ماهواره و تکنیک‌های عملیات روانی در کنترل افکار عمومی در ورزش فوتبال
محورهای موضوعی : پژوهش مسائل اجتماعی ایران
1 - دانش¬آموخته کارشناسی¬ارشد علوم ارتباطات اجتماعی، واحد دماوند، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، دماوند، ایران
کلید واژه: عملیات روانی, رسانه, افکار عمومی, فوتبال, تاکتیک.,
چکیده مقاله :
پژوهش حاضر با هدف شناسایی و تحلیل تکنیک‌های عملیات روانی به کار رفته در برنامه‌های شبکه‌های ماهواره‌ای فوتبالی، (شبکه «من‌وتو»)، در کنترل افکار عمومی هواداران فوتبال انجام شده است. این مطالعه با رویکرد کیفی و روش تحلیل مضمون، بر مبنای مصاحبه‌های نیمه‌ساختاریافته با پانزده نفر از خبرگان رسانه‌های ورزشی صورت گرفت که با نمونه‌گیری هدفمند انتخاب شدند. یافته‌ها نشان داد که رسانه یادشده با استفاده از شگرد‌هایی نظیر رابطه‌سازی هدفمند با هواداران، ایجاد سردرگمی از طریق انتشار شایعات متناقض، افشاگری برنامه‌ریزیشده، تکرار پیام‌های روانی و توسل به ترس، افکار عمومی هواداران را در مسیر مدیریت هیجانات، افزایش تبعیت و تقویت وابستگی احساسی هدایت می‌کنند. این شگرد‌ها، با بهره‌گیری از چارچوب نظری برجسته‌سازی و چارچوب‌سازی، به تقویت نفوذ رسانه‌ای و کنترل رفتاری مخاطبان منجر می‌شود. نتیجه‌گیری نشان می‌دهد که بهره‌گیری هدفمند از عملیات روانی رسانه‌ای در بستر فوتبال می‌تواند ابزار مؤثری برای هدایت افکار عمومی و کنترل هیجانات اجتماعی در مسابقات حساس باشد.
Satellite Broadcasting and Psychological
Operation Techniques in Public Opinion
Control within Football
Roozbeh Radmehr*
This study aims to identify and analyze the latent and manifest dimensions of psychological operation tactics employed in football-related programming by Persian-language satellite networks, particularly the Manoto network, to influence public opinion among football fans. Given football’s profound cultural, social, psychological, and political impact in Iranian society, and the increasing influence of transnational media offering Persian-language sports content, analyzing the psychological strategies of these media is of significant importance.
Keywords: Psychological Operations, Media, Public Opinion, Football, Tactics.
Introduction
Football, as Iran’s most popular cultural-sporting phenomenon, provides a broad platform for expressing and channeling collective emotions. Beyond its role as entertainment and a source of social joy, football has become a potent tool for political messaging, media propaganda, and even social destabilization in targeted societies. Major football events, such as national matches or local derbies, often serve as arenas for reflecting political inclinations, social tensions, and, at times, emotionally charged or protest-driven collective actions. Consequently, Persian-language satellite networks have leveraged football’s widespread appeal to conduct psychological operations aimed at shaping public sentiment. This research is grounded in two prominent communication theories: Agenda-Setting Theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) and Framing Theory (Entman, 1993). Agenda-Setting Theory posits that media influence audience priorities by selectively emphasizing certain issues, determining what the public thinks about. Framing Theory extends this concept, arguing that media not only select topics but also shape how audiences interpret them by constructing specific narratives. Rooted in Goffman’s (1974) sociological work, framing theory highlights the media’s role in meaning-making, interpretation, and internalization of messages. From this perspective, football programs on satellite broadcasting like Manoto are not merely informational or analytical but serve as deliberate psychological interventions designed to steer the perceptions and emotions of football fans.
Methodology
This study adopts a qualitative approach, utilizing thematic analysis as its analytical strategy. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 experts in sports journalism, purposefully selected from senior editors, editorial coordinators, and veteran journalists affiliated with prominent Iranian sports media outlets, including Abrar Varzeshi, Esteghlal Javan, Iran Varzeshi, Persepolis, and Khabar Varzeshi. Selection criteria included professional experience, media expertise in football, relevant academic qualifications, and familiarity with international media dynamics. Interviews were conducted with informed consent, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step thematic analysis method.
Findings
Thematic analysis identified five primary categories of psychological operation tactics frequently employed in Manoto’s football programs, particularly Offside and Rakhtekhan: targeted relationship-building, cognitive confusion, strategic exposés, fear appeals, and message repetition.
- Targeted Relationship-Building: This tactic involves media positioning themselves as intermediaries between fans and clubs to gain audience trust. Interviewees noted that fans are treated as loyal brand customers, with media exploiting perceived inefficiencies in official club communications. For instance, an editor from Esteghlal Javan remarked: “Satellite programs often invite fan leaders, creating a pseudo-emotional and organizational bond with fans. Though superficial, this fosters media loyalty.” This is achieved through featuring popular figures, informal dialogues, behind-the-scenes reports, and addressing fans’ concerns.
- Cognitive and Informational Confusion: This tactic disseminates contradictory information, rumors, and conflicting narratives to neutralize or redirect fan emotions toward disengagement. A coordinator from Khabar Varzeshi stated: “Rumors about an injured player’s return, sudden coaching changes, or financial disqualifications create cognitive disruption, leaving fans uncertain and emotionally subdued.”
- Planned Exposés: Strategic revelations about financial, ethical, or tactical issues provoke intense emotional reactions. These exposés can incite anger or protest but may also lead to disillusionment if targeting a fan’s own team. An interviewee noted: “Pre-match reports about federation corruption, regardless of accuracy, foster systemic mistrust, potentially reducing team support.”
- Fear Appeals and Threats: Common in high-stakes games, this tactic uses threatening messages or warnings about legal/security consequences to deter fan actions. A journalist from Iran Varzeshi explained: “Repeated warnings about closed-door matches or heavy fines make fans feel responsible for the team’s fate, discouraging protest.”
- Strategic Message Repetition: Repetition of specific messages or rumors across platforms internalizes them as truth. A Persepolis staff member noted: “Repeated claims of a club’s financial crisis, even if false, become accepted as reality by some fans.” This is enhanced by persuasive elements like celebrity guests, archival footage, or sensational headlines.
These tactics operate at four levels to control fan opinion:
- Pre-Event Emotional Control: Using relationship-building and fear appeals to manage emotions before key matches.
- In-the-Moment Control: Circulating rumors during matches to elicit immediate emotional reactions and limit real engagement.
- Post-Event Control: Employing exposés or confusion to shape post-match narratives, absorbing fans in emotional or contradictory analyses.
- Long-Term Stabilization: Sustained programming embeds durable attitudes aligned with the media’s political, cultural, or ideological goals.
The findings align with Agenda-Setting Theory, as media prioritize issues like financial crises or corruption to shape fan focus, and Framing Theory, as programs use frames like “team victimization” or “systemic corruption” to impose specific interpretations.
Discussion and Conclusion
The study concludes that Persian-language satellite media effectively use psychological operation tactics in football programming to influence fan emotions and public opinion. Addressing these tactics requires enhancing fans’ media literacy to bolster cognitive resilience. Strategies include educational policies, transparent club-fan communication, and proactive narrative-building by domestic media to counter these operations.
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* M.A in Social Communication Sciences, Demand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damavand , Iran.
roozbehradmehr100@gmail.com
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