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Starting and Running a Media Business in Iran Three Case Studies of Start-Ups That Challenge the Mass Media in the Islamic Republic of Iran

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Starting and Running a Media Business in Iran Three Case Studies of Start-Ups That Challenge the Mass Media in the Islamic Republic of Iran Starting and running a media business in Iran Three case studies of start-ups that challenge the mass media in the Islamic Republic of Iran Master thesis Journalism and Media University of Amsterdam Master in Media studies To: prof. dr. M.J.P. Deuze Author: Luuk Ex Student number: 6172474 June 10, 2016, Amsterdam Introduction 5 Theory 7 Chapter 1: Start-up trends worldwide and in Iran 7 Why Iran? 7 The concept of a ‘start-up’ and how to define ‘media’ 10 Rise of SMEs in the media industry 12 Journalism start-ups as ‘entrepreneurial journalism’ 14 Start-ups in Iran 16 Chapter 2: Iranian journalism in Reese’s hierarchy of influences model 19 Introduction of Reese’s hierarchy of influences model 19 Individual journalist 20 News routines 21 Organisation 22 Extra-media 24 Ideological 26 Method 28 Chapter 3: Three case studies 28 3.1 Multiple case study approach 28 Literature analyses 28 Case selection 29 Informants 31 3.2 Questionnaire topics 31 Genesis of the start-up 31 2 People involved 31 Location 32 Revenue model 32 Motives 32 Goals 32 Start-up ecosystem 32 Interviews 33 3.3 Set-up of the interviews 33 Context of the interview with Jaaar 33 Start-up Jaaar 34 Start-up Peivast 34 Start-up Aparat 35 Results and analyses 35 Chapter 4: Case Studies, Jaaar, Aparat and Peivast 35 North, near Valiasr Street 35 Technology-driven start-ups 36 Fix inefficiencies, copy successful businesses, and find independency 37 What is their product? 42 When your core business is not your main revenue stream 44 Within and without the state’s policies 46 Conclusion 50 Discussion 52 References 54 Figures 66 Appendix A: Questions given to start-up correspondents 70 3 Appendix B: Map of Tehran with locations of the start-ups 71 Appendix C: List of respondents 72 Appendix D: Transcribed interviews 73 4 Introduction While observations of fast innovation and radical change in the media of Western coun- tries have been made (Franklin, 2010), it is a topic that has not yet been thoroughly re- searched in other parts of the world. Western traditional print and broadcast media are challenged as readers and ad- vertisers are moving to freely available online platforms (Castells, 2012; Grueskin, 2011; McChesney & Nichols, 2010; Meyer, 2009). This has resulted in a rise of ‘entrepreneuri- al journalism’ seeking to retain the practice of journalism by starting innovative business ventures, so-called ‘journalism start-ups’ (Briggs, 2012, DVorkin, 2013). Whereas some declare the crumbling of the traditional news business (Currah, 2009; C. Lewis, 2008), others observe the introduction of new possibilities (Briggs, 2012, DVorkin, 2013). For example the so-called ‘multiple journalism’ observed by Bregtje Van der Haak, Michael Parks & Manuel Castells (2014) in their study on the impact of new technologies on journalism: New technology provides new ways to produce better research, reporting and storytelling . we believe that the Multiple Journalism of the digital age is not a threat to the independence and quality of professional journalism, but a liberation from strict corporate control. (Van der Haak, 2014). The observation of a rise of new technologies which would produce better practices and liberation from strict corporate control is mainly an observation focused on journalism in Western countries. Similar observations have been made about entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Research about entrepreneurship in this region was the subject of the book Startup rising: The entrepreneurial revolution remaking the Middle East by Christopher Schroeder – an entrepreneur and start-up researcher based in the area. After a visit to Iran in 2014, Schroeder noticed the ascent of a new generation of entrepreneurs. He suggested that a new generation has access to the “best . global technology” and “unprecedented access to information” (2014). This generation of young entrepreneurs “[is] building innovative businesses on their own and creating an ‘entrepreneurial revolution’ in the region of the Middle East” (Schroeder, 2013, p. 22) – so concludes the author in an earlier book. Thus, 5 this thesis researches a different context and examines the assumptions of entrepreneurial journalism and multiple journalism in a non-Western, Iranian context. The main question addressed is “what does it generally take to start and run a news and journalism start-up in Iran?” In this thesis I take existing observations about entrepreneurial and Multiple Journalism one step further, researching emerging initiatives in the Iranian media industry. During a two-week visit to Tehran I held intensive semi-structured interviews with start-up found- ers. Via a snowball method – I asked two journalists if they could bring me in contact with an Iranian start-up and other college’s or acquaintances who might know – I got in touch with thirteen journalists who are or have been active in the Iranian media industry, as well as two entrepreneur coaches who work for the Iran Entrepreneurship Association. The lack of factual information remained problematic for the research. Therefore, this thesis must remain an explorative study. The goal is to present and analyse typical exam- ples of the media start-up scene in Iran. The researched start-ups have been chosen because of the variety of their back- grounds. The first is Jaaar.com, an online kiosk for all Iranian newspapers. Customers can download entire newspapers from the website. Jaaar is innovating the delivery of news by challenging classic mail delivery services. Jaaar is part of a larger company called Pouya Rasaneh, which means “dynamic media.” Pouya Rasaneh’s LinkedIn page indicates that they think of themselves as “pioneers in innovative IT solutions in news/ media monitoring/ delivery services in Iran” (Pouya Rasaneh, n.d.). They specialise in “content aggregation, content analysis and content delivery systems” (Pouya Rasaneh, n.d.). The company also claims to have the first and only news analysis system in Iran. Jaaar is the first multiplatform electronic newsstand in Iran, and has under contract over 186 publications, including most major newspapers and magazines [see figure 1]. Peivast, a classical monthly magazine about Information and communication technology (ICT), is the second start-up examined in this paper. Peivast was initiated by three jour- nalists tries to grow by selling intensively researched articles that are longer than an aver- age magazine piece; the publication is sold in paperback print. The third case study start- up is the video-sharing website Aparat, which, according to World Start-up Report (S, 6 2014), is the largest recently launched media company in Iran. Aparat can be seen as the Iranian alternative for YouTube, which is absent in Iran due to Internet filtering by the state. The three cases in this study vary in their employees’ backgrounds, strategic de- velopment, and business models. Each is situated at a different stage of media production in Iran: in news distribution, as content provider, and in social media. But all three start- ups similarly challenge a fundamental part of the mass-media in Iran. Jaaar challenges the classic infrastructure of mass media consumption and focuses on a new revenue model using new online techniques. Peivast is pushed by individual ambitions seeking ‘inde- pendency and accountable journalism’ (Peivast interview, February, 23, 2014). And Apa- rat was born out of the relatively new social media, which, as we also experience in the West, challenges classic broadcasting and has the potential to give individuals more pow- er to express themselves. By exploring start-ups active in these subsequent stages, this thesis aims to provide encompassing insights on what it takes to start and run a news and journalism start-up in Iran. Chapter 1 provides context about entrepreneurship in the West and in Iran. It ad- dresses the emergence of start-ups worldwide, including Iran. An analysis of Iranian me- dia according to Reese’s hierarchy of influences model is provided in chapter 2. This context is needed to understand in which conditions the researched start-ups operate. In chapter 3, the method of qualitative research via semi-structured interviews and the case study method are explained. Chapter 4 discusses the three start-ups – Jaaar, Peivast and Aparat. Finally, this thesis ends with a conclusion and discussion. Theory Chapter 1: Start-up trends worldwide and in Iran Why Iran? According to James Curran and Myung-Jin Park, universalistic observations about media have been derived from a tiny hand full of Western countries. In the introduction of De- Westernising Media Studies (2000), the authors write that a Western-centric thinking has 7 long dominated media studies in the West. As a classic example of Western-centric think- ing, they review the textbook Four Theories of the Press (Siebert et al. 1956), whose au- thors divided the world into three camps: the free world of liberal democracies, the soviet communists, and authoritarian societies. This study served as a landmark for academics for the next forty years (Curran and Park, p. 3). It posited that developing countries would ultimately imitate the Western models of a democratic and open society, with the ideal of a press independent from the state promoting a democratic system. However, modernisa- tion did not occur in such a way for many of these countries. Moreover, the media system in Western countries was often directed toward maintaining control rather than educating for democracy (Curran and Park, p. 3). Curran and Park explain that a lack of local knowledge was one of the reasons why this Westernizing view came into fashion. Gholam Khiabany also argues against a Western-centric view. In his book Iran: The Paradox of Modernity (2010) he states that the main problem of Four Theories is caused by “the focus … on new technologies, deterritorialization, and the decline of the nation state” (2010, p.
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