Telegramming News: How have Telegram channels transformed journalism in Iran?

Year 2018, Issue: 31, 168 - 187, 30.12.2018

Hossein Kermani

https://doi.org/10.17829/turcom.423307

Cited By: 7

Abstract

This research tries to evaluate Telegram’s effects on journalism and news writing in Iran. The emergence of social
media has affected many social and political trends in societies, as well as journalism practices and procedures.
Telegram, as the most popular social media in Iran, hypothetically has the power to do so. Moreover, there are
numerous channels on Telegram which publish news posts daily. Therefore, I tried to explore how these channels
impact journalism in Iran. Doing so, I analyzed how the structure of news is transformed by the emergence of
new forms of news writing and the disappearance of traditional standards. Furthermore, I probed the news
values on Telegram channels to find out how a piece of writing becomes a news in this new space. Finally, I
studied how objectivity was treated by Telegram channels, to provide a comprehensive interpretation of news
on Telegram. A wide range of textual methods (both quantitative and qualitative content analyses and discourse
analysis) were employed to analyze the most viewed posts on Telegram channels during Iran’s 2017 presidential
election period. As a result, 620 posts in 31 days were gathered and analyzed. The results showed that the news
structure has changed more than the ways that channels use news values. In fact, the old standards of news
writing are abandoned and new forms, such as screenshots, have emerged. Moreover, prominence is the most
favorable news value on these channels; while relevance and magnitude are of least interest. Finally, findings
revealed that the majority of news posts are objective. 

Keywords

Social Media, Journalism, Iran, Telegram, News Values, News Writing, Objectivity

Telegramming News: How have Telegram channels transformed the journalism in Iran?

Abstract

This research tries to evaluate Telegram’s effects on journalism and news writing in Iran. The emergence of social
media has affected many social and political trends in societies, as well as journalism practices and procedures.
Telegram, as the most popular social media in Iran, hypothetically has the power to do so. Moreover, there are
numerous channels on Telegram which publish news posts daily. Therefore, I tried to explore how these channels
impact journalism in Iran. Doing so, I analyzed how the structure of news is transformed by the emergence of
new forms of news writing and the disappearance of traditional standards. Furthermore, I probed the news
values on Telegram channels to find out how a piece of writing becomes a news in this new space. Finally, I
studied how objectivity was treated by Telegram channels, to provide a comprehensive interpretation of news
on Telegram. A wide range of textual methods (both quantitative and qualitative content analyses and discourse
analysis) were employed to analyze the most viewed posts on Telegram channels during Iran’s 2017 presidential
election period. As a result, 620 posts in 31 days were gathered and analyzed. The results showed that the news
structure has changed more than the ways that channels use news values. In fact, the old standards of news
writing are abandoned and new forms, such as screenshots, have emerged. Moreover, prominence is the most
favorable news value on these channels; while relevance and magnitude are of least interest. Finally, findings
revealed that the majority of news posts are objective. 

Keywords

social media, journalism, Iran, Telegram, news values, news writing, objectivity

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