narrative

Narrative

Ali Prentiss

When the leader if Iran wants to influence the minds of his people he uses propaganda and strict censorship (how original). For centuries Iranian people have fought for basic freedoms that Americans take for granted: such as reading a suggestive or revolutionary book, watching porn, or hearing about wars on the news and radio. Film makers in Iran have to make movies about very precise religious material, or something that doesn’t conflict with any of the ways of life that the government has lain out. The government’s control over aspect of art has greatly affected the artist’s evolution and progress in Iran. The strict rules inflicted have also developed a new kind of blogger culture (even President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has one). Iran got hooked up to the internet in the 1990’s right after Israel. Even when at the same time, it is not possible to dial an Iranian number from an Israeli telephone because of lack of communication between the governments. Today about 11 of every 100 Iranians are online. In 2003, officials announced plans to remove and block more than 15,000 websites. They also evolved pirated versions of US filtering systems into their own type of fire wall/ filtering system. Worldly news Web sites, like BBC have been blocked, the head leaders have also periodically shut down social networking sites, making it difficult for information to reach the outside world. Cinemas suffered because most movies were not allowed in theaters, and the movies that did play were not very interesting. Iran doesn’t have a “Hollywood.”

The Revolutionary Guard is a powerful part of Iranian security.

The Guard created a "Cyber Army" to train more than 250,000 computer hackers.

The censorship in Iran has decreased the news that enters the country, there for blocking further knowledge of the world around it. Isolation in humans leads to the lack of understanding other cultures customs, and today's conflicts. Keeping the people of your country uneducated about what is going on is a very abrasive way to control a population as a whole.

            David S. Cohen, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said,

"Today's designations further demonstrate our resolve to put a stop to the Iranian regime's continued efforts to deny the Iranian people access to information and the ability to speak freely." The United States as a country always thinks that we can go in and help a situation, when in reality, we usually only make problems worse. Sending reporters in during the last election proved to be very dangerous. Many reporters were beaten, threatened, or killed trying to voice what was really going on to the rest of the world. The leaders of Iran have been manipulating media of all kinds for years, changing the way that Iranian people. We are all products of our environment, but what happens when your environment has been tampered with. Changing the way that a large group of people see the world can be very dangerous, and will undoubtedly cause wars and protests. Freedom of speech is something that many Americans take for granted, while n Iran, you may be killed for voicing your opinion.

 

 

Bibliography

 

CHRISTOPHER RHOADS and FASSIHI, FARNAZ. "Iran Vows to Unplug Internet." The Wall Street Journal.    Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2012.

 

"Media Group Asks Nations Not to Recognize Iran Results." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 June 2009. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.