Religious Studies of the Media

Religious Studies of the Media

Media Strategies of the Axis of Resistance Based on the School of Thought of Martyr Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
moastafa Yaqhobi Nader 1
Akbar Nasrollahi 2
Hamid Reza Moghadamfar 3
Bita Shahmansori 3
1 PhD student in Media Management, Department of Media Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication and Media, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor and University Faculty Member, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication and Media, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication and Media, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jmrs.2026.585112.1260
Abstract
This study aims to identify and explain the media strategies governing the activities of Axis of Resistance media, drawing on the school of thought of Martyr Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah. It adopted a qualitative, grounded theory approach, with a specific focus on the strategy component. The data were obtained from 13 semi-structured interviews with four groups of experts: the martyr’s relatives and colleagues, senior managers of Resistance media organizations, media management scholars, and field practitioners. The data were analyzed through three stages of coding: open coding (901 codes), axial coding (134 codes), and selective coding (25 codes). This process led to the identification of 16 principal strategies at three macro-levels: (a) content and discourse strategies, including God-centeredness as a frame of reference, disciplined truthfulness as strategic capital, the jihad of elucidation, multilayered storytelling, and cultural-religious symbolism; (b) structural and operational strategies, including the integration of field operations and media activities, an agile and decentralized network structure, strategic timing and silence, offensive psychological warfare management, and cadre development; and (c) communication and development strategies, including identity-building communication, audience empowerment, the decentralization of micro-media, people-centeredness, and technological transformation.The strategies derived from Martyr Nasrallah’s school of thought conceptualize media as “an arena of cultural jihad and a school of moral development.” Their primary distinction from Western models lies in “tactical flexibility combined with principled consistency” and in the centrality of truthfulness as strategic capital. The proposed three-level model can be adapted to other media organizations within the Resistance Front.
Keywords
media
resistance
Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah
media strategies
school of thought
school of thought of Martyr Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah
Axis of Resistance media
soft war
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Religious Studies of the Media
Volume 7, Issue 28
Winter 2026
Pages 163-214