Media and Approaches to Political-Social Crises

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to examine the media in Iran and the Kurdistan Region and their approaches to political-social crises. This research is descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology. To achieve a documented conclusion, the approach of Iranian media towards two crises—COVID-19 and the 2019 floods—was examined, as well as the approach of Kurdistan media towards three crises: the economic (budget) crisis, COVID-19, and ISIS. The findings indicated that the IRNA news agency, IRIB, and Fars News Agency exhibited relatively subjective behavior towards the COVID-19 crisis due to various reasons, including differences in political perspectives. Additionally, in the 2019 flood crisis, the national media did not perform adequately, with the most notable shortcoming being the minimal representation of the public, particularly the affected population, in the news. Moreover, Kurdistan's media did not properly manage the ISIS crisis, as they failed to adhere to media ethics, did not provide specific media coverage of the war, were influenced by the impacts of war and violence propaganda, misinterpreted terminology, created imbalance, and disseminated biased and fake content. Similarly, during the COVID-19 crisis, the media instilled fear and panic in the Kurdistan society. In the economic and budget crisis, the media also failed to act without bias and were influenced by external factors.