Fall of Press: 123% Increase in the Number of Violation of Three Media Rights in Autumn as Compared to Spring
In the present autumn, 160 pieces of news were devoted to the three rights of media including: 1- The right to publish free press, 2- Job and professional security of journalists, 3- Judiciary security in courts for journalists.
This is while it amounted to 130 pieces of news in the last spring and summer. In comparison, the number of pieces of news covering the said issues has had a rise of 52% as comparing summer to spring and 87.5% as comparing autumn to spring. There has also been an increase of 23.5% as comparing autumn to summer.
The number of pieces of news devoted to the violation of the three mentioned media rights in spring has been 63 cases out of 86, and 121 cases out of 130 in summer, and 141 cases out of 160 in autumn and it has witnessed an increasing trend.
The growth in the violation of media rights in the summer as compared to spring has been 91.5% , autumn to spring amounted to 123% and comparing autumn to summer, it has been 17%.
Table 1 is about the violation of media rights in the last three seasons and table 2 is the percentage of the increase in the number of news of each season as compared to the base season i.e. spring and the percentage of growth in violation of media rights
Table 1- Cases of violation of media rights in the last three seasons
| rights Season | Number of pieces of news | Number of violation of |
| Spring | 86 | 63 |
| Summer | 130 | 121 |
| Autumn | 160 | 141 |
Table 2- Percentage of increase of number of news about the three media rights and the percentage of growth in its violation
| New season compared to last season | Growth in the number of pieces of news in Percentage of rights in percentage | Growth in number of violation |
| Summer to spring | 0.052 | 0.091/5 |
| Autumn to spring | 0.082/5 | 0.0123 |
| Autumn to summer | 0.23/5 | 0.017 |
Reviewing the news of autumn, it is revealed that the trend of confronting press has entered a new domain. The press subside has decreased from 30 billion tomans to 13 billion tomans and the remaining will be allocated based on the stances of the minister of guidance, deputies to the minister, governors of provinces and taking the criteria like performing press duties, benefits of society, level of transferring positive points of the activities of government, keeping away from parties activities and the artistic role of media in transferring the news of government into account. These stances show the preventive system of press based on which the press license is considered as a privilege and not a career and consequently, the violation of media rights has increased as compared to the past. Among the features of the news of autumn is that the issues related to economic status of journalists and issues related to media rights have been saliently reflected in the website of the Association of Iranian Journalists and it indicates the pressure which is on the shoulder of journalists both in political and social domains.
The right for publishing free press
In the collected sample of the autumn, it is revealed that out of 160 cases of news, 89 have been allocated to the right of publishing free press. 75 out of which have had a totally negative approach toward the media rights of news agencies and press. In this period, the Press Supervisory Board which have been criticized unexpectedly by the journalists, issued permit for 92 journals. This is while according to the statements made by one of the members of the said Board, Hossein Entezami, in the last year, 238 journals got the permit for issuance and the permits of 201 journals have been cancelled. The Press Deputy to the Minister of Guidance has announced that in the government of Mr. Ahmadi Nejad, 1070 permits have been issued. Based on the investigations made, in the same period the government tried to exercise its willingness through the use of press subside and governmental advertisements. The authority in charge of press office of General Bureau of Guidance in Azarbayejan Gharbi province, for example, referred to this as using advertisement for encouraging press and increasing their quality. Establishment of Press House or Strategic Council of Press in provinces have been followed in this season. Although a by-law was issued by the president in this season to encourage taking back the complaints made against press, but evidences show that new complaints have been raised by official entities and have been referred to judiciary. Two other developments have been in the agenda in this period:
First preparing the Comprehensive Plan of Press and the other is the plan for implementing the Press Law regarding internet websites and news agencies.
In the Comprehensive Plan of Press, the method of issuing permits by the Minister of Guidance have been predicted; the introduction of the person seeking the permit by some politicians so that the permit would be issued in the name of applicant is one of the cases about which we can say that only the format of permit issuance have changed but the nature remains the same. Regarding implementation of Press Law on news agencies and websites, it should be added that if this issue is ratified, it can lead to greater violation of media rights. The pertinent news are as follows:
The right of job and professional security for journalists.
The violation of the right of professional and job security in the autumn has been reflected in 33 pieces of news. In this period, the website of the Association of Journalists reflected the stances of many journalists and authorities and press managers, all related to the right of professional and job security. Elyas Hazrati, the managing director of Etemad newspaper, expressed that the government supports only certain newspapers. Atriyan Far called journalism a job of difficulty. Abbas Abdi said that journalists are afraid of publishing many pieces of news and Ali Akbar Ghazi Zadeh, said that experienced journalists are not given jobs. Meanwhile, journalists complained about the payments by their media organizations and their problems were well covered in the website of the Association.
3- Judiciary security in courts for journalists
There have been 38 cases about the right of journalists to enjoy judiciary security in courts. Based on the investigations done, out of 38 cases, 33 have indicated that the rights of journalists have been violated. Out of 38 pieces of news, 4 have been positive which include: removal of the sanction of Ham Mihan, non-prosecution of Yazdi journalist, obtaining consent from complainants and freedom of journalists.
Amir Taraghi Nejad, Yazdi journalist, was sentenced in br. no. 1 of Yazd Revolutionary court, being accused of spreading false news and propaganda against the regime, by the public prosecutor. He had been in detainment for 45 days and he was released based on bail. Still, the most important piece of news in the domain of judiciary security for journalists in courts was banning of Shahrvand Emrooz, which was done by the Press Supervisory Board. In this period, journals like Tose'e (Development) were summoned to court and the license for issuance of Doran-e-Emrooz was cancelled.
Using this article on other sites is free by linking to this page.
Last update: : 2009-02-04 | 1804 Hits | Printable Version
Comments
The world is watching though not commenting on all Iranian affairs. More current stories, more news, please!- jatsek
As I have visited this location for different purpose but it's promising to face an article of whatever relying on facts and figures instead of personal assessments.
I take it as the gate for professional look into matters and valuing professionalism.
Regards
- Shahriar



بیاد احمد بورقانی
اگر بهمن تبرئه شود
بياييد دعا كنيم ...
پشت پرده توقيف روزنامه همشهري
لغو امتياز،رويه تازه و خلاف قانون هيئت نظارت بر مطبوعات

