Culture-Communication Studies
Year:2012 | Volume:13 | Issue:17 (49)|Papers Count:7

The present paper examines the relation between the level of watching TV and the score of religious, group and gender identities of people. The presented results were taken from a scientific study conducted at the IRIB research center by using two methods including analysis of contents and surveying. The studied statistical community in the contents analysis section included comic programs, TV serials and news. In the surveying section, people above 19 years old in 5 large cities of the country (presented in the methodology) were studied. In this paper, George Gerbner's Cultivation Theory is examined from the viewpoints of religious, group and gender issues based on the fact that repetition of TV programs has a cultivation effect on the minds of those who watch TV most of the times. The results of multivariable regression shows that although in some of the identity aspects in comedy, news and serial programs some messages were repeatedly broadcasted from IRIB and the watchers were exposed to those messages, the messages were beside other influential factors. The results further show that TV was an effective factor on the identity score of addresses in the studied level after other variables of social system. Moreover, despite Gerbner's theory, TV in Iran has no cultivation effete on the minds of the addresses and people influenced more by other variables of social system.

The Arab world has certainly witnessed the big events and changes in 2011 and early 2012. The wave of pro-democracy movements, anti-authoritarianism and Islamic Awakinism have been swept through it and reached to a turning point with the resignation Yemeni dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh in January 2012. In fact, these events were the sign of rebirth of courage and political maturity in the people of those countries. They have revolted against authoritarianism, corruption, political inheritance and discrimination in their countries. Meanwhile, we should not disregard the role of digital and social media as a facilitator of those revolutions.Since the eruption of revolution in the Arab countries, much have been written about the role of mass media like TVs, satellite TV Channels, newspapers, and also digital or social media like internet websites and virtual connecting networks such as Face book, Twitter and etc. To be sure, the role of people in fulfilling of the revolutions is undeniable, but we cannot ignore the effective role of digital media in prosperousness of revolutions. New digital media are being counted as one of the most important factors of the revolutions, because of their role in informing people, sharing the news and spreading freedom and anti-authoritarian thoughts.This article analyzes the role of new media in mobilizing people in the Arab Spring and its aftermaths. It tries to answer this question in descriptive and analytical style:” what is the main role of new digital media in erupting the Arab Spring?”

Movies reflect our ideas about fundamental social, economic, and political issues. This paper studies how Iranian movies made during Iraq imposed war on Iran called sacred defense era in Iran, represent consumption of goods. The main question is how Iranian movies represent consumption and how consumption relates to identities of personalities in Iranian films. The research method is semiotic analysis and five movies made in the mentioned period have been analyzed by this method. The movies include: Senator, Chrysanthemums, Tenants, Canary Yellow and Wedding of Nice People. The findings show that because of revolutionary discourse dominance in this era, all of studied movies reject or marginalized conspicuous consumption. In these movies, conspicuous consumption is related to negative personality and plain consumption is related to positive personality. Findings also challenge current sociological theories on consumption and media. This paper tests one of these theories.

Background: The study aims to explore suicide bombing attack as a media event and extends it to suicide bombing attacks carried out in the South-East of Iran. Methodology: The present work is an ideographic qualitative study, which has been designed based on the communicative model of Suicide Bombing Attack as a Media Event and examines encoding process of militant Jundallah group, an Iranian extremist Sunni group, in its suicide bombing attacks. Qualitative contextual thematic analysis was applied on the group statements to understand concepts and meanings of its political violence discourse, and explore main discursive themes and elements of these social contexts. Results: Since December 2008, militant Jundallah group entered a new period in fight with Iranian central government and it carried out five suicide bombing attacks in Balochistan province, in the South-East of Iran. The attacks were carried out in religious dates and sites related to resident Shiite minority in the region (3 attacks), and on armed forces of the central government (2 attacks). The main themes of the group`s formal statements included weakening of the central government, taking revenge, autonomy of Balochistan province and establishing a regional government, defending Sunni religious beliefs, and also considering resident Shiite minority as alien. Discussion: Political violence discourse of Jundallah group is a meaningful system, which reflects the regional position of this group as savior of Sunni Balochi people in contrast with the central Shiite government and in an international affirmative atmosphere. According to this definition, Jundallah group draws its utopia on Balochistan province which will be autonomic within Iran`s boundaries, politically; and demographically, it will have a united Sunni Balochi population; economically, it will be the center of Asian economy; and religiously, it will give complete religious freedom to Sunnis. To reach these perspectives, the group uses two strategies in carrying out suicide bombing attacks including attacking the government's representatives and agents also Shiite minority; and threatening, terrifying and persuading them to leave the region. As the last point, in order to control this crisis, armed confrontation cannot be solely adequate and modifying cultural and ethnic policies are necessitated in the region. This encourages negotiation to substitute bombing words with peaceful dialogues.

One of the properties of the Structuralistic approach in text analysis is the remark of binary oppositions. In fact, the opposition between culture and nature is considered as a structure, thus both sides of such opposition is involved in a relation of interactive, which is a positive relation. However, it is probable that in Ritual of Tazyeh culture and nature are combined with each other and they define one another constantly. Tazyeh is a cultural phenomenon, per se. But there lies nature in its basis. Now, if we do not regard to the nature in analysis of Tazyeh, it will fail to preserve its textural identity since natural elements make up in-textural layers of Tazyeh. Therefore, nature and culture are engaged in active definition and redefinition of each other in the domain of Tazyeh. For such purpose, in present article which has been composed in an analytical and descriptive method, separation of culture and nature, their adjustment and definition of that has been studied in this textural event. Hence, demonstration of the quality of reciprocal interaction between culture and nature in the process of the separation is the objective of this research.

The first step in this research we uses the library method, and finally, using surveys method for comparative study of trends and also how to use Facebook social networking among students of Iran and America. Researchers at the first step research most important databases in the world's and the collecting research, then began coding data collecting. Categorization research showed that most research on Facebook has a population of American students, around three main axes are: That usage of Facebook users, Facebook and measure the impact of student attitudes towards Facebook. Analysis showed that create new relationships, maintaining the old relationships, looking for news, information and entertainment as the main reasons were identified to Facebook. In the second phase of research was found that the tendency for students to factors such as Facebook share news and information, freedom of association, free flow of information in the network, the ability to control personal information and Principles of equality in the network, was identified as reasons the tendency of Iranian Students for using Facebook.

TV and its products as one of the most effective means of communication can play an interaction role; reinforce and institute moral values or promote negative values by wrong performance.Research is done with the purpose of "Studying of applying moral values in TV commercials for selling nutrients to children and adolescents".The research method is semiotics.The number of samples were 16 broadcasted in 1388 by irib tv one.According the conclusions availed by this investigation, the most values which were conveyed to the audiences through the investigated ads, were negative.Most of these negative values are conveyed by using different procedures such as flow of meaning by resorting to cartoon and talking characters, world based on dream, show of good as a messianic intended to affect the unconscious minds of child and adolescents and convey message and briefly attract the attention and reliance of audience to himself by stimulating their emotions.