Press must be able to perform its multilateral function and the government should provide the proper environment for the task, the deputy minister of Islamic guidance said Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference on the 20th Iran Press Expo, Hussein Entezami said this year's theme of the annual exhibition is "Responsible Freedom," and the "government is committed to the freedom of speech for the press within the framework of law." The press, on the other hand, should be committed to its social responsibility, ILNA quoted him saying.
The press expo will be held from November 8-14 at the Grand Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran.
Entezami said 560 participants have so far registered for the event in various categories such as newspapers, news agencies, political and economic press, cultural publications, institutions, organizations and associations.
Two new categories, related to religion and ideology, have been added to the fair.
Policies and approach of the expo have been "set by a policymaking committee including senior officials from the media arm of the ministry along with representatives from media management organizations."
A special bulletin of the expo will be published daily. The Academy of Persian Literature and Language, as like last year, will collaborate in the expo in a section entitled 'writing right'. It has also provided indices for proper writing in the press and print media in the two areas of text and editing.
On the presence of the foreign media in the fair, Entezami said, "There is a section for 120 foreign press and news agencies which have offices in Iran."
In response to why the promise to let the press syndicates organize the event was not fulfilled, he said, "our main goal is to reduce state involvement in organizing such events.
At the beginning we asked the press guild council to take charge, but they said they were not ready for the task. However, we still collaborate closely in organizing this year's exhibition."
