In a specialized meeting, it was warned about the significant distance of think tanks from their main mission; A gap that, according to experts, has transformed these political institutions from the role of reformer and strategist to a project-oriented, short-term and tactical group, and has even pushed the media to the position of “political brands”.
According to RCO News Agency, The second specialized-promotional meeting of the work award on the topic of media and think tanks was held in the presence of Fayaz Zahid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tehran Journalists Association, Kianoush Jahanpour, the former spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, and Bardia Attaran, the director of the Think Tank Monitoring Exchange System, at Andisheh Warzan House.
In this meeting, Bardiya Attaran, the director of the think tank monitoring exchange system, said about the situation of think tanks in Iran and their relationship with the media: One of the issues that we should pay attention to is that, unfortunately, think tanks in our country have gone more towards tactical ideas than reform ideas. This means think tanks have become a place to solve small and tactical problems, while we in the country are facing macro and strategic challenges.
While referring to the structure of think tanks and their duties, he stated: think tanks in Iran often deal with single-concept and short-term projects, for example, in economic fields such as gasoline pricing or in foreign and domestic policy fields. These think tanks, instead of dealing with the fundamental issues of the country, are more trying to solve small issues and minor reforms.
The director of the think tank monitoring exchange system also spoke about the role of the media in spreading ideas and their impact on policies and added: “In our country, the media has become a place to present the ideas of think tanks and many of them are trying to introduce their ideas to the society using the media.” This situation has caused the media and think tanks to become more media brands than a place to propose reform and strategic ideas.
Attaran pointed out: It should be noted that in today’s world, politics and media are connected and without a proper understanding of this connection, it is not possible to have significant success in making fundamental changes in the country. The media and think tanks should be separated and each one should focus on their duties so that they can act more effectively in the direction of development and reforms.
The media should design detailed media attachments for public policies
Fayaz Zahid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tehran Journalists Association, said in this meeting, referring to his book that he published in the past years: “A few years ago, I wrote a book called “Media Management in International Crises”. This book referred to how the media accompanies wars and crises, especially the US war against Iraq, and examines how the media can be controlled in a sophisticated and sophisticated way while claiming to be free. In fact, the media should have the ability to narrate for the political structure.
Referring to his experiences in recent crises, Zahid said: When macro-level decisions are made, such as changes in energy or gasoline prices, media attachments must be carefully designed. The example of the gasoline crisis of 2018 showed that when the media cannot effectively convey messages to the people, it causes irreparable damage. It should be recognized that public policies must be strictly implemented along with media attachments.
Criticizing the security view of the media, he stated: In many cases, the ideological and security view that is applied to the media in policies has caused many problems. This view has caused us not to be a member of the International Federation of Journalists for 15 years. Therefore, the media should move within their professional framework and reference institutions should strive to strengthen these frameworks so that the media can ultimately help protect national interests and public opinion.
Media is no longer a tool but an environment in which we live
Kianoush Jahanpour, the former spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, in his remarks about media developments and policies, said: Today, the media is no longer a tool. The media is no longer a means of transmitting information, but has become an environment in which we live. Just as we cannot separate from the air, the media has become an environment for us that we cannot get out of.
He further added: In the past, the media were tools at the disposal of policymakers, but today this space has become a place where policies and decisions are made. We can no longer consider the media as a tool in our hands, but as an environment for social and political life. This paradigm shift has transformed the media from a passive tool to an active agent in the decision-making process.
The former spokesperson of the Ministry of Health further explained: This change is so important that our policy makers have not yet fully grasped it and continue to make policies in the same old way. If they cannot understand these changes, they will definitely face serious problems in future decisions. The media is no longer just a tool at the disposal of the government or politicians, but has become a part of people’s living environment and we must accept this fact.
Emphasizing the importance of changes in policies, he said: If policymakers and officials fail to understand that the media is no longer a tool and has become an environment in which we all live, they will definitely fail. Changes in the world of media and new technologies have created great challenges that we must be ready to face.
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