Marching towards a people-based media; Statement of Establishment of the IraNeda Foundation

On the anniversary of the Iranian Constitutional Movement

Marching towards a people-based media

Dear Fellow Iranians,

During the past year, the movement of the people of Iran has been associated with massive media developments. The key message of this movement is to be inclusive of all the different voices. This has led to the creation of dozens of websites, news portals and participatory and people-based media. Small ideas have brought about huge impacts. Daily and weekly videos of prominent people, interviews and video messages of leaders and numerous video clips by leading or unknown artists are increasingly in wide circulation, conveying the message of democracy and dismissing tyranny and despotism.

The movement of the people of Iran has needed far-reaching and widely available media. Even so, the massive growth of small media have been instrumental in spreading the Green message in a way that no mainstream medium outside Iran has been able to do without them. A visual medium created and supported by Iranians all over the world is of urgent necessity. Over the past year, we have been moving toward achieving this goal. We have consulted and deliberated widely and we have taken the preparatory steps for the establishment of a people-based medium.

Various groups have independently endeavoured for the realization of the idea of a far-reaching and widely accessed medium. We have high respect for all of them; we have been in touch with a number of them and we are aware of their plans and proposals. We are also making our own contribution for our share in a project for an Iranian and people-based medium. In doing so, we rely on proposals, ideas and efforts of representatives from different political and human rights activists, citizen-journalists, prominent figures known to the wider Iranian public, artists, filmmakers and bloggers.

While remaining in touch and liaising with other media groups and embracing any joint effort, the signatories of this statement have a core idea of setting up a satellite channel to realize the model of a participatory medium which would help Iranians come together. We have no doubt that we will have to overcome many obstacles before implementing a new medium which aims to enable and empower people. We acknowledge these problems, but we also think that the atmosphere which has been born out of the encouraging movement of the people of Iran has made the establishment of such media more possible than any time before.

The media world has changed. This is no longer a univocal world and there is no monopoly and exclusivity for any single media in it. The medium we intend to establish takes this development into account; it does not claim to be comprehensive and all encompassing, nor does it assert to be a representative of the entire nation.

We are simply declaring that as a group of people who have deep interests in the movement of Iran’s people for freedom and justice and its efforts over the past year. This was just one example of a series of movements initiated by Iranians since the Iranian Constitutional Movement. We wish to establish a medium which can be an example of openness to the people of Iran and mutual understanding with the world and which can work for an Iran in the future where the cornerstone of its constitution shall be the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This medium shall not be the medium of a particular political party or establishment and it shall have no objective but to fight lying and dishonesty, opening the space for contributions and participation of Iranian citizens, fostering the Iranian culture. Our people-based medium is a modernist medium. It is open and anti-discriminatory and it seeks to reflect and display the ideals and opinions of those who have been suppressed in the past three decades and those who have been continuously and systematically discriminated against.

The medium we are endeavouring to establish is financially transparent and it shall rely on the funding of Iranians. The founders of this medium–who have gathered in the IraNeda Foundation–its planners, managers and policy-makers are Iranians. This group does not have any political ties with any financer, individual or foundation and shall remain so. It will always be dedicated to professional and progressive principles in media work. We welcome small and big donations of citizens and Iranian civil organizations. We shall have a separate statement regarding these contributions.

Signatories

The Founding Members of the IraNeda Group

Daryoush Ashouri, Mehran Barati, Shahrnush Parsipur, Mehdi Jami , Ramin Jahanbeglou, Reza Deghati, Arash Sobhani, Reza Allamehzadeh, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, Kazem Alamdari, Masih Alinejad, Mehrangiz Kar, Nikahang Kowsar, Mohsen Namjoo, Mohammad Reza Nikfar