Private Media Sponsors Challenge Their Independence – Mehr News Agency | Iran and world’s news

Mehr news agency, Culture and Thought Group_ Fatemeh Torkashvand: The private media has always struggled to fund itself while maintaining its independence from its provider. This is an issue that is also affecting the media in the world and they must find a way to overcome it or accept it without limits.

Now, however, with the widespread use of social networks and the presence of journalists on them, this problem has emerged in another way and can prevent journalists from operating freely, even on their personal pages. This is what Mohammad Saleh Moftah, the former managing director of the news site, said.FardanewsHe tells us about the case of “journalists’ activities on Twitter”.

Details of this conversation It follows;

* What do you know is the most important difference between official media and new social media such as Twitter?

One of the main differences between the two is the type of audience and the encounter with the audience and the type of access to him. In social networks, the audience is completely tangible and objective, and the person who is publishing the news sees his audience completely. On the other hand, the announcer or issuer of the message is also known and acts differently from the official media. For this reason, the way you work on social networks is completely different. Firstly, it is more personal, secondly, it is very common to comment on it, while even using an adjective in the news and news report in the official media is a weakness, but in social networks, the more stance you take, it seems that you are stronger and more active. It is more serious, and if a person publishes a news item formally and dryly on these networks, it is usually much less welcomed.

The third is the audience that responds quickly and is fully accessible. The fourth point is that because space is interactive, the form used to present content is usually more conversational because interaction and dialogue are formed in these networks. The speed of publication on social networks is much higher than the official media. After all, news has a special form in the official media, but because it is not known in social networks, it affects other features such as the speed of publication. Also, in social networks, long content is not expected from the producer of the message, and because of this, there are character restrictions, and because of these characteristics, people usually try to convey the content quickly, and even long arguments are avoided, but in official media, usually The volume of content is not limited and is longer.

It is also important to note that when an audience is reading a story on a particular media, they expect the volume to be commensurate with the same media. Up and down The bulk of the content of their members is less volume and more number, and the reader is naturally less careful and focused. So saying things that require more time and reflection may not be on Twitter at all.

* In your personal experience, do you find the official media more effective or personal media?

Both media have their own place, but if they are in a state of interaction with each other, they can increase their influence, that is, if an official media is not present in social networks, its effectiveness will decrease, and also if a person is only present in social networks. Nor can it be effective enough in content production. This is a reciprocal process.

In fact, social media helps a person to make a personal comment before a reporter contacts him or her and asks for his or her opinion. At least in terms of speed of publication, social networks seem to have advantages, but in terms of message and source credibility, official media is certainly far ahead. Consider a minister who in Twitter He publishes an article or speaks about it in an official interview with a newspaper or radio station. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person.

* What about the journalist’s personal reputation? Has Twitter brought more credibility to you or your activity in the official media?

About myself, because I started with the blog from the beginning and it was very important and useful for me that I was able to start my media activity from there and I learned the media from there. After that, I appeared in the official media space. So for me, new media and social networks have been a factor in building credibility, and later that same credibility has led me to work in the official media as well.

But in general, I believe that in today’s media environment, it is necessary for journalists to be present on social networks and introduce themselves as media activists. If this presence is not serious and continuous, both their credibility and their media will be diminished. In the world today, human media is more important than a text published in an official medium without the author’s name. People themselves need to be present on social media and be active because it is a two-way street. Because a person gains credibility from his position in the official media and then uses it on social networks to expand and consolidate his credibility, and this is a two-way communication.

* Have you ever had the experience of creating a conflict between your work in the official media and Twitter?

My experience is different in that I was not a journalist but a media director and in “FardanewsI was the responsible manager and the franchisee. However, there are restrictions on media policy for both the reporter and even the media manager, as you may sometimes have a personal comment that conflicts with your media policy or opinion. Or even some media outlets may have a special guide or instruction for their reporters on social media, which most professional media outlets have, but unfortunately in our country’s media, such a thing is not formulated and this issue causes problems for journalists. .

This problem has two sides. It can both cause problems for the journalist and his or her personal but professional comments, and it can also violate the media’s right to publish its news and views. After all, does a journalist have the right to comment on his personal media or not? Or some believe that the journalist should not take a stand at all and should maintain his neutrality according to the principle of maintaining neutrality, at least in appearance, because the neutrality of the media is the neutrality of its reporters. This hinders journalists’ political and social activism. There is the same thing about the BBC that its reporters do not have the right to comment on, and of course the only place where this directive is simply violated is on the BBC Persian. His reporters They act as fighters in the political arena and take clear positions, but in the rest of the media, they at least maintain this neutral appearance.

* Have you had any personal experience of creating these conflicts?

Not a specific experience that I remember right now, but in the case of managers, these kinds of conflicts take a different form. For example, they may have problems financing the media.

* Fardanews Where was the funding coming from?

It was private, and because it was private, the media economy became so important that we could pay our employees at the end of each month. For example, if we say bad things about an operator or the same car company, we may have trouble saying advertisements or financial relationships with those companies. Of course, I do not have any examples in mind, because at that time we were very open on these issues, and both I and the journalists Fardanews, We easily commented. But these issues are always effective.

But today, when I am no longer the director of the media, I can say much more clearly that the media does not talk about many of the problems that people see in the automotive industry, because a significant budget is spent on automotive advertising in the media, and this may be very obvious. It should not be, and it should be just a small blinking banner, but it is given as an advertisement anyway, and the media find themselves mutually committed to the interests of that car company. The same goes for other sources that have big money, and even if a journalist publishes articles independently, they may threaten his media that if he, his activities and کنشگری‌اش Do not give up cooperation with that media.

* Do you have a memory of tweeting that پربازتاب Has it created a different understanding of the media situation in you?

The latest example is that in my opinion, the tweets I made from the court case related to my follow-up on the issue of the new municipality could not be published in the official media. It’s been another year Fardanews I am not and this story has been followed up for the last 3-4 months.

* Even after you tweeted, the official media still did not publish the news while the case was going on?

Yes, by the way, this is one of the differences that many places avoid publishing due to conservatism. Finally, media executives meet with officials sometimes eye to eye And they get confronted, and that prevents them from being able to make clear comments sometimes, but not on social media. Of course, when it came to complaining about the municipality, I was looking for action that was not limited to the media. What I saw was that if we see criticism and problems, we should be able to pursue them within the formal and legal framework, and not just the media. Rather, the tools that exist in the country in order to solve the problems must be diverse, and if someone wants to pursue his criticism in the legal space of the country, he does not have to rely solely on the media. What I’m doing on Twitter right now is perhaps a small part of the right process that I think should have been followed, and that is that Demanded To proceed within the framework of the law and the legal structures of the country.

* Did filtering Twitter have any effect on your activity or the activity of others from your point of view?

Almost nothing, because from the very beginning when Twitter started operating in Iran, it was filtered around 1987 or 1988, so this filtering has not changed much. However, every once in a while someone asks why you are still on Twitter when it is filtered. Some people want to prevent the revolutionary current from operating in this space, but in general, it has no effect, and now everyone is active on Twitter. From the office of the Supreme Leader to us who work as ordinary people.

* You mean you agree with Twitter filtering?

In my opinion, the situation is not ready to remove the Twitter filter now, and at least I think that the situation is favorable. If we mention the filter removal, the issue will probably have a lot of margins. After all, now everyone is using it and that is the principle.

* Do we all act against the law together?

Of course, presence in social networks filtered, Is not a crime or offense. As if using a filter breaker is not a crime. These are legally different, meaning that if something is not available but someone uses it, you can not sue.

* It seems that the use of filter breakers has been criminalized recently?

In the protection plan, there is a discussion about VPN that if someone mass-produces and advertises or sells, it is criminalized. It is not wrong that people should be dealt with if they are doing business in this field, or in other words, “filtering businessmen”.

Q: Do you think that over time the official media will fall victim to the new media?

From the very beginning of the Internet, there has been a threat to limit the space of the official media, from radio to newspapers and news agencies. Although the role of each of these has really diminished over time and they have lost a part of the media portfolio of the people, they still are and still provide a part of this consumption. This downward trend is likely to continue to some extent, but eventually they reach a general equilibrium where the audience of any media is no longer established and does not go below that level. Look at recent years, it shows the same, and for example, there is no longer a declining trend in TV audiences, but people know the credibility of TV news more than news sites, let alone social networks. However, the maps are diminishing, and if they can not properly connect with the new media and shape the reciprocity of their vision, they may lose their position more and more every day.