Mohammad Ghouchani (Persian: محمد قوچانی, born 22 September 1976 in Rasht) is an Iranian journalist. He has served as editor-in-chief of various reformist print media, many of which have been banned by the authorities.[1]

Mohammad Ghouchani
Ghouchani in 2020
Born (1976-09-22) 22 September 1976 (age 48)
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
OccupationJournalist
Known forChief editor of Sazandegi newspaper
Political partyExecutives of Construction Party

Early life and education

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Ghouchani was born in 1976[1] in the city of Rasht.[citation needed] He graduated from the University of Tehran with a degree in Political Science.[citation needed]

Career

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He started his career in Jame'eh, the most famous among the newspapers that started after the reformer Mohammad Khatami became the president in 1997.[citation needed] Ghouchani also wrote for Asr-e Azadegan[2] and became the "star" of that publication.[3] In 2000, he won political columnist of the year prize at the Iranian Press Festival, but was jailed shortly after for his writings.[4]

He became the first editor-in-chief of Shargh in 2003[1] until it was closed down in September 2006. He then held the same position at Ham-Mihan between May and June 2007, when the latter was also banned.[5] From 2007 to 2008, he was editor of the weekly magazine Shahrvand-e-Emrooz.[1] Ghouchani then served as the editor-in-chief of Etemad-e Melli, the official organ of National Trust Party led by Mehdi Karroubi.[6] He was also in charge of the women's lifestyle magazine Irandokht, another publication close to Karroubi, until its office was raided in December 2009.[7] In the aftermath of 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, Ghouchani was imprisoned along with many journalists and both his publications were closed down.[8] After 131 days in detention, he was released on bail.[9]

With ease of pressure on media as Hassan Rouhani took office, Ghouchani published a pre-issue of Ham-Mihan on 26 October 2013, but the judicial system allegedly prevented republication of the newspaper.[10] He also served as the editor-in-chief of Aseman and Mehrnameh.[10] The former was a weekly magazine that was turned into a daily newspaper, but it was shut down by the judicial authorities less than a week after its launch in February 2014.[11]

Views

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Ghouchani is a critic of Neo-Shariatism.[12]

In 2004, Ghouchani spoke out about the red lines that could not be crossed in Iran, and said he views the ethical standard for journalism in Iran as "not lying to society". He also stated "Journalism is our job, our passion and our life, something that we don’t want to lose, unless we reach the point where we cannot work honorably".[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mirsepassi, Ali (2017). Transnationalism in Iranian Political Thought: The Life and Times of Ahmad Fardid. Cambridge University Press. pp. 360, 370. ISBN 978-1-316-94982-5.
  2. ^ Khiabany, Gholam (2009). Iranian Media: The Paradox of Modernity. Routledge. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-203-87641-1.
  3. ^ Poulson, Stephen (2006). Social Movements in Twentieth-century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks. Lexington Books. p. 26. ISBN 978-0739117576.
  4. ^ Shahidi, Hossein (2007). Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5.
  5. ^ Blair, Edmund; Maguire, Sean (11 June 2007), "Iran's liberal press tiptoes between "red lines"", Reuters, archived from the original on 15 July 2012, retrieved 1 September 2021
  6. ^ Randjbar-Daemi, Siavush (2017), The Quest for Authority in Iran: A History of The Presidency from Revolution to Rouhani, Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 218, ISBN 9781786732675
  7. ^ "Iran targets opposition media", Al-Jazeera, 2 March 2010, retrieved 1 September 2021
  8. ^ Sahimi, Muhammad (14 September 2009), "Censoring reformists out of existence", Tehran Bureau, PBS, retrieved 1 September 2021
  9. ^ "Iran Frees Reformist Editor On Bail", RFE/RL, 30 October 2009, retrieved 1 September 2021
  10. ^ a b Elmjouie, Yara (12 November 2015), "Iranian press freedoms grow for still-wary journalists", The Guardian, retrieved 1 September 2021
  11. ^ Moghtader, Michelle (23 February 2014), King, Larry (ed.), "Iran shuts reformist paper over comments on law", Reuters, retrieved 1 September 2021
  12. ^ Saffari, Siavash (2017), Beyond Shariati, Cambridge University Press, p. 41, ISBN 9781107164161
  13. ^ Shahidi, Hossein (2007). Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5.
Media offices
New title
Media founded
Editor-in-Chief of Agahi-e-No
2020–present
Incumbent
Editor-in-Chief of Sazandegi
2018–2021
Succeeded by
Akbar Montajabi
Editor-in-Chief of Siasatnameh
2015–2020
Succeeded by
Hamed Zareh
Preceded by Editor-in-Chief of Seda
2015–2017
2014
Succeeded by
Akbar Montajabi
New title Succeeded by
New title
Media founded
Editor-in-Chief of Mardom-e-Emrouz
2014–2015
Vacant
Banned
Editor-in-Chief of Aseman
2011–2015
Editor-in-Chief of Tajrobeh
2011–2017
Succeeded by
Mehdi Yazdani Khorram
Editor-in-Chief of Mehrnameh
2010–2017
Vacant
Publication ceased
Preceded by
Abolfazl Shakouri
Editor-in-Chief of Etemad-e-Melli
2008–2009
Vacant
Banned
New title
Media founded
Editor-in-Chief of Shahrvand-e-Emrooz
2007–2008
Vacant
Banned
Title next held by
Reza Khojasteh-Rahimi
Editor-in-Chief of Ham-Mihan
2013
2007
Vacant
Banned
Editor-in-Chief of Irandokht
2006–2010
Editor-in-Chief of Shargh
2003–2006
Succeeded by
Editorial board