About the Union

Introduction:     

The Islamic Radios and Televisions Union was established with effort and initiative of a number of radio and television networks and media institutions in June 2007 in order to create a strong and cohesive Islamic media bloc based on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and for the purpose of confronting false and malicious propaganda of enemies of Islam and dissemination of accurate and comprehensive information.

Today, the Union, having more than 210 members from 35 countries and five continents, is the largest Media Union in terms of membership, geographical coverage, religious, political and linguistic diversity, and membership of radios, televisions, media institutions and news agencies. The main purpose of the Union is to use media to defend the sanctities and interests of Islamic Ummah and support the rights and fair demands of Islamic communities and countries and share productions and experiences amongst the members.

Union Organs:

1. General Assembly: It is the highest decision-making organ of the union.
2. Supreme Council: it consists of 13 members elected by the General Assembly and it is responsible for planning and supervision overall activities of the union.
3. Secretariat is located in Tehran (Iran) and Secretary General is the head of the secretariat.
4. Permanent Committees:
   -Religious Discourse Committee: it studies religious discourse of Islamic media and produces religious programs.
   -Political and News Committee: it studies challenges and political issues facing the world of Islam and fosters cooperation in the field of news
   -Training Committee: it prepares the plans for educational training of the members of union
   -Production Committee: it studies techniques in production and supply of suitable programs
   -Radio Committee: it studies interaction among the member radios 

5- Affiliated centers and institutes:

• Union`s Media Training Center (UCMT) is located in Beirut (Lebanon) for the purpose of training human resources of the union members.
• Hedayat Resaneh Institute produces and supplies needed products and offers technical and engineering services to the members.
• Production Assistance Fund: fosters cooperation to meet financial needs of the members in production of programs.
   

Decision-Making Mechanism of the Union

The General Assembly is the highest decision-making organ of the union and holds annual meetings. The Supreme Council of the union also holds 4 meetings every year and it is in charge of policy-making and supervision over activities of the committees, centers and the union. Planning and policy-making in the secretariat is conducted by advisory and secretariat councils.

Sessions of the Union

General Assembly: sessions of the General Assembly are held annually in order to exchange views and share effective media comments; to discuss challenges and latest developments of the world of Islam; find out means to deal with media threats; and to review organizational and structural affairs of the union.

The 1^st and 6^thsessions of the General Assembly of the union were held in June 2007 and September 2012.Each Assembly dealt with main current media issues with a specific motto. The Motto of the 4^thGeneral Assembly was “all together to promote the Truth” and its subject was “Methods of cooperation and synergy among Islamic media in today’s media campaign in the world”. The motto of the 5^th General Assembly was“Islamic media, voice of justice and awakening” and that of the 6^th General assembly was“Resistance media, Islamic awakening until victory”.

Supreme Council: 21meetings have been held by the Supreme Council in Tehran, Beirut, Mashhad and Najaf till date. According to Article 13 of the Statute of the Union, the Supreme Council is an organ elected by the General assembly and is in charge of preparing the reports and supervising the activities of committees, centers and the secretariat. The Supreme Council is composed of Secretary General and his two deputies and 10 representatives of member radio, television and institute networks.

Committees meetings: Although some meetings of committees were held on the side of the 1^st and 2^nd General Assemblies, the meetings were practically held during the 5^th General Assembly after the internal bylaw was ratified and the members of the central council of the committees were elected. Although the meetings of committees shall be held seasonally, about three meetings have been held by each committee in recent year (2012).

Regional Meetings

In the field of regional meetings, thus far, two regional meetings have been held in Iraq (August2011 & July 2012) and one regional meeting of Resistance Media in Lebanon (August2011).

Specialized Conferences and Workshops

• Specialized Conferences in the Field of Religious Teachings

• “religious discourse and methods of religious propagation in new media”-September 2009
• “Religion, Media and Kids”- May 2011

• Specialized Conferences in the Political and News Field

• “Media and sanctities and interests of Islamic Ummah”- August 2010
• “Recent Islamic awakening and media role”- April 2011

The mentioned specialized meetings approved two documents: “media and sanctities” and “religion, media and kids” and also released statement on Islamic awakening.

• Technical workshop

A workshop with the participation of technical managers of the member networks was held in Zibakenar(Iran) in November 2009.

Affiliated Centers

Hedayat Resaneh Institute:

This institute was launched in 2008 to promote cooperation with member networks and institutes in the region in technical, engineering and satellite fields, preparation and producing of programs, procurement and supply of technical equipment such as uplink, SNG, radio & television transmitters (H. power &L. power), studio and production equipment, reproduction, distribution and the convertors of the Analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting.

Union`s Media Training Center (UCMT)

The union`s media training center was established in Beirut (Lebanon) in 2009. This center offers the latest and most professional training programs to interested parties. It is equipped with the most modern equipments and training facilities such as a hall equipped with the latest educational facilities, Multimedia and radio and television laboratories and an audio recording studio which is equipped with digidesign system. About 253 training courses and workshops have been held by the center for approximately 2500 attendees.

Production Assistance Fund:

The first General Assembly approved the establishment of a Production Assistance Fund for joint production. Its statute was approved in the third General Assembly. The initial capital of the Fund was $1,000,000. The fund was established to finance production projects and support members and producers to carry out their projects.

Other Projects and Activities of the Union:

News Portal which is accessible at irtvunews.com was established in order to disseminate the latest news and reports so that developments of the world are disseminated through sources independent from global arrogance. The contents of the portal are available in Arabic, English and Persian languages. It was launched in February 2012 after the technical and content parts were completed.

Emphasis on visual news reports, speed and accuracy in dispatch of news are among the objectives of portal whose accomplishment can prepare the grounds for the establishment of an international visual news agency that is the future plan of the union.

Islamic film market was established in order to create mechanism for transaction and also exchange of Islamic healthy products and to introduce capabilities of the members and Muslim producers.

In the first round (2009) of the market, more than 500new products were offered by 50 media networks and institutes from 11 countries. The second round (2010) recorded 40 percent growth in number of stalls in which 72 media institutes from 17 countries participated. The third round (2011) showed 30 percent growth in number of participants in which 650 new products were offered. The fourth round (2012) also demonstrated 15 percent growth in which 93 networks and institutes from 15 countries participated.

Ettehad Festival was established to create healthy competition among the members of the union to promote the quality and quantity of their products. The festival is dedicated to products of the union members. Some 600 products from 48 radio and television were displayed in the first round (2009), while 40 products were awarded. Some 390 produces were displayed in the second round (2010) from 25 networks, while 29 products were awarded. The third round (2011) was held with the participation of 352 TV products from 46 networks, 7institutes and216 radio products from 43 radio stations. Some 401 TV products from 60 networks and institutes and 299 radio products from 39 radio stations were displayed in the fourth round (2012),  31 products were awarded. Selection of the best internet websites of the members has been a fix part of all festivals. Four websites were awarded in the fourth round.

Exhibition of media equipments and technology was established to introduce technical and engineering capabilities and communication technologies to the members. The first and second exhibitions were held in 2010 and 2011 and the third one was held with the participation of 12Iranian media technology producing companies in 2012.

The project of Religion, Media and Kids was formed with the support of the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union to cover three goals of research, policy-making and information dissemination. It has held the following meetings:

• Meaning and possibility of  training and education through media,2012
• Principles of educational and training and planning,2012
• Interdisciplinary research in the field of media, education and religion,2012
• Preparatory meeting of journalists, children and adolescents, 2012
• Two scientific meetings on religion, media and kids with emphasis on citizenship teachings, 2012.

MediaThink Tank:

The media think tank was established to foster cooperation among the effective and important TV channels in the fields of news coverage and analysis of various developments in the region.

The members of the media think tank study and analyze the latest news of the world and the region and pick up some media topics in order to be utilized by the members of the union for the purpose thwarting the media attacks of global arrogance and defend the sanctities and interests of Islamic Ummah.

Some working groups are formed in the think tank by experts in the fields of developments in the West, Middle East and Islamic awakening and other fields. They periodically hold sessions to study to the latest developments of the region and the world and to predict the future probable events. 

Statements and Guidelines

Dozens of statements and guidelines on the most important historical occasions, ongoing events and various issues have been publicly released or sent to some or all members.

Media services of the Union

The Union has provided its members with number of facilities such as media equipments and services on various occasions and events like Syrian upheavals, Egyptian election, QodsDay, and NAM summit in Tehran. It has also undertaken some studies in field of satellite and ways of substitution in case its network members encounter jamming of their programs or other technical problems. Some other activities of the union and its members include coverage of developments, live broadcast, and breaking the cocoon of news blackout of cases such as Bahraini uprising, active coverage of elections of Egypt and Tunisia, defeating media conspiracies against Resistance Front in the region, facing off the enemy’s media war and defending the sanctities and interests of Islamic Ummah and stances of Islamic Republic of Iran.

Books and Publications:

1. Islamic Awakening and Media (a collection of articles & lectures),(2011), Islamic Radios and Televisions Union, Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
2. Islamic Media, Methods of Cooperation and Synergy (a collection of lectures of the 4^th General Assembly), (2011), Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
3. The World of Islam, Opportunities and Challenges, (a collection of lectures of the 5^th General Assembly), (2011), Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union. 
4. Bahonar, Nasser, (2011), Religion, Media and Kids, Viewpointsof ImamKhomeini (Rah) and Imam Khamenei (in 3 languages), Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
5. Religion and Modern Media, (2010), Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
6. Bahonar, Nasser, (2011), Bibliography of Researches in Religion, Media and Kids,Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
7. Bahonar, Nasser, (2011), Religion, Media and Kids, Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.
8. Nasrollahi, Mohammed Sadeq, (2010), Principles of Preparing Programs for Kids, interview with experts in the field of religion, media and kids, Tehran, Islamic Radios and Televisions Union.

Researches:

Islamic Radios and Televisions Union has a particular interest in research and futuristic studies. The research activities of the union include research projects, preparation of various research reports, media think tank, workgroups of Middle East and Islamic Awakening as well as the workgroup of “Our media diplomacy and that of the West”, scientific workgroups of sessions which are responsible for preparation of documents` drafts, reports and enactments, release of strategic documents and studying futuristic issues. Some titles of the researches are as follows:

• Preliminary studies with regard to establishment of the Atlas international visual news agency (20 titles)
• Legal ways to deal with BBC and its performances in Iranian presidential election in 2009
• Religion and modern media
• Proceedings of scientific meetings on “Religion, media and kids”
• Proceedings of the meetings on “Our media diplomacy and that of the West”
• Collection of the union reports (legal views about membership of the news agencies in the union, analysis and review of various activities of the union and so on.)
• Collection of research projects on different issues related to the Islamic Ummah and the world of Islam (such as those related to the Islamic Awakening)
• A report on broadcasting unions in the world
• Calendar of common Islamic occasions
• Unification of political terms in Islamic media

Current research projects:

• Global media sphere in 2025 and status of the Islamic media
• Some studies on how to make activities of the member institutes and networks economical
• Utilization of cyberspace in the field of news and live broadcast
• Studying the viewpoints thoughts of Imam Khomeini(Rah) and the Leader about art and culture
• Preparation of a trilingual dictionary (English, Arabic and Persian) in the field of media and communication
• Some studies on jurisprudence of communications
• Some studies on “communications and human rights”

Future plans:

Some future plans of the union are as follows: creation of a databank, recruitment of honorary and observer members, launching the international award of the union, strengthening relations with global broadcasting unions and enhancing the role of the union, its networks and institutes in political and media arena of the world.

Website of the Union:

The Internet website of the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union at www.irtvu.co address is for the purpose of the information dissemination and facilitating the realization of objectives of the union. It is a trilingual website in Arabic, English and Persian languages.

The website provides a basis for transmission of news of different parts of the union and its organs and members as well timely communication about policies, positions and statements of the union on various occasions.

In addition to the internet website, other activities of the union in cyberspace include news portal, the websites of the festival and that of the project of “Religion, Media and Kids” and also the websites of the affiliated centers like Hedayat Resaneh institute and  Union`s media training center (UCMT).