TEHRAN Today's world is dominated by electronic media. The most customary method to influence public opinion is to feed the people through electronic media. This is why we observe that the Internet, satellite broadcasting and other electronic media are rapidly expanding into every nook and cranny.

In this cutthroat competition our national media, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization and Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) shoulder an extraordinarily heavy responsibility.

But it seems that all is not well with our national media. It has become almost a routine business with IRNA to dispatch its stories with delay. A one-day delay is now "condoned" by its users, which is really something unpardonable in this highly competitive field.

When it comes to two days of delay, then how can one really pardon this "national sin" of the national media?

Delay in the dissemination of information by our national news agency will easily pave the way for other agencies to fill the lacuna. The users and readers will not wait for a day or two for IRNA to come out of its hibernation and dispatch its stories.

The end result will be disaster. The reputation of the national news agency will become tarnished and users will get used to receiving their stories from other sources which are not necessarily friendly to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Gradually the people will lose their trust in our national news agency; this Will be nothing less than a disaster.