency to give to them,” I responded. “Don’t worry about it. They will handle that part of the job themselves. Just give them the opportunity to speak their mind,” he said.

The concentric circles behind me can provide an example for our society. Throughout history Iran has been at the center of cultural and civilizational circles, not just in the immediate vicinity of its borders but in places as far as China in the east and Mauritania and Morocco in the west. These cultural and civilizational circles required efforts to cement the Persian literature in these regions. The impact is still evident.

As a result of a decline in political power and other historical factors, the circles shrank both politically and economically. But the Iranian-Islamic culture maintained its influence. The question is: Why haven’t we been able to ride the wave of these concentric circles in our media? One of the most natural areas for our media to exploit is the cultural foundation which has its roots in history. But, Iranian media have not fully tapped into this valuable legacy at their disposal.

Active or passive presence of Iran? In recent decades Iran has always been at the center of world news. Before the revolution Iran always drew attention as an oil-rich country. After the revolution, what placed Iran under the spotlight was varied. But Iran had a passive presence rather than an active one. In other words, the name of Iran came popping up, but Iran was never there to reflect its own realities. Why did this happen?

It seems we are at the center of a storm, but we don’t have the tools to describe the developments unfolding around us. Just like a person who is being tossed around in a swirling vortex. Those who are away see the waves and can describe what is going on, but the person who is caught in the middle is unable to describe what his condition is like.

I wish Mr. Askarieh luck. I want to ask a few questions here: What percentage of Iranian media knows foreign languages? As a person who seeks to embark on a new journey, how much do you know about widely-spoken languages in the world? Can your fellow journalists directly follow cultural developments of other countries and prepare a response in a foreign language? What percentage of Iranian media coverage is dedicated to foreign news?

As I said Iran is at the center of the concentric circles of its own culture and civilization. What percentage of Iranian journalists are on the ground in regions where the Iranian civilization has a foothold to provide us with news? Of course, some people have taken measures to contribute to that cause. For instance, Mr. Doaei has always worked toward that goal and has set up representative offices in Europe which have been able to reflect the cultural, media and social issues of the country. Iran Institute has made efforts in this regard too. But how successful have other media outlets been in this regard?

What percentage of Iranian authors, analysts, journalists and news website owners can have their articles published in foreign newspapers and magazines? To find answers to these questions one need to work out statistics. Have we prepared our personnel to analyze things or publish articles in foreign media?

Media are one of the fundamentals of this important question which gives Iran a chance to play a role on the international stage. What percentage of the stories that are related to the culture circle comes directly from Iranian media? As you know, a great volume of our news stories are prepared by others. We just make small changes before making them available to our audience. For instance, we change the word Sunni rebels into ISIS. But we never get into the depths of what is happening in their societies from an Iranian perspective, so we have to contend with what they provide us with and add as little as possible in the way of dressing up.

How much have we trained in remaining unbiased in reporting news stories and in our reporting? How much have we trained in developing social depths and remaining close to civil society? I think the step IFP has taken is a sign of good things to come. I hope it will stay on its intended course.

Once I asked whether it was necessary to have an external TV or radio service in addition to Al-Alam Magazine, everyone responded “yes”. But as the notion came closer to becoming a reality, everyone said it should be run by the government. That was how Al-Alam, Al-Kawthar and other state-run services emerged. Naturally the global audience can easily spot signs that a medium is run by a government. That stains its reputation and results in the audience to turn their back on it.

It seems Iranian society is mature enough to be able to use this transformative move to make a difference on the world stage. Let me offer congratulations on this auspicious move. By the way, it was great to see my friends, old and new, at this event.