This study was conducted with the aim of designing a media governance model for countering cognitive warfare in Iran. Methodologically, the research was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of approach, employing thematic analysis as the research method. The study population consisted of experts in the fields of communication sciences, media management, media policy-making, cyberspace studies, and cognitive security. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques. After conducting 17 semi-structured interviews, theoretical saturation was achieved. The data were analyzed based on Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework for thematic analysis.
The findings led to the extraction of 347 initial codes, 56 concepts, 27 sub-themes, and 7 main themes. The main themes included policy and legal governance, institutional and managerial governance, technological governance, media and content governance, educational and media literacy governance, cultural and social governance, and cognitive security governance.
The results indicated that effective media governance for countering cognitive warfare requires the establishment of an integrated system in which policy, institutional, technological, media, educational, cultural, and cognitive security dimensions operate in a coordinated and synergistic manner. Accordingly, the proposed model can be used as a contextualized framework for policymaking, planning, regulation, and media management in confronting cognitive warfare and enhancing the effectiveness of media governance in Iran.