The U S Press And Iran

No one seriously interested in the character of public knowledge and the quality of debate over American alliances can afford to ignore the complex link between press and policy and the ways in which mainstream journalism in the U.S. portrays a Third World ally. The case of Iran offers a particularly rich view of these dynamics and suggests that the press is far from fulfilling the watchdog role assigned it in democratic theory and popular imagination.

This book investigates the American media coverage of the historic nuclear accord between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the world powers, commonly known as the Iran Deal. The analysis examines the sources of news and opinion expressed about the Iran Deal in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the national newscast of broadcast networks. The empirical component uses media sociology and indexing theory to determine the extent to which the media covered the topic within a framework of institutional debates among congressional leaders, the executive branch and other governmental sources. The coverage is placed within a larger historical and interpretative framework that examines the construction of Iran in both the pre-revolution news narratives and in the post-revolution American media and popular culture. The book endeavors to reveal the place Iran occupies in the American political and cultural imagination.

"Iran and the American Media examines many ways that media coverage has brought Iran so deeply within America's political and cultural consciousness. For media entities this has been an often difficult process in terms of sustaining objectivity and reflecting complexity. These authors perform a valuable service by addressing a wide range of media-related topics about one of the most challenging international relations issues of recent decades." - Philip Seib, Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy, International Relations, University of Southern California, USA "By closely examining the coverage of the so-called Iran Deal, the authors of this careful work skillfully reveal how the major US media's treatment of the agreement uncritically reproduce, rather than judiciously scrutinize, official and popular narratives that frame Iran as untrustworthy in negotiation, regionally malign, and hence deserving of discipline and punishment. Using information from thousands of news reports, the authors also convincingly show how, through their reliance on a limited set of domestic and foreign expert opinions, major news outlets perpetuate the notion that only a narrow range of policy choices is available to US policymakers." - Farideh Farhi, Independent scholar, Comparative Politics, Iran's Contemporary Politics and Foreign Policy, USA This book investigates the American media coverage of the nuclear "Iran Deal" by examining the sources of news and opinion about it in The New York Times, The Washington Post and broadcast news. The empirical component uses media sociology and indexing theory to determine the extent to which the media covered the topic within a framework of debates among institutional sources. The coverage is placed within historical and interpretative frameworks that examine the construction of Iran in both the news and American popular culture to reveal the place Iran occupies in the American political and cultural imagination. Mehdi Semati is Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University, USA. William P. Cassidy is Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University, USA. Mehrnaz Khanjani is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, USA. .

Based on frequent, first-hand reporting in Iran and the United States, The Iran Agenda Today explores the turbulent recent history between the two countries and reveals how it has led to a misguided showdown over nuclear technology. Foreign correspondent Reese Erlich notes that all the major U.S. intelligence agencies agree Iran has not had a nuclear weapons program since at least 2003. He explores why Washington nonetheless continues with saber rattling and provides a detailed critique of mainstream media coverage of Iran. The book further details the popular protests that have rocked Tehran despite repression by the country’s Deep State. In addition to covering the political story, Erlich offers insights on Iran’s domestic politics, popular culture, and diverse populations over this recent era. His analysis draws on past interviews with high-ranking Iranian officials, the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, and Iranian exiles in Los Angeles, as well as the memory of his trip to Tehran with actor Sean Penn. Written in skillful and riveting journalistic prose, The Iran Agenda Today provides inside information that academic researchers find hard to obtain.

A comprehensive but concise overview of Iran's politics, economy, military, foreign policy, and nuclear program. The volume chronicles U.S.-Iran relations under six American presidents and probes five options for dealing with Iran. Organized thematically, this book provides top-level briefings by 50 top experts on Iran (both Iranian and Western authors) and is a practical and accessible "go-to" resource for practitioners, policymakers, academics, and students, as well as a fascinating wealth of information for anyone interested in understanding Iran's pivotal role in world politics.

This study presents an analysis of US-Iranian relations in the twentieth century, with particular attention to the crisis over nationalization of British oil interests at midcentury. As such, it focuses on the career of Muhammad Musaddiq, who struggled during those years to free his country from foreign influence, and whose memory continued to haunt bilateral relations with the United States up to the Iranian revolution. Throughout, it examines Anglo-American views of Iranians (and by implication of other non-Westerners) which affected - and still affect - the conduct of international relations.

An invaluable primer on the US-Iran conflict by U.S. and Iranian scholars.

Richard Cottam served in the U.S. embassy in Tehran from 1956 to 1958 and was consulted by the Department of State during the 1979 hostage crisis. This book draws upon his expert personal knowledge of Iranian politics to describe the spiraling decline of U.S.-Iranian relations since the cold war and the political consequences of those years U.S. policy, he argues, is flawed by ignorance, inertia, the tenacity of a cold war mentality, a quixotic tilt toward Iraq, and the blatant inconsistency of the Reagan administration's arms-for-hostages scheme that produced the Iran-contra scandal.