Daily print newspaper owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), founded 1995 as the print arm of state television.
IRIB's director is appointed by the Supreme Leader for a five-year term. Jam-e Jam editors report up that chain. Circulation is sustained by state-office subscriptions rather than newsstand sales.
When Iranians say a story was صدا و سیمایی (saday-o-simayi), meaning straight from state TV's mouth, Jam-e Jam is the print version of that. Read it to learn what the regime wants believed, not what happened.
Diaspora readers and language learners following Iranian news in Persian need to know that a Jam-e Jam citation is a state-perspective citation, not independent journalism.
جام جم (jam-e jam) takes its name from the mythic wine cup of Jamshid that revealed the universe, and in 1995 the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) repurposed the image for a daily newspaper that extends state television’s voice onto the page. The paper is owned by IRIB, whose director is appointed directly by the Supreme Leader. Its editorial line tracks Khamenei’s office on every contested question, from cultural policy to nuclear diplomacy to protest coverage. During the 2009 Green Movement and again in 2022 Mahsa protests, Jam-e Jam ran the casualty figures and framing the state wanted printed, not the ones independent reporters were filing. The paper’s circulation is propped up by mandatory subscriptions in state offices and IRIB-affiliated bodies. Outside that captive readership it has little independent audience.
Sources
- Reuters on IRIB protest coverage, December 2022
- Committee to Protect Journalists, Iran press freedom dossier
- Human Rights Watch, World Report 2024: Iran
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