NCRI – With Journalists' Day on the corner on August 10, the news from Iran is not at all encouraging.
"Twenty-one newspapers were shutdown last year by Ahmadinejad's government," reported the state-run daily Etemaad on Thursday.
"Since most of the newspapers are highly depended on government subsidies, in particular paper, and also advertisements, which from time to time is cut depending on the policies of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (MCIG), the government does not need to officially shut a paper down. Just by cutting these assistances, if they fall out of favor with the government, that would mean they are automatically closed down without much effort on the part of the MCIG," Etemaad added.
There are "red lines" not to be crossed by the dailies at all costs. Last year a young journalist in an interview with a foreign media said, "The so-called red lines that should not be crossed by journalists in Iran include criticism of official nuclear and economic policies. Social topics like the demands of young people for more freedom or anti-discrimination demands from women are also among the red lines that journalists are not allowed to cross."
In addition to the so-called "red lines" there are some words which are absolutely not forgiven, if published, by the clerical regime. That is to print a single word about the Iranian Resistance and its leader Maryam Rajavi.
One such famous case was Iraj Jamshidi, editor-in-chief of the economic daily "Asia", was arrested with his wife, managing editor Saghi Baghernia, on 6 July 2003 for "publicity against the regime", after publishing a photograph of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI a day earlier. Baghernia was released on bail the following day, but Iraj Jamshidi was detained at Tehran's Evin prison and was subsequently transferred to an undisclosed location.
