The Study of the processes of distancing from the press and Strategies to reduce it: a paradigm model

In recent years, the press has witnessed a decline in its audience due to various factors, including cultural, social, political, and economic influences, as well as existing restrictions. This research aimed to investigate the reasons, processes, strategies, and consequences of this issue by employing the grounded theory method, which follows a systematic approach. The participants in this study were communication media experts and individuals with a minimum of 7 years of experience in the press field. Through purposeful sampling, a total of 29 people were selected and interviewed using a semi-structured interview. The data were analyzed using the three-step coding method of grounded theory, which includes open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The findings revealed that the causal conditions influencing the distancing of the press can be categorized into three parts: socio-cultural factors (such as Iranian oral tradition, digitization of culture, minimalistic life, and institutional mistrust), political factors (including political restrictions and behavioral politicization), and economic factors (such as economic poverty, inflation, and high prices). The contextual conditions contributing to people's distance from the press are the political economy and virtualization. Additionally, the intervening conditions impacting people's distance from the press encompass content weakness and structural weakness. To address this issue, strategies such as content modernization, communication modernization, and structural modernization were identified. If these strategies are successfully implemented, the most significant consequence for the press would be a reduction in people's distance from it, leading to a decrease in the downward trend of the press audience.