Military Review English Edition November-December 2015 | Page 27

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

wide distribution through mosques and then to the
universities.23
In the winter of 1978, the shah ordered the editors
of the major Iranian newspapers to publish editorials
accusing the now-popular Khomeini of slander and of
being a colonialist.24 Instead of tarnishing Khomeini
in the eyes of the public, these editorials had the
opposite effect by burnishing his reputation and
advancing his message, while angering the population
and prompting a massive protest by theology students
in the holy city of Qom on 9 January 1978, which was
met by police brutality. At least six people were killed
and forty-five injured.25
In the meantime, Iranian journalists went on strike,
demanding freedom of expression.26 The walkout shut
down news production, leaving telephone service as a primary way to obtain news from outside Iran. Eventually,
several foreign radio stations began to relay opposition
messages into Iran. One popular radio station was the

1.0

Correlation

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

Vertical media sources

Horizontal media sources

2008
Independents

2008
Democrats

2012
Republicans

2012
Democrats

Persian Language British Broadcasting Corporation
World Service (currently known as BBC Persian).27
By 1979, the shah’s formerly dominant agenda had
reached the nadir of its influence; it gave way to an
alternative agenda, that of Khomeini. As the shah’s power
declined, Khomeini’s rose.
If researchers could have measured the correlational
agreement between the messages of shah’s government
and the views of the general public, they probably
would have seen data similar to these: prior to 1978,
the agreement would have been about .80; in 1978, it
would have been about .50; and in early 1979, it would
have plummeted to about .20 (see examples 1 through
3 in figure 4).
In principle, what happened in Iran could happen
anywhere, when the influence of the media preferred by
leaders declines, and the influence of the media preferred
by audiences increases. At the same time, leaders lose
their influence partly because of their ineffective media
strategies. New leaders who adapt to the media habits of
their followers arise—and the
cycle of change starts over.
Ironically, in more recent
times, to attract military
recruits, Iranian marines
have recently sponsored and
participated in a music video
made by a once-underground
musician. When asked what
the rationale was for using
formerly banned musicians
as a recruitment tool, a
high-ranking officer in the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard
said, “We have to learn to
speak the language of youth
Personal history and
and use their codes.”28
preferences
2008 Republicans

Figure 6. Agenda Community Attraction Scores
for Party Voters in Two Elections
MILITARY REVIEW  November-December 2015

Recommendations
for Army Leaders
Responsible leaders prefer
evolution to revolution—military leaders included. In a
way, the correlational agreement among traditional, vertical media, and agenda-setting input from other sources
25