On September 22, 2023, the Iran 1400 Project spoke with Dr. Banafsheh Ranji about her book Journalistic Practices in Restrictive Contexts: A Sociological Approach to the Case of Iran. Dr. Ranji shed light on the current journalistic landscape in Iran and its challenges. However, instead of merely explaining the restrictions journalists face, she provided insights into individual actions journalists have taken in Iran to retain their agency and autonomy. During the Q&A session, she outlined the institutions in Iran that enact censorship and commented on what institutional changes could occur to enable journalists to have more freedom. She also discussed alternative modes of reporting, the reliability of the Iranian media, and the future of journalism in Iran.
Banafsheh Ranji is a postdoctoral research fellow in sociology. She studies the socialization of refugees in Norway. In addition to her interest in the field of everyday life experiences of minority communities (e.g., immigrants and refugees), she has extensively worked on the sociology of media, and sociology of journalism, with a particular focus on politically restrictive contexts.
