Since its inception, Payam Steering Center has been trying to play an important role in explaining current issues and informing the society by publishing various sets of promotional specials. These specials are designed and published with the aim of promoting public awareness and providing specific messages in various fields. In other words, the collections published by Payam Rahbari Center in 1404 with diverse content and sensitive topics have effectively played a role in explaining various political, economic, social and cultural issues of the country. These special reports have not only helped to strengthen domestic relations but also to expand the exchange of different ideas and narratives between different countries. Mehdi Afraz, the director of the Payam Rahbari Center, has continued to review the specials and promotional books published this year.
When did Payam’s steering center start its activity?
This center began to operate in July 1404 with the aim of supporting the actions and activities of promotional and explanatory collections of the Advertising Organization sub-category.
What is the approach behind publishing these collections?
In general, the series of specials that have been published by Payam Steering Center have tried to compensate this gap and by creating specific narratives, they present their perspective and analytical frame on various issues. The goal is to convey these views to the audience in a clear and orderly way and to confront the existing narratives in the field, including opposing and parallel narratives. In addition, an attempt has been made to establish a single and valid narrative on the issue of the atomic bomb, or the issue of retreat, or the issue of the instability of the currency market, to provide a set of messages and arguments that the audience can clearly understand.
Another approach that exists is that we have not considered the audience of the works as final consumers. At present, a large amount of activities in the field of cognitive and promotion-explanation is taking place; What we have to do is to be able to help and support the drivers of communication with people in the field of storytelling and message engineering. Therefore, our audience is the same network of producers and activists and designers in the field of explanatory advertising.
What measures have been taken to stabilize the narratives?
First, you have to choose what narrative to address the society with. The next key point is that in order to understand the narrative more, it should be turned into multiple and small arguments so that by being placed next to each other, they can create a general picture that we are telling them. For example, after the bombardment of Doha by the Zionist regime with the aim of assassinating Hamas leaders, we decided to compile our narrative in the form of 18 messages. These messages try to present a clear picture of the incident and be available to the activists in the field of media, advertising and explanation, so that they can use this narrative as a documentary and effective framework in their content production, or for example, in the case of itikaf, many publishing houses in the country cover this event for three weeks to a month. In the meantime, by determining a general jihad for this occasion, we will produce 40 messages related to the topic so that the framework of the main narrative is formed and the path of discourse creation is determined.
Which collection was published for the first time?
The collection of “Speech of Resistance and Progress” was among the works that were produced and a copy of it was published before the formation of Payam Steering Center. Payam’s steering center started working in July this year. Simultaneously with the formation of this center, changes were also made in the strategic center of the organization. Our first action after these developments was the publication of the second edition of the “Speech of Resistance and Progress” collection, which was completed around August.
What works, collections and books are published by this center?
One of the main challenges in the field of perceptive, cognitive and explanatory activities is how to deal with new subjects that occupy the minds of the society and the intellectual system of the audience. In such a situation, it is possible to form a discourse appropriate to each subject; In such a way that one can re-formulate one’s teachings, ideals, knowledge and macro views, in accordance with the same daily subjects (daily or weekly), and bring them to the field of opinion and action in a new, updated and effective form of expression. An issue like the atomic bomb was discussed in the world for 2-3 weeks and there were discussions about the necessity of its existence or non-existence. This issue has shown a challenge and gap in presenting our views and messages to the audience and society.
How many propaganda books have been published since the activity of Payam Rahbari Center in 1404?
So far, about 20 propaganda series, in addition to 20 series of “The Second War” special periodical, have been published about the events of January 1404, which includes a total of 40 issues. In the Ramadan war, we started working from the very first days of the war, and while only three days had passed, we started the “Battle of Destiny” special. Considering the many events that happened in the first days, the martyrdom of the leader of the revolution and a group of officials, as well as the importance of this war after the events of January 1404, we decided to prepare a detailed special with various topics, each of which presents explanatory messages about the American-Zionist war against Iran in the form of 14 messages, and so far it has reached more than 30 issues of this special. Also, during the Ramadan war, a book titled “Patriicide” was published on topics such as economic terrorism, politics in the service of oppression, curbing Iran’s progress, and the shadow of war and permanent insecurity. This book has been published in the form of 90 explanatory messages about 100 years of America’s crime and enmity against the Iranian nation in both electronic and printed versions.
Are you referring to some published collections?
Some of these series include: Return to the Real World, Development Exhibition, Art of War, Deadlock, One Soul in Two Nations, Operation Revival, Itikaf, After One Year, Fall of the Syrian Regime, 90 Minutes, Return to 1947, Rootless, Hostage, The Dollar Era and Iran’s Economy, The Scandal of the Power System and Order in the Western World.
With what approach were each of the collections published?
The “Return to the Real World” series was published in the form of 20 messages with the theme of activating the trigger mechanism. “Development Exhibition” addressed the issue of Doha bombing with 18 messages. “Tragedy of Ukraine” was presented with 13 messages with the issue of starting negotiations between Russia and Ukraine for the end of the war, national unity and resistant society, as well as the stabilization of social cohesion after the war. “The Art of War” was also a collection that was published with 26 messages related to the leadership style of the leader of the revolution in the 12-day war. The series “Exiting the Deadlock” was released with 30 messages about the need to review Iran’s interactions with the Western world.
Also, the series “One soul in two nations” in the form of 70 messages related to the anniversary of the martyrdom of Nasrallah, “Revival operations” with 30 messages about the meeting of Sharm el-Sheikh, “Rastakhiz Shahr” with 40 messages about itikaf; “After a year” with 60 messages related to the fall of the Syrian regime, “90 minutes” with 70 messages about the process of changes in the cover in Iran, “Atom Bomb” containing 30 messages about encouraging campaigns to build nuclear weapons, “Return to 1947” in the form of 24 messages about the achievements of the Al-Aqsa storm operation, “Non-negotiable” containing 50 messages about the capabilities of the missile industry, “Rootless” with 60 messages about the Pahlavi family yesterday and today, “Hostage” with 40 messages about the dollar era and Iran’s economy, “Iranmard” containing 50 messages about the character of martyr Soleimani, “More scandalous than Epstein” which was recently published, contains 30 messages related to the power system in the Western world have been published. Also, 20 collections of “Second Period of War” with a total of 280 messages expressed explanatory messages about the events of the winter of 1404.
The publication of the special magazine “Destiny Battle” started on the 12th of March, and until today, as we speak, 15 issues have been published and so far 210 explanatory messages have been published through it. Conquest of Blood, War of War to Victory, Nizm Walai, Envoy Nation, Indicator of Victory, Future Persian Gulf, Ramadan Pledge, Hidden Secret, Once and Forever, Weapon of Life, Eternal Game, Infrastructure Phase, Chaharbansuri, Across the Street, Nowruz Hamasa are among the titles of this special that have been published so far.
What has been the feedback of the audience and the impact of these collections?
The feedbacks have been mostly positive and in fact, each collection has been received differently, depending on its subject and audience. For example, the series “Risheh” has been well received due to the appeals and the related atmosphere, and the series “Retreat” has also received the attention of the audience due to the importance of the topic. In our opinion, all the collections are effective and each one has left its own impact on the atmosphere of the society and the audience. In other words, regarding the narrative and the message, we repeatedly get confirmation from the people who are involved in propaganda and explanatory matters. The issue of the message is considered one of our serious gaps in the space of media, propaganda and cognitive actions. These collections had a great impact on the society, especially in the fields related to politics, social and economic issues, as well as cultural issues. Of course, there are different opinions about the impact of these collections, but the most important thing is that each collection was well received according to its specific theme.
