YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian IRNA news agency has presented its guideline of operations in the coronavirus conditions. IRNA provided its report to ARMENPRESS, featuring the specificities of their activities amid the pandemic. Below is the full report as provided by IRNA.

A Report on IRNA & COVID19 Epidemic

Since late February, when the transmission of COVID19 to Iran was confirmed, IRNA took a number of special measures to raise public awareness and to provide people with the latest news and accurate information about the disease.

The big challenge about Coronavirus outbreak was that people didn't have any experience of facing such a major pandemic. Furthermore, there was no pattern whatsoever for the media to handle it; therefore, IRNA developed an innovative approach to the problem.

The innovative approach was meant to support two objectives:

1. To raise public awareness
2. To provide people with necessary information

Responsibility Assignment

Five departments in IRNA control and facilitate the whole process of news production: domestic, international, provincial, research and multimedia news departments. The following table shows, in brief, what IRNA did and how responsibilities were assigned to different departments.

Multimedia Reports

Because photos and short videos play a dominant role in the flow of information through social media, IRNA created many videos addressing the following subjects:

1. Instructions by WHO and Iranian Ministry of Health
2. Inspiring videos to encourage people to joint campaigns against coronavirus
3. Introduction of the activities by government and private organizations as well as NGOs to control the virus epidemic
4. Demonstration of how cultural and social activities are influenced by the epidemic
5. Introduction of the latest findings about Coronavirus

The agency also encouraged its photographers to devote an extra effort in order to produce photo reports addressing the epidemic and its entailing events and developments.

However, infographics has the upper hand when it comes to presenting a large amount of information in a brief and eye-catching manner. That's why IRNA created a lot of infographics about the epidemic.

Infographics: Business Hours during the           Infographics: How to Refuel a Vehicle during

                           Social Distancing Period                                   Coronavirus Epidemic?

                           (Demonstration of time limits                             (recommendations on how to use 

                           for businesses and the list of                               and discard single-use gloves,

                           businesses that will be closed)                            debit cards, etc. at gas stations)

An IRNA photohgrapher took photos of popular monuments and landmarks in the historical city of Nishabur before and after the COVID19 outbreak to encourage people to stay home

Public Relations

The body temperature of an IRNA staff is being monitored

In order to form a closer bond and build trust between the organization and its audience, IRNA let them know how it protected its own staff at work. A number of reports were posted on IRNA Public Relations web page about how the agency enacted special regulations to face the epidemic. The regulations, among other, included the following ones:

1. Teleconferences instead of regular meetings inside the agency
2. Telecommuting and working in shifts for different groups of staff
3. Installation of sanitary equipments, like alcohol-based hand rubs all around IRNA departments and offices
4. Temporary deactivation of fingerprint entry system and application of card entry system to prevent touching the surfaces
5. Washing & cleaning the lavatories, elevators, hallways, restaurant and buffets of the agency more frequently than before
6. Daily monitoring of the body temperature of IRNA staff at work