Examination of Media Lumpenism Under the Pretext of Audience Attraction

Media thuggery in the name of attracting audiences? These days, it sometimes seems that some programs, in order to draw attention and go viral, have turned staged quarrels into part of their script. Two well-known figures grab each other by the collar on camera and lash out at one another as hard as they can. But a day later, they sit together again with smiles on their faces, as if they had not previously hurled their harshest attacks at each other. The on-air performance of Javad Khiabani and Khodadad Azizi creates such a suspicion. If these controversies are merely tools to attract viewers, then it must be said that media is paying a heavy price; because fabricated excitement may bring traffic to a website, but in the end it erodes audience trust. Iranian sports already faces enough managerial, technical, and structural problems and no longer needs these theatrics. Turning sports programs into a brawl does not help solve anything, nor does it add to their credibility./Iranian Journalists Club