The Image of the "National Brand" of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the IRIB World Service Channels: Press TV and Al-Alam

The idea of a country brand means assigning a specific name or symbol that is intended to differentiate a country from other countries. Creating a national brand can be used in the long-term goals of the public diplomacy and in the national interest of the country. In addition to domestic and foreign policies, the people, cultural heritage, tourism and export brand of a country, the national brand can also be created through the media and offered internationally.  The media diplomacy, as a new field in public diplomacy, can play an effective role in building a country's national brand. Using qualitative content analysis method, 107 news items from Al-Alam website and 80 news items from Press TV have been analyzed in this study. Findings show that Iran’s national brand in media diplomacy reflected in foreign TV channels consists of an image of a country with independence, internal security and military, having international institutions, in opposition to the United States and an economy reliant on natural resources. A noteworthy point in the image of the Iranian national brand is the lack of attention to important components such as tourism, cultural heritage, national elites, culture and investment.