WUNRN
IRAN - ZANAN TV -
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SPACE FOR WOMEN
Zanan TV was
launched on 25 November 2011, International Day for the Elimination of Violence
Against Women. This day was chosen because Zanan TV is an alternative
space for marginalized women who are violated by the state and silenced by
mainstream media in Iran. It is a space for building the women’s movement and
the democracy movement in Iran.
Zanan TV was
launched at Zuccotti Park Encampment, the alternative space created by Occupy
Wall Street Movement. We believe this was the right place to launch Zanan TV,
because of many similarities between Iranian cyber-activism and the Occupy Wall
Street Movement. Occupy Wall Street activists occupy a public area -- a square
or a public park -- and change the character of this space into a location
where the organization of the movement takes place. Cyber-activists occupy
cyber-space in social networks and websites where they change the character of
these for the purpose of movement building. The occupation of spaces to enable
activist voices to be heard is a strategic process for movement building.
Without such spaces, activists would not be able to come together to speak out,
express their views, and share their visions of the future.
To see the
launch of Zanan TV in the alternative space created by Occupy Wall Street
Movement, please go here.
As an
alternative medium of Iranian citizens, Zanan TV aims to build:
Zanan TV is
the successor of important websites created by the Iranian women’s movement,
including Zanan-e Iran, Feminist Tribute, Change for Equality, Women’s Field, The Feminist
School and, most recently, Fair Family Law.
As alternative platforms that developed social actions, campaigns and
feminist discourses, these websites significantly influenced the democracy
movement in Iran. As their successor, Zanan TV aims to be in the vanguard
of the women’s movement in Iran.
Zanan TV is
launched after year-long work on technical engineering and the development of a
theoretical framework for alternative feminist media as well as new techniques
for participatory citizen journalism. Zanan TV’s on-air programmes include
weekly news analyses and documentary films, as well as live coverage of
relevant conferences, meetings and protests. On demand is anarchive of
videos related to women’s issues. Although some videos are accessible on
YouTube or other websites, these are now newly compiled, categorized and made
easily accessible on Zanan TV for users interested in women’s studies, human
rights and democracy from a citizen’s perspective. Feminist analysis of the
videos in this archive will strengthen the feminist perspective of younger
women’s rights activists.
Most of the
videos we produce include footage of citizen journalists as active participants
in the work of Zanan TV. The participation of Iranian citizens inside or
outside the country is vital to the making of Zanan TV as
alternative citizen TV – an innovative space for the women’s movement and
the democracy movement in Iran.
Zanan TV is
currently hosted by the Institute for Women’s Empowerment (IWE) and supported by HIVOS. We welcome your comments
and criticisms.