Soft news in soft war: Maximum pressure,Voice of America,and outrage media in Iran

Abstract

The US Maximum Pressure campaign, a conglomeration of diplomatic, economic, and military sticks, was ostensibly designed to force Iran into renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal; critics say the real aim is regime change. The auxiliary media efforts in support of the policy are part of an ongoing soft war. One dimension of these efforts is the export of a popular American media format, the outrage genre or cable news magazine, to Iran via Voice of America. Last Page (safhe-ye akhar) is an attempt, like much international propaganda, to reinforce rather than change opinions. This paper examines how the program attempts to reinforce anti-regime sentiment not by informing its audience but by providing a space of mediated belonging in which the host ‘gets you,’ feels the news with you, and feels for you. The paper concludes with a discussion about the potential uses and limitations of outrage media in international propaganda.

Keywords

soft war soft news public diplomacy propaganda outrage media Voice of America maximum pressure campaign Iran

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