Deputy Minister of Culture: The Actual Circulation of Newspapers in Iran is 900,000 Copies

The Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran announced that the 'actual' circulation of newspapers is 900,000 copies, of which only 500,000 copies are sold. According to the 'Khabar Online' website, Hossein Entezami stated on Thursday, May 30, during a meeting with several journalists in Ilam province that the 'actual' circulation of newspapers is 900,000 copies. He mentioned that out of this number, only 500,000 copies are sold, and half of the circulation returns from newsstands to the offices of publications. Based on the report, an unnamed journalist from Ilam pointed out during the meeting that 'unfortunately, the number of people reading newspapers is less than the number of visits to Telegram channels.' Entezami had previously stated in 2013 that the circulation of newspapers in the country was less than one million and 220,000 copies. At that time, he announced that 5,800 publications were licensed to publish in Iran, but some newspapers could not be considered professional newspapers. Iranian publications do not disclose their exact circulation figures. During the government of Mohammad Khatami and the tenure of Ataollah Mohajerani as Minister of Culture, plans were announced to disclose the circulation of the press by the Ministry of Culture, but these plans ultimately did not yield results. Some analysts attribute the lack of disclosure of the actual circulation figures of publications in Iran to receiving more advertisements and subsidies, as well as efforts to convey a larger audience. Meanwhile, newspapers like Hamshahri, Iran, and Jam-e Jam, which are said to have higher circulation compared to other newspapers, are affiliated with the government or other institutions and utilize state resources. The non-disclosure of the circulation of the press in Iran comes at a time when reports indicate that in some countries, branches of the International Federation of Audit Bureaus are announcing the actual circulation figures of publications. After Mohammad Khatami's victory in the 1997 presidential election, a large number of new newspapers and publications were released, and the circulation of the press increased. However, in May 2000, almost all publications that had been released after the second of Khordad 1997 were seized by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic. Reports indicate that after that, the circulation of publications sharply declined. There are no exact statistics on the circulation of the press during that period, but some reports suggest that the circulation of publications during those years was several times higher than in recent times. For instance, Mohammad Soltani Far, the director of the Media Studies and Planning Office at the Ministry of Culture, had previously stated that the circulation of newspapers and magazines has severely declined in recent years from four to five million copies to about one million copies. However, some analysts argue that the circulation of the press during that period was also tens of times lower than in developed countries. In addition to severe media censorship in Iran, some analysts cite factors such as the public's preference for the internet and social networks, the lack of a suitable distribution system, the high price of newspapers compared to people's income, and the low reading per capita as reasons for the low circulation of publications in Iran.