This paper uses a qualitative research method to investigate the role of television commercials in attracting investments for the purpose of contribution to the domestic production. Since we take television commercials as becoming increasingly important, we feel this role needs to be studied from the point of view of both producers and consumers. In order to see how the TV commercials are related to attracting investments, we chose 20 commercial cases from amongst 1844 commercials which varied by content and could be classified in 132 commercial genres. The selected samples played in channel 1,2,3 Iranian TV and we observed them in a time span extending from the first 3 months of the year 1391 (Persian calendar). The selected items were studied using a semiotics approach in the sense that producers and consumers point of views played the major role in linking between commercials and their meaning. Some findings of the semiotic analysis of the samples show that the number of commercials that addressed producers are more than the ones addressing the consumers. In addition, these findings show that commercials tend to bring economic wishes into play and to use the best services as main drives. These commercials represented modern life style, and tried to show how the present and future welfare can be guaranteed. In this regard, they used attractive elements to instigate investment; these elements included high quality of the product and so on. Finally, it can be said that despite the fact that psychological and motivational elements are more effective, the commercials used financial elements such as gain and loss, high quality and etc. rather than psychological and mental elements such as insurance, discount, etc.

The purpose of this article is to probe the quality of Iranian websites providing tourism-related services. A set of preliminary indicators was developed after a literature review. These were subsequently tested and refined using a questionnaire-based survey of 100 users and a focus group study of experts. The finalized indicators were then used to evaluate 8 representative websites. Results indicate that these website are yet to become interactive and only provide basic information that is often deficient. Indeed, they need to improve their quality in order to satisfy their increasingly sophisticated audiences. Among the studied cases, the success of small-scale ventures offering tourism-related information and commercial services through the Internet is promising and points to existing potentials. A set of recommendations are provided in the last part of the article for the improvement of Iran’s web-based tourism services and the realization of these potentials.

This paper offers the results of a study that compares the media literacy among students of University of Tehran and students of University of Tehran’s Medical Sciences. The media literacy consists of following skills: analysing, evaluation, classification, induction, comparison, combination, and summarization. We used a descriptive and survey method to examine such comparison. The samples were chosen from amongst students in University of Tehran and University of Tehran’s Medical Sciences, cohort 2011. We used Cochrane sampling formula to determine the sample size. In the end, some 364 students were selected. Data was collected using a researcher-made ​​questionnaire along with the five-grade Likert scale. The questionnaire’s content validity was approved by experienced professors, and its reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was then distributed among 364 sample students to fill them up but 251 questionnaires were returned in the end. We then analyzed the data by SPSS software. Some of the findings indicate that media literacy between the students in both universities is in at the same level and more than average and at an ideal level.

This paper aims at studying and analyzing the environmental factors which affect the functionality of the National Broadcasting Agency in Ilam. This study was done using SWOT methodology and basing its analysis on opportunity-threat aspects and strength-weakness aspects of the agency. We collected The required data using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed among university professors, press activists and experts who had university degrees in sociology, social and communication, and political science. The samples were chosen also based on the condition of having work experience with social and cultural organizations. The analysis of data and our findings indicate that the existence of a native and local accent in the province is considered as an important potential that facilitates communication with the members of audience and attracts their attention. The respondents mentioned that such factor is the most important external opportunity to be considered. Also the citizen’s tendency to use internet and as a cyber medium has been said to be the most important external threat. In addition, the existence of hardware and software facilities in the Broadcasting Center of Ilam has been mentioned to be the most important strength. Furthermore, they mentioned that the organization’s financial dependence on the Center’s credits and the limits of the budget of the Broadcasting Organization is the most important internal weakness.

This research article aims at applying Habermas’s approach on public sphere to political and social blogs in Iran. For such purpose, we purposefully selected and studies five blogs that we considered to be active blogs. We studied these blogs using a methodology of textual analysis. Some of the findings indicate that, although these blogs pave the way for easy access to information, but this is only quantitatively important. In other word, blogs have little qualitative effects on their audience. It can even be said that the information is fragmented in blogs. This means, everybody writes and speaks but no one reads or listens and much of blogs’ information is critically touched. Some other findings also show that posting comments in blogs has not facilitated dialogue as one of the public sphere goals and requirements. Nevertheless, if the critical view is considered as a public spheres' criteria, then and in that case, blogs have contributed to development of public sphere. We have witnessed that the legitimacy of the critical view is confirmed through the high range of filtering in blogs. In a way, it can be said that although blogs have the capacity to revive the public sphere, but in practice they are not able to fulfill their task.

This article is part of research project which consisted of three phases. It is a research paper and attempts to explain the relation between Iranian elites and managers of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Although various researches are done about IRIB, the relation between elites and IRIB has not been studied as yet. I have had a number experiences with Iranian TV as program manager or researcher. I thought I could use this to address the issue in an academic way. Having said that, the paper then tries to fill this vacuum as its major target. In addition, the paper tries to suggest some solutions that can improve the relationship between elites and IRIB managers. In this regard, we have chosen a sample of elites and top executives and IRIB’s managers. With a quantitative method, we attempted to evaluate the mentioned relationship. Considering the fact that IRIB is a public TV, and Iran does not have any private TVs, the influence of IRIB programs on the society is undeniable. Thus, the condition requires a good relationship between elites and IRIB‘s managers.

This paper uses a qualitative research method to investigate the role of television commercials in attracting investments for the purpose of contribution to the domestic production. Since we take television commercials as becoming increasingly important, we feel this role needs to be studied from the point of view of both producers and consumers. In order to see how the TV commercials are related to attracting investments, we chose 20 commercial cases from amongst 1844 commercials which varied by content and could be classified in 132 commercial genres. The selected samples played in channel 1,2,3 Iranian TV and we observed them in a time span extending from the first 3 months of the year 1391 (Persian calendar). The selected items were studied using a semiotics approach in the sense that producers and consumers point of views played the major role in linking between commercials and their meaning. Some findings of the semiotic analysis of the samples show that the number of commercials that addressed producers are more than the ones addressing the consumers. In addition, these findings show that commercials tend to bring economic wishes into play and to use the best services as main drives. These commercials represented modern life style, and tried to show how the present and future welfare can be guaranteed. In this regard, they used attractive elements to instigate investment; these elements included high quality of the product and so on. Finally, it can be said that despite the fact that psychological and motivational elements are more effective, the commercials used financial elements such as gain and loss, high quality and etc. rather than psychological and mental elements such as insurance, discount, etc.