Kazem Motamed-Nejad, father of communications in Iran, said, “We are reaching a point where press and media are governed by councils and the ministry makes policies and monitors activities only.”

IBNA: The father of Iran’s communications made his address at the 4th seminar in assessment of Iran’s press.

Given the trends in the Iranian press and the recommendations of UNESCO and the experiences of countries such as South Africa, Indonesia and Japan for the press, only the identification and sign for publishers and newspaper executives in all journals is sufficient, said Motamed-Nejad in his address, asserted Motamed-Nejad in his address.

The principles of press independence, freedom, neutrality of journalists and media pluralism are the key issues in press freedom, he added.

He went on to say that various disciplines like medicine, engineering, etc. enjoy their own trade systems, “but we have not yet reached the point to have the system even though the guild of journalists, formed in 1997, was canceled shortly after its opening.”

Elsewhere in his address, the scientific secretary of the seminar added that based on UNESCO standards, 10 newspaper copies should be printed for every 100 citizens while only 2 million copies are being circulated for 74 million Iranians in the country which should reach 7.5 million to satisfy the need.

He went on to say that the press is free in other country and in case a press happens to commit a crime and cross the red light they are prosecuted under the law. “This has been considered in the first press law in Iran ratified during the constitution era; however, it was altered afterwards.”

He further added that in the world different important sectors like telecommunications, radio and television are managed by councils and the press can also be left to the hands of supreme council of media for management.

“We will reach a point where press and media are governed by councils and the ministry acts as a monitor for their activities,” he added.

Later in the seminar, Mehdi Mosenian-Rad elaborated on one of Motamed-Nejad’s articles on permissions for publishing newspapers and journals. He also underlined the neutrality of journalists and media as an important issue to be considered.

Also, Mohammad Jafar Mohamamd-Zadeh, Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Press and Information, stated that all the discussed matters in the seminar will be published in a book.

The seminar will wrap up tomorrow after two roundtables themed at media management and ownership and challenges and outlooks of professional journalism in Iran.

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