What is the reason for charging money from election candidates?/ An explanation about hacking – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news
Mehr News Agency – Art Group – Atieh Mozen; The most serious project of these days is the launch of 200 election channels, the plans and ideas of which were presented in the official and virtual space by Peyman Jabali, the head of the Broadcasting Organization, and these days various programs are being implemented. A project that has critics and supporters, and some still have many doubts about how and the atmosphere of the project’s implementation, however, Sedavsima itself is promoting it with the aim of media justice.
Alireza Sharifi is the vice president of development and technology of the audio and television media, who is at the head of the technical and structural designs of this project, and he himself is aware of the most important implementation challenges of this project. A person who, according to himself, has been working in the technical deputy for 28 years and believes that although they are moving forward with this project by trusting in God, they have full respect for its technical and engineering matters and everything is foreseen.
Our conversation with him took place in his office at the Broadcasting Organization, where he answered part of the questions about the plan to launch 200 channels. The first part of this interview was published earlier, in which it was also reported about the trial broadcast of some of these channels.
In the second part of this interview, Sharifi spoke about the issues of monitoring the content produced by the candidates and their broadcasting, receiving fees from the candidates for their appearance on these channels, and also the disruption that has occurred on television in the last one or two years.
In the second and final part of this conversation, you will read:
*Given that this content is produced and then broadcast, monitoring seems easier, right?
I think channel monitoring should be a posteriori because it might not be time for all candidates to see their content beforehand. It is assumed that the candidates themselves take care of the content provided. Of course, there is primary supervision.
*One thing is heard that the candidates are supposed to be charged a fee, right?
Due to the infrastructure costs that exist and it has been said before, the organization spends 250 billion tomans. Candidates will be charged a fee for participating in this project and using these infrastructures.
* Is this cost of 250 billion tomans supported by the government or an institution outside of TV and radio?
no The head of Sedavsima himself has spent money from his internal resources and budgets, but we hope that the government will see this project and help Sedavsima organization because Sedavsima does not have that much wealth.
* And the representatives pay the necessary fees?
Yes, they pay. Sometimes we hear that a person sells his house worth several billions to advertise. The cost that the organization receives is much lower than such figures. He also makes a fair bet, saying that if you become a member of parliament, the money you paid is free and will be returned. However, Sedavsima sets this basic condition for receiving the fee, so that the person brings people’s participation.
Another point is that 100 people, for example, are candidates in a field, among whom maybe one person is going to lean on the seat of the parliament, this payment may make the candidates think more seriously and that if they are not lucky or They have no serious plans to enter this field. We bring those who are both self-confident and people accept them, and those who have entered the work for fun will leave on their own.
* How much is this number exactly?
It is not that much, but a fee is charged so that the person can contribute to the organization’s technical expenses by paying it, and the more important reason is that the organization can manage a large number of candidates by receiving this fee. A software is prepared that is intelligent and after the candidates are qualified by the election headquarters, they enter their code in this software and then this software gives a space where the candidates can upload their videos. Moderators give a basic review to videos that follow the basic rules. All formats should be the same and it should not be the case that content with luxury background and high color and glaze and special decoration is produced and other videos have simple content.
* Can this model of programming be diverse?
The variety is in the questions and the judgment that people can have after each candidate’s answer to specific questions. The audience also checks the conductor and representatives they want more, which is the subject of their question.
* In the case of Tehran, where the number of candidates is more, how does this happen?
In Tehran, we are facing a difficult challenge because we have several thousand candidates and about 10 areas and the time allocated to each candidate is a few minutes, which practically cannot give an explanation. For Tehran, it is better that the role of Telebion is bold. We have 7 days where we have about 60,000 minutes of advertising time around the clock, and we try to reach all the candidates who apply during this time, but in the end it is still a challenge in Tehran itself. However, as the number increases, the dedicated time given to a candidate will be less and vice versa.
* Now the final conclusion is whether Tehran has its own channel for each area or not?
The prediction of the respected head of the election headquarters of the organization is that the minutes allocated to each candidate will be less, but it will be implemented in the end.
However, this plan is implemented in the entire country and may not cover only about 20% of the country. Another point is that it is too compressed, which is related to the bandwidth, and in some places we have 16 areas, if the compression of the channels exceeds a certain limit, the image may become frozen or checkered. However, the head of the radio station was helpful, and if we face such problems during those days, we are going to remove one or two channels only in those days to make the space more open.
*And there is no other solution other than deleting the main channel?
After all, space is the same. Suppose we have a bus with a capacity of 30 people and now we want more people to enter it, as a result, one or the back of the car may accommodate more people or add more seats, but the basic capacity of the bus does not change. So now, in such a situation, if the excessive compression of the channels was annoying, we have to remove some of the main TV channels for the same seven days, which, of course, is for a place that has several areas and we have to send signals to several places from one transmitter. . We haven’t done a quality test yet, but if it’s not possible, for example, the Tamasha network will be interrupted for a few days at that one point where we have a problem. This happens not in all of Iran, but in the same place.
*According to your position in the technical department of the organization, tell me about the HD networks, why did it not continue?
There were only four channels left that were not HD, Education, Salamat, Tehran and Chahar, and this was the policy of the head of Sedavasima. The deputy does not have a role, it is the head of the organization who orders something to be done or not. Mr. Jabali’s approach was no longer HD production. Mr. Jabali even said about some channels, why do you provide 2 services, why do you broadcast both SD and HD.
* Like Channel 3, which has both broadcast formats.
Yes, and he said that it has depreciation and it is true. Mr. Jabali’s request was that it be only a service and I said that people don’t have the receiver and they still get the SD. Mr. Jabali also announced that this is against the principle of the system and seeking justice and you have divided people into 2 groups. Those with low income and those with higher income. Of course, we have a plan in the future where people will be able to receive 10 HD channels with regular receivers and not need high-end TVs.
* What percentage of people can now receive HD channels?
We do not have an exact percentage. We also asked the Broadcasting Research Center to provide us with statistics in this field. Mr. Jabali’s main point was that people should not have 2 different services to watch TV, one with better quality and the other with lower quality.
* When will this plan be implemented?
It will move forward until the end of the year, which is also a revolution in infrastructure.
*As a summary, you can give an explanation about the hacks and disruptions that happened in the last year or two. Because you are the most important person in the technical department of the organization and you can better tell what happened after this interval?
I will give an example first. You are a citizen, with the assurance of the social security of the community, you buy a house that has a balcony and maybe does not have a guard. You have been living in the same place for a few years, but after a while, bad economic events happen and thefts increase. You are at the scene of these assaults. Is this art a thief or is it your problem that theft happens?
* Now some houses have such smart anti-theft systems that they don’t have such problems.
It is. In the global situation, we were in a position where no one could attack us and we had relative security, but a special situation showed that the enemy can attack us if he wants, and we must block these points.
* So with this bug, it is inside and there was no intrusion?
Yes. In my opinion, the issue of personal influence is very small, of course other institutions should say this, but this is my opinion. The system has so much authority that no one can enter in this way. How was Shahid Fakhrizadeh martyred? With a car (without a human) that received a signal with a satellite. Now the enemy hides his fear behind technology.
The Internet is a global network and everyone who is in the Net space becomes a member of a global network. If your email is open or you take your laptop to other countries, you will be easily monitored.
* Do you have these cares yourself?
I have 2 computer systems here, one of my computers is connected to the net and the other is not connected, I do my classified work through it. Even on some trips, I may not take my phone or take my laptop in a way that I will not be recognized. If these awarenesses increase, insecurity will decrease. It is our weakness that we make them big. Our organization was hacked 2 times, the memory of which is unfortunately bitter, but after that we entered very well.
* Why did the first time reach the second time?
There was a kind of self-belief on the part of the organization that thought that because they had not been attacked the first time, they were safe and did not know that this was a trap that had been widened. But in the end, we all thought with each other and stood in front of such incidents and finally closed the way for such disorders to penetrate. Thank God, with the help of the Ministry of Information, the security department of the organization and other institutions, we strengthened the path. However, it’s okay to fall, it’s okay to keep falling. It is true that we were ashamed of the leadership in this incident, but at least it caused the roads to be closed from this side, which was very difficult, and we could make special arrangements for it. Even now, thank God, Mr. Jabali’s eyes are strong and he doesn’t like window displays.