Islamic Republic News Agency
Encyclopedia
The Islamic Republic News Agency , or IRNA, is the official news agency
of the Islamic Republic of Iran
. It is government-funded and controlled
under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
. The agency also publishes the newspaper Iran
. , the Managing Director of IRNA is Ali Akbar Javanfekr
. IRNA has 60 offices in Iran and 30 more in various countries around the world.
and Persian, which it circulated among government officials, international news agencies in Tehran and the local press. In May 1940, the General Tablighat Department was founded and the agency then became an affiliate of the department. Agence France Press (AFP) was the first international news agency whose reports Pars Agency used. Gradually, the Iranian news agency expanded its sources of news stories to include those of Reuters
, the Associated Press
(AP) and the United Press International
(UPI). An agreement with the Anatolia News Agency of Turkey further expanded the agency's news outlets to countries worldwide. The link-up also enabled it to provide classified bulletins to a limited number of high-ranking public officials.
In 1954, following a coup the reforms of the White Revolution
helped to modernize the Pars Agency, leading to expanded news coverage, improved professional services and a better-educated staff. It went on air with radio broadcasts of international news translated into Persian, which it offered to local subscribers. Under the new regime, it operated under the supervision of various state offices and ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephones, Office of the Prime Minister and the Labor Ministry until 1947. In 1957, the General Department of Tablighat fell under the supervision of the Publications Department of Tehran Radio as an independent department. In 1963 the activities of Pars Agency were brought under the newly created Information Ministry. Its name was changed to `Pars News Agency, or PANA, and it began operating around the clock. In July 1975 the Iranian legislature passed a bill establishing the Ministry of Information and Tourism and changing the status of Pars News Agency to a joint public stock with capital assets of about 300 million rials
. It then became an affiliate of the new ministry. Its Articles of Association in 23 paragraphs and notes were adopted by the then National Consultative Assembly of Iran.
After the Iranian Revolution
in February 1979, the Revolutionary Council (Shawra-ye-Enqelab), in June 1979, renamed the Ministry of Information and Tourism to the National Guidance Ministry (or Ministry of National Guidance). This was followed in December, 1981 by a bill passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis
) changing the name of the country's official news agency from Pars News Agency to Islamic Republic News Agency.
the world manned by four head offices. These are:
Multinational and regional news pools therefore have the right to
vote in international gatherings of news agencies and thus play the essential and critical role of safeguarding Third World interests in such venues.
IRNA is currently a member of the following news pools:
services for its clients. IRNA has also increased the width of its satellite band up to 2MEG/2MEG to meet the ever-increasing demand of this medium.
To provide services to all interested parties wishing to gain access to Internet information, IRNA has established an Internet cafe (Coffeenet) on the ground floor of its Tehran headquarters.
global marketing tool for interested subscribers. The IRNA website in the Internet has over 20,000,000 viewers all over the globe with the exact number of people who use it in each country available at any moment on the site.
of Iranians during the eight-year sacred defense.
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. It is government-funded and controlled
State media
State media or state-owned media is media for mass communication which is ultimately controlled and/or funded by the state. These news outlets may be the sole media outlet or may exist in competition with privately-controlled media.-Overview:...
under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is the ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible for restricting access to any media of which the Islamic Regime in Tehran does not approve....
. The agency also publishes the newspaper Iran
Iran (newspaper)
Iran newspaper is the official newspaper of the government of Iran. Iran is a daily newspaper.The Islamic Republic News Agency that publishes Iran, also publishes that is an English language daily newspaper, Alvefagh that is an Arabic newspaper, Irane varzeshi that is a sport daily newspaper, and...
. , the Managing Director of IRNA is Ali Akbar Javanfekr
Ali Akbar Javanfekr
Ali Akbar Javanfekr is a senior Iranian politician and the presidential advisor for press affairs and as of 19 December 2010, He was Managing-Director of IRNA from 1 November 2010 until being sentenced to a year in prison on charges of "publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms," 20 November...
. IRNA has 60 offices in Iran and 30 more in various countries around the world.
History
In 1934, Pars Agency was established by the Foreign Ministry of Iran (Persia) as the country's official national news outlet. For the next six years it operated under the Iranian Foreign Ministry working to disseminate national and international news. Pars Agency published a bulletin twice daily in FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Persian, which it circulated among government officials, international news agencies in Tehran and the local press. In May 1940, the General Tablighat Department was founded and the agency then became an affiliate of the department. Agence France Press (AFP) was the first international news agency whose reports Pars Agency used. Gradually, the Iranian news agency expanded its sources of news stories to include those of Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
(AP) and the United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
(UPI). An agreement with the Anatolia News Agency of Turkey further expanded the agency's news outlets to countries worldwide. The link-up also enabled it to provide classified bulletins to a limited number of high-ranking public officials.
In 1954, following a coup the reforms of the White Revolution
White Revolution
The White Revolution was a far-reaching series of reforms in Iran launched in 1963 by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza Shah’s reform program was built especially to strengthen those classes that supported the traditional system...
helped to modernize the Pars Agency, leading to expanded news coverage, improved professional services and a better-educated staff. It went on air with radio broadcasts of international news translated into Persian, which it offered to local subscribers. Under the new regime, it operated under the supervision of various state offices and ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephones, Office of the Prime Minister and the Labor Ministry until 1947. In 1957, the General Department of Tablighat fell under the supervision of the Publications Department of Tehran Radio as an independent department. In 1963 the activities of Pars Agency were brought under the newly created Information Ministry. Its name was changed to `Pars News Agency, or PANA, and it began operating around the clock. In July 1975 the Iranian legislature passed a bill establishing the Ministry of Information and Tourism and changing the status of Pars News Agency to a joint public stock with capital assets of about 300 million rials
Iranian rial
The rial is the currency of Iran. It is subdivided into 100 dinar but, because of the very low current value of the rial, no fraction of the rial is used in accounting....
. It then became an affiliate of the new ministry. Its Articles of Association in 23 paragraphs and notes were adopted by the then National Consultative Assembly of Iran.
After the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
in February 1979, the Revolutionary Council (Shawra-ye-Enqelab), in June 1979, renamed the Ministry of Information and Tourism to the National Guidance Ministry (or Ministry of National Guidance). This was followed in December, 1981 by a bill passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis
Majlis
' , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting", used in the context of "council", to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries...
) changing the name of the country's official news agency from Pars News Agency to Islamic Republic News Agency.
Official guidelines
IRNA's professional activities are aimed at securing Iranian national interests. Efforts of management and professional personnel of IRNA are thus focused on achieving higher ground each day in fulfillment of its stated goal. The organization functions as the "mother source of information dissemination" within the country, feeding its authorities, nationals and various publications with various types of news, bulletins, research works, opinion polls and stories of general interest through its various telex lines. It also provides channels for online foreign dispatches and photographs around the clock. IRNA's external services include those rendered to leading international news agencies in accordance with contracts signed with them, active membership in international news clubs, up-to-date news stories on the country supplied internationally through its International News Line, and an active presence in the Internet through its Persian, English and Arabic websites. For its services, IRNA is aided by a professional core of executive and administrative staff who work inside and outside the country in its various local, regional and overseas branches. It also takes full advantage of stringers around the globe and has an organizational set-up that allows all its facilities to be used inside or outside the country on contractual arrangement. To effectively carry out its responsibilities it has set up the following guidelines:- Mass production and dissemination of news and informative material taking into account its main objective of promoting the interests and objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Promotion of the Islamic culture as far as possible and encountering the cultural onslaught of enemies of the Islamic Revolution.
- Expansion of activities conducive to the acquisition and dissemination of more news items inside and outside the country.
- Dissemination of news stories of the Islamic world in general.
- Providing news items to Iranian newspapers and periodicals.
- Laying the ground for a wholesome competition with major international news agencies and corporations.
- Providing news and propaganda through as vast a network as possible.
- Expansion of its propaganda dissemination network as far and wide as is possible.
- Expansion and strengthening of professional level bilateral and multilateral cooperation with various countries' news agencies and active cooperation in the formation and strengthening of joint regional and international networks.
- Providing news dissemination and news research assistance outside its organizational boundaries when its professional assistance is sought and when they prove to be in the country's geopolitical and national interests.
IRNA external services
IRNA's administrative efforts are focused on an expansion of its international news branches around the globe. Branches ostensibly are given the task of producing news items or selecting from those produced by various news agencies, translating and disseminating them through its various news lines. Its management is also constantly on the look-out for possible new ways of expanding its level of news dissemination in qualitative and quantitative terms. It also seeks to expand its level of cooperation with various foreign news agencies and corporations. Personnel of IRNA branches abroad are currently in charge of monitoring their respective countries' radio, television, satellite and Internet networks to bring out news items not already found in news dispatches. The offices also organize regional news dissemination corporationswith IRNA as a member, as well as monitor and program activities of its branches.IRNA News Desks
IRNA's editorial board is made up of eight main news desks, to wit:- Europe and America Desk
- Africa and Middle East Desk
- Asia-Pacific Desk
- Indian Peninsula and Central Asia Desk
- English News Desk: This desk is in charge of sending the most important news gathered from IRNA's various lines, as well as those items acquired through various IRNA cooperation contracts with various news agencies.
- Arabic News Desk: The activities of this desk is similar with the English News Desk.
- Persian Language International News Desk: Staff of this desk are assigned the task of surveying news items dispatched from various IRNA news lines in the country and selecting those most likely to interest foreign readers. These are then rewritten as new items with information that are not included as being of no general importance to Iranian readers inside the country added and those that need revision altered.
- Foreign News Desk: This desk comprises three monitoring desks in charge of surveying the various foreign radio, television, satellite, InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and printed media items and selecting the news items that IRNA is interested in. This organization works on a 24-hourbasis and records programs of 23 radio and 13 satellite stations on video or magnetic tapes.
IRNA news regions
IRNA has divided its activities into four news regions aroundthe world manned by four head offices. These are:
- Middle East and Africa Region - The head office is based in Beirut, Lebanon. It has branch offices in AnkaraAnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, DamascusDamascusDamascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Abu Dhabai, AmmanAmmanAmman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
and KuwaitKuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
. All six offices cover news stories in the entire Middle East and Africa region.
- Europe and America Region - The head office is based in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It has branch offices in BonnBonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, SarajevoSarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Washington. All 10 offices cover news items pertaining to Europe and the North, Central and South American continents.
- Asia-Pacific Region - The head office of this region is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It has branch offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Islamabad, Alma Ata, Dushanbe and Ashkhabad. All seven offices cover news stories from Asia and the Oceania region.
Cooperation With Foreign and Regional News Agencies
IRNA cooperates with leading international and regional news agencies. This cooperation at the professional level started decades ago. IRNA cooperation with regional and international agencies take any of the following forms:- Exclusive agency contracts - Certain international news sources cooperate exclusively with IRNA in news dissemination service within Iranian territory. This implies that access to news items and pictorial telex services of other news sources is possible only through IRNA's news dissemination telex lines. News stories referred to include those of Reuters, AP, AFP, UPI and the DPA (of Germany).
- Bilateral cooperation contracts - IRNA has signed contracts for the exchange of photographs and news items with a number of regional new agencies. This may be taken as an unprecedented move since before the victory of the Islamic Revolution the Pars News Agency (IRNA's name before the revolution) merely cooperated with Western news agencies. The news agencies of Qatar (QNA), Serbia (TANJUG), China (Xinhua), Japan (Kyodo), Turkey (Ikhlas), North Korea (KCNA), Saudi Arabia (SANA), Spain (EFE), Vietnam (VNA), Turkmenistan (Turkmen Press), Russia (Itar-Tass and Ria-Novesti), Morocco (MAP), Nigeria (NAM), and South Korea (YONHAP) have signed bilateral cooperation contracts regarding exchange of news and pictures with IRNA.
- Contracts for sales of pictures and news items - IRNA has signed cataracts for the sale of its news photos and information to major international news agencies. These include Reuters, AP, DPA, BBC and Bloomberg as well as the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).
Membership in International News Clubs and Organizations
IRNA has spent tremendous efforts to convince news agencies of Third World countries to actively work within the framework of regional news agencies. The establishment of pools of news agencies, many of which have already gained international prestige, is thus indebted to the pioneering efforts of IRNA.Multinational and regional news pools therefore have the right to
vote in international gatherings of news agencies and thus play the essential and critical role of safeguarding Third World interests in such venues.
IRNA is currently a member of the following news pools:
- Association of Caspian Sea News Agencies (ACSNA)
- ECO News Agencies (ECONA)
- International Islamic News AgencyInternational Islamic News AgencyThe International Islamic News Agency , a specialized organ of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference , is a news agency publishing in Arabic, English and French and focusing on news about the Islamic world and Islamic affairs...
(IINA) - Non-Aligned News Agencies PoolNon-Aligned News Agencies PoolThe Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool was a cooperation system among news agencies of Non-Aligned countries, which lasted from 1975 to mid-1990s...
(NANAP) - Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA)
- OPECOPECOPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
News Agency (OPECNA)
IRNA's Recognized Achievements Within Regional News Pools
IRNA has played an active role as a member of the newly established regional news pools mentioned above. Its varied activities in cooperation with these various organizations may be summarized as follows:- Providing vast coverage for news stories from the Islamic World as well as the Third World and Central Asian countries. IRNA has also expanded its national news dissemination ties with Islamic countries to an unprecedented level, i.e., between any Islamic country and that of other members of the Islamic world.
- Active participation in professional, international news conferences, congresses and seminars, including visits to headquarters of news agencies of various countries and international news agencies by professionaldelegations.
- Signing of bilateral and multilateral contracts for cooperation with news agencies of over 70 countries in the exchange of news, with special emphasis on its neighbors, Islamic countries and the Islamic Republic's political allies.
- Strengthening of the foundations of the NAM Secretariat, as well as acceptance of permanent chairmanship of the NANAP.
- Establishment of the Association of Caspian Sea (littoral states) News Agencies (ACSNA) and hosting its first gathering and initial chairmanship.
- Active cooperation in the establishment and rotative chairmanship of the Economic Cooperation Organization's news agencies (ECONA).
- Acceptance of the chairmanship of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) until the year 2000.
IRNA Joins the Web
IRNA is one of the first to join the Internet in Iran. It joined the web on December 16, 1996, starting at the speed of 19,200 kbit/s. On March 23, 1997, IRNA opened its own website, which reached the power of 512,512 kbit/s a year later. Due to interest shown on the wide range of information available in the Internet IRNA decided to offer lines for lease and dial-upservices for its clients. IRNA has also increased the width of its satellite band up to 2MEG/2MEG to meet the ever-increasing demand of this medium.
To provide services to all interested parties wishing to gain access to Internet information, IRNA has established an Internet cafe (Coffeenet) on the ground floor of its Tehran headquarters.
IRNANET
Information on the high-quality goods and services available in the Iranian market produced by leading producers and manufacturers in the various production and technical fields may now be obtained through IRNA's online IRNANET. IRNANET accepts advertisements and aims to be an effectiveglobal marketing tool for interested subscribers. The IRNA website in the Internet has over 20,000,000 viewers all over the globe with the exact number of people who use it in each country available at any moment on the site.
Photo Archives
IRNA has a photo archives established 40 years ago simultaneous with the birth of this news agency. It is one of the richest in Iran and relies on the expert work of its professional photographers. The photo archives now has over 3,000,000 frames in the various political, social, sports and cultural fields. Some of the best shots in its files depict the acts of braveryof Iranians during the eight-year sacred defense.
IRNA Newspapers and Periodicals
IRNA currently publishes seven dailies and periodicals. Among these periodicals is the Persian-language Iran newspaper, which is vastly popular among middle class Iranians.- Al-Vefaq is one of two Arabic-language dailies.
- Iran Daily is the country's third English newspaper.
- Iran Varzeshi is an Iranian daily specializing on local and foreign sports news coverage.
- Iran Javan has gained unprecedented popularity among the youth.
- Iran-e Saal provides a yearly report of the country's most outstanding events.
- Iran Sepid, the only one of its kind in the Middle East, is published in the Braille language for visually impaired Iranians.
- Iran Azin is IRNA's monthly on interior design.
School of Media Studies (an IRNA affiliate)
After conducting a series of research work on the country's need for a high-level academic institution to provide training in news reporting and various fields of news dissemination, and after obtaining a permit from the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology, IRNA established the School of Media Studies (News College). Studies in the School of Media Studies offer two sections: long-term or short-term courses.Courses
These courses lead to a university degree major in any one of the four now offered by the college:- News reporting at the level of Bachelor of Arts (BA)
- News translation (English) at BA level
- Photojournalism at the level of Associate in Arts
- News translation (Arabic) at the BA level
- Short-term courses - Specialized training in various fields such as editing, journalism, feature writing, photojournalism and reporting as well as various computer courses may be pursued in this section.