How mainstream Iranian newspapers portray the West: the influence of anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism

Abstract

The present paper is about the role of media in creating anti-American and anti-Western sentiments amongst Iranians. It studies how anti-Americanism has evolved in Iran and how, as an ideological representation, has influenced the press portrayal of the West in the country. It also identifies dominant frames in newspaper reporting of the West and indicates how the perception of reality and meaning-construction work in mainstream Iranian newspapers. For this purpose, content analysis and critical discourse analysis are used to analyse sampled news items published during Reformism (1997–2001) and Conservatism (2005–2009) in Iran. The current study also evaluates the impact of political affiliation of newspapers (as the first independent variable) and the political period in which they are published (as the second independent variable) on the representation of the West (as the dependent variable) in Iran. The findings of the present study are yet another contribution to study the West within the context of Occidentalism.

Keywords:

• Iranian newspapers
• anti-Americanism
• anti-Westernism
• media representation
• media frames
• Occidentalism

Notes

[1] Sixty-two per cent against the UK and 57% against Germany (Morales & Ray 2011).

[2] According to Morales and Ray (2001), 45% of Iranians believe that greater technology transfer, the exchange of business expertise and economic development and aid would improve their opinions of the USA very significantly.

[3] They include, but are not limited to, disputes between Iran and the West in areas such as the nuclear issue, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Israeli–Palestinian issue.

[4] In his analysis of why the USA could not tolerate the Iranian revolution as well as the revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua, Snyder (1999) refers to the opposition of these states to ‘capitalism’. He argues that because Iran, Cuba and Nicaragua challenged capitalism, the USA pushed them to an unwanted anti-American camp through antagonistic measures such as economic sanctions, military threats and covert aid and political pressure to overturn the revolution.

[5] Mitchell (2004, p.100) observes that America tried to ‘prolong and intensify’ the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as well as the war between Iran and Iraq, which lasted for nearly a decade, as a means of weakening the newly formed Islamic Iran because it refused to ‘accept the US hegemony’. US military invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 as well as the CIA-coup against Iran in 1953 and the Persian Gulf War of 1990 are examples of direct American military intervention in the region which were launched against the countries US presidents later labelled ‘rogue states’ or ‘axis of evil’. According to the US National Security Strategy, ‘rogue states’ are countries that ‘hate the United States and everything for which it stands’.

[6] Snyder (1999, p.269) refers to this as the ‘theory of externalisation’ which argues that revolutionary states were proactive and became antagonistic to the West for ideological and domestic reasons.

[7] The Occidentosis discourse, mingled with a sense of nativism, influenced Iranian intellectuals, political activists and Islamists who were opposed to the Pahlavi ‘regime’ and viewed the Shah as the ‘agent’ of the West, and America in particular.

[8] The word ‘arrogance’ equals ‘imperialism’ in the Iranian political context.

[9] Although such an ideological influence cannot be denied, Ayatollah Khamenei has prioritized ‘expedient pragmatism’ to ‘ideological anti-Americanism’ in several occasions such as direct talks between Iran and the USA on Iraq in 2007. Such an approach could be also seen after the election of Barack Obama as the US president and his promise of adopting a ‘direct engagement’ policy with Iran.

[10] ‘Iran’ is the first colour Iranian newspaper with Arabic and English versions. It is the only Iranian newspaper which is officially owned by the government and is published by the Islamic Republic News Agency. As a mainstream Iranian newspaper, ‘Iran’ publishes several other publications including an Arabic and an English language newspaper as well as a sports-specific daily paper. Jomhouriy-e Eslami is the first Iranian newspaper published after the 1979 revolution. Jomhouriy-e Eslami was first published in 30 May 1979. It is the first newspaper which was published immediately after the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. Ettelaat is more than 70 years old. In fact, it is the oldest Iranian newspaper being published to date. It was first published in 11 July 1926 in Tehran. It is a daily newspaper which was first published in two pages and 500 issues. It is currently affiliated with the Leader's Office and the Foundation for the Needy People (Bonyad-e Mostazafan). Hamshahri is the largest circulated newspaper in Iran and is the first newspaper published in colour. It was first published on 15 December 1992. It is affiliated with the Municipality of Tehran. Its circulation in 2009 was about 500,000 issues. As a mainstream newspaper, Hamshahri publishes 18 ‘supplements’ and magazines.

[11] The Reformist time corresponds to the period when pro-Reform Mohammad Khatami was president. The Conservative period is when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a pro-Conservative hardliner, was president. The year 1998 was excluded from the Reformist period because no major significant development happened between Iran and the West in that period. By significant events, the researcher means incidents which had an effect on the relations between Iran and the West. For example, President Khatami's CNN interview was significant in the sense that it was the first official gesture by the Iranian chief executive at rapprochement with the USA. Some of the most significant developments between Iran and the West during the period of study included the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, developments related to Iran's nuclear issue such as resolutions and sanctions, rallies and demos on specific occasions such as the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution or the National Day of the Fight Against Arrogance (anniversary of the hostage-taking crisis), developments related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, major speeches and statements by the leaders of Iran and the USA such as the axis-of-evil speech by George Bush or the letter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Bush or Barack Obama.

[12] These themes were selected after a pre-test was conducted to identify the subjects/themes which are used most frequently in the coverage of the West in mainstream Iranian press.

[13] The reason for selecting similar editorials is because they reflect the views of their respective political wing regarding two significant issues on relations between Iran and the West, namely Iran–US confrontation and the nuclear case of Iran. They also reflect on the views of Iranian leaders on establishing relations with the West.

[14] ‘Arrogance’ is the literal translation of the Persian (and originally Arabic) word ‘Estekbar’, which means the behaviour of a person when they feel that they are more important than other people, so that they are rude to them or do not consider them important. Arrogance is ‘having megalomaniac behaviour’ or ‘having excessive pride’. Buruma and Margalit (2005, p.127) explain that arrogance manifests itself in Western imperialism and is seen as an ‘infringement of the rule of God’. In speeches by Iranian leader, ‘arrogance’ is usually collocated with (adjective) ‘global’. Likewise, the ‘fight against the global arrogance’ is a popular phrase used by top Iranian officials to refer to the main principle of the revolutionary ideology of Iran's foreign policy. ‘Arrogance’ is usually an indirect reference to the USA. In the parlance of the Iranian leaders, the USA is the ‘symbol of arrogance’ and global power which seeks to broaden its influence in other regions including the Middle East and dominate it. Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Iran, employed concepts such as ‘imperialism’, ‘bullying behaviour’, ‘domineering manner’ and ‘global arrogance’ to denounce or ‘demonize’ the West. Such concepts were later turned into stereotypes by Iranians to describe the West. Ayatollah Khamenei, the incumbent leader of Iran, uses ‘global arrogance’ to reject the Western liberal democracy and the Western ‘domination and arrogance’ in imposing its own way of democracy and governance.

[15] Kayhan uses Van Dijk's concept of ideological square to define the relationship between Iran and the West as two opposite poles. Kayhan writes in an editorial (12 April 2009):

Our confrontation with the US is the conflict between two opposite identities. Until the US views the Islamic Republic of Iran with a superior, one-sided and unilateral eye, and does not abandon its imperialist nature and does not change its policy and attitudes regarding Iran in action, this gap will not be filled.

[16] In an editorial, Mardomsalari encourages Iran and the USA to reconcile (7 April 2009):

The two systems in general seem to be still in opposite [directions] and alternative to one another. However, the two governments are aware that allegations and inciting rhetoric have not helped and do not help in resolving issues and in this stage only by admitting differences, steps can be taken in line with mutual understanding and creating security and … in order to stabilise the situation and reduce costs.

[17] In an editorial, the Kayhan newspaper wrote (12 April 2009):

US antagonistic policies in previous administrations in that country – particularly during the Bushs – colonising global security has imposed huge costs on the international community and the America itself.

In its editorial on Khatami's historical interview with the CNN, the pro-Conservative Resalat newspaper wrote (8 January 1998):

Our president used a rare opportunity for talks with the people of America and exposed the crimes and murders of American statesmen in the past 50 years.

[18] That ‘presupposition’ is the most frequently used technique to describe the West is another proof that the Iranian press are influenced by their ideology.

[19] According to the literature on agenda setting, the more people see or hear about an issue or subject, the more they will talk about it, and this will increase the chance that issue ends up on the public and policy agenda.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ehsan Bakhshandeh

Ehsan Bakhshandeh (PhD, The Communication and Media Research Institute, Faculty of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster, London) is currently a visiting lecturer at the Department of Iranian Studies at the University of Tehran's Faculty of World Studies. He has completed his Master's in Royal Holloway, University of London in Politics and International Relations. He has more than a decade of experience as a journalist for the Iranian newspapers.