Police Department and Press Censorship in the First Pahlavi Era

The press as the most important mass media and as a tool for directing public opinion in the First Pahlavi Era faced many ups and downs. Alteration in the political system, the tendency toward dictatorship government and the implementation of pseudo-modernist programs affect the existence of press. In this period, the press had to write in congruence and in sync with the government programs, otherwise they were no longer survival. The synchronization of press with the government programs and the censorship of public opinion, against the government were entrusted to the Police Department. The press censorship, contrary to common view, was not done in a systematic and specified framework and structure and, depending on the King’s view, the civilian statesmen, staffs and police chiefs were different. The present article tries to analyze the way of implementation of censorship policy and the extent of penetration and interference of police department in this case through using descriptive and analytical method.