Media Conglomeration

Media conglomeration can produce increased profit margin, vertical integration of media as well as horizontal integration of media. Conglomeration can also fail to successfully accomplish the same objective as a venue of specific concentration.


It affects who owns the media, how it's produced and exported, the content the media provides, and the impact it has on its audiences.

Media conglomeration is affecting countries throughout the world. It is providing international communication and a medium for which information can be transferred easily and efficiently. It can be scene as a positive entity, providing voices across the world and can be seen negatively as well.

Through media conglomeration, smaller companies aren't able to make it in the big arena that larger corporations are. Conglomerates are also fiscally driven, causing the news to be driven to the "bottom line" for whatever can make the largest dollar.

In Iran, there is no chance of media conglomeration because the media is government controlled. Television stations are controlled under the monopoly of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting service (IRIB). Newspaper ownership is controlled by either the IRIB or the IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), meaning the mass media in Iran is dictated through the government, leaving diminutive room for oppositional views.

The only way to get media outside of Iran is by using satellites, which are illegal. Recently, news sites such as fararu.com and sahamnews.org have been blocked, leaving no room for questioning whether or not Iran's government is trying to keep their citizens from total knowledge of the revolutions taking place in other countries.

Although media conglomeration can be seen as a good thing to international society as a whole, there is no chance of media conglomeration happening within the borders of Iran.

Will There Be Computer Warfare?

A cyber "ghost attack" hit Iran's Natanz nuclear plant's centrifuge program in 2010 that caused a set back in Iran's low-enriched uranium production. This element is the fuel for nuclear power plants and, with further processing, nuclear bombs.

The cyber attack came in the form of a computer worm known as Stuxnet. Stuxnet essentially hijacked the plant's control system, causing the centrifuges to spin so rapidly that they began to break.

The key to this malware is that as it spun the centrifuges out of control, it relayed false messages of normality back to the computer so the rapid spinning would go unnoticed.

This setback to the nuclear plant was in no way detrimental. It was instead an obstacle that Iran has been able to overcome.

"If nothing else, it hit their confidence," said Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) president, David Albright, "and it will make them feel more vulnerable in the future."

As of Feb. 2011, the Natanz facilities have recovered and are back to producing low- enriched uranium.

No one is claiming ownership of this technological weapon that destroyed roughly a fifth of the plant's nuclear centrifuges. Perhaps no one wants to take credit for it becuase it can potentially begin a cyber war, a war that can easily spin out of control.

How Does the Media Work?

In Iran there is a "relatively free press" with many daily and weekly newspapers in circulation.  Every newspaper is licensed and can only publish stories allowed by the law and constitution. This means all publications are not at liberty to print all stories objectively.

Since the election of President Ahmadinejad, there has been fear of a mass closure of publications mirroring the mass closure in 2000. Fortunately, no mass closure has been issued; however, journalists have been called to officials such as the Supreme National Security Council and threatened against publishing articles critical of the government.

Most recently, the Supreme National Security Council has required all publications to cease distribution of any information or analyses on the nuclear issue and negotiations with the U.S. that differ from executive policy.

This leaves newspapers and journalists facing a challenge. The people want the newspapers to be more transparent with the people, but are pressured to stay in line with the government.

The press restrictions are even less than that of the broadcasters. Television has captured over 80% of Iranians as regular viewers. Almost all television- broadcasting networks are state-run and operated. This includes the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which created Press TV.

IRIB has radio channels that are also widely listened to.

The internet is an easy way for middle-class households to get the news. News websites are often politically influenced and Iranian bloggers are at an all-time high.

Authorities not only try to censor newspapers and broadcasters, but they try to filter and limit what is seen online as well. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube are all blocked in Iran and many bloggers and activists have been arrested for their defiant posts against the government.

Top five papers are:

Tehran Times [English-language daily, published by state-run body]
Iran Daily [English-language, published by IRNA]
Iran News [English-language]
Aftab-e Yazd [Reformist daily]
Kayhan [Conservative daily]

Top television:
IRIB [State-run, operates four networks, provincial and international services]
Press TV [IRIB’s English-language channel]

Top News Agencies:
Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA, state-run]
Iranian Students News Agency [ISNA, English-language]
Fars News Agency [English-language, Revolutionary Guards]
Mehr News Agency [English-language, Islamic Propagation Organization]

Imperialism: From the West to the Middle East

Cultural imperialism has been apparent in Iran from the start of the Arab Empire in the 7th century. The official language of Iran is Farsi, an Indo-European mix. It embraces a modified version of the Arabic alphabet and is the only nation that uses the Islamic solar calendar, which begins with the year of the Prophet Muhammad’s travel to Medina.

In the past century, the West has- on more than one occasion- tried to force cultural imperialism for economic reasons related to the oil industry. These efforts have subsequently backfired.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

In 1941 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became shah- ruling monarch- of Iran, expanding Iran’s pro-Western policies. In 1951, headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, parliament passed a bill that nationalized the oil industry, angering Western companies and governments.

This presented an opportunity for Western imperialism. Headed by Dr. Donald N. Wilber, a CIA spy and architectural expert, a plan was conceived to assist in a coup of the Iranian government.

In 1953, Mossadgh led anti-monarchy protests causing the shah to leave Iran. Pro-shah forces backed by the CIA and British agencies successfully led a coup, which resulted in the return of the shah and takeover of Mossadegh.

This was seen as the first successful overthrow of a foreign government in modern day.

By placing the shah back into power, the U.S. and Britain held close relations with Iran and subsequently, the oil industry.

The coup was a significant milestone in Iranian history and was the flame that ignited the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

In 1963, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a supreme religious leader of Iran’s Shiite community denounced the shah and was consequently forced into exile in 1964. The shah was noted to rule the nation “with an iron hand for 26 more years” which created civilian unrest and suppression until the Revolution.

When protestors took over Tehran and other parts of Iran in 1978, the shah left, letting Khomeini return. In doing so, Khomeini declared Iran the Islamic Republic of Iran on April 1, 1979.

The attempted imperialism of Iran in the coup of 1953 backfired, leaving the Islamic Republic of Iran in continual Western disgust. Khomeini supported attacks against the U.S. merely because of the involvement in the coup.

It is recognized now by the former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright that the U.S. involvement in the coup was“ clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs."


To view a full timeline of the past seven decades, click on this Los Angeles Times article.

A Quick Background

In Iran, the government is extremely influential in what the media can produce. The news media was a relatively free press before the presidential election of 2009. With the election of an ultra-conservative president, the government has become more involved in the news media.

Some background on the current status of government in Iran:

The government official with the highest reigning power is the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He has the power to appoint the head of the judiciary, military leaders, Friday prayer leaders, six members of the 12-member Guardian Council and the head of radio and TV.

Ayatollah Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader for life in June 1989, ten years after the Iranian Revolution. He has come to defend the conservatives on several occasions including the controversial presidential election of 2009; a disputed election that initiated mass protests.

Beneath the Supreme Leader is the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President Ahmadinejad is an ultra-conservative whose outspoken style has the international community uneasy.