Introduction
In the current era, man-made disasters have increased. In Iran, the crisis management literature is mostly related to natural disasters such that, based on the national media management of crisis act (approved in 2022), the definition of crisis is limited to natural disasters. This is while, the effects of socio-political crises are more widespread than natural crises, and their extent, diversity, and complexity are beyond those of natural crises. In this article, inspired by the cyclical model of crisis management and using the three anticipatory, preventive, and preparatory approaches, we aim to identify the driving factors and the consequences of mainstream media’s effective activism in managing socio-political crises in Iran.

Methods
This is a qualitative study based on an interpretive paradigm. The study population includes media managers and policymakers, professors in the field of crisis communication and media, experts in the field of crisis management and politicians with sufficient knowledge and experience in Iran. The purposive and snowball sampling methods were used. The interview method was used to collect data. We reached theoretical saturation after 15 interviews. The thematic analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. To determine the validity and reliability of the data, four criteria, including credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability, were used.

Results
After each interview, initial analysis and coding were carried out, which resulted in 159 basic themes, 26 organizing themes, and 8 global themes. Based on the findings, the global theme “the role of the media in socio-political crises” in the three phases before, during and after the crisis included the following organizing themes: Supporting public opinion, raising awareness, questioning the responsible institutions, informing, and having a strategic function.
The factors driving effective media activism in predicting socio-political crises included infrastructure drivers, functional capability, human resources, professional standards, and social capital. The consequences of effective media activism in predicting socio-political crises were: Social, political, and media’s social responsibility-related consequences. 
The factors driving effective media activism in preventing socio-political crises were divided into the drivers related to public and the drivers related to the government/crisis managers. The consequences of effective media activism in preventing socio-political crises were divided into macro and micro consequences. 
The factors driving effective media activism in preparing for socio-political crises included process-related, content-related, and contextual drivers. The consequences of effective media activism in preparing for socio-political crises were categorized into three areas: Educational, psychological, and functional outcomes.

Conclusion
In this study, the role of media activism in socio-political crises was assessed in three phases: Prediction, prevention, and preparation. It was determined that the media in the pre-crisis phase can help break the cycle of crisis by identifying the causes and predicting crises based on accurate analyses of events. In this way, by playing an effective role before the crises, they can avoid the excessive financial and moral costs caused by the crisis. However, if a socio-political crisis occurs, the media, in addition to reporting the crisis, can monitor the performance of the government and responsible institutions, prevent the spread of rumors and the creation of false information, and develop a culture of dialogue. Thus, if the media is effective in the crisis prediction phase, it will have important socio-political consequences such as discovering the crisis, helping to reduce public harm, establishing stability and peace, encouraging humanitarian actions, early intervention of stakeholders, media campaigning, holding officials accountable and requiring their activity in crisis management, influencing the governmental decisions, as well as exposing hidden agendas, corruption, or negligence, and creating public trust in the media, which is related to the social responsibility of the media. However, since the media cannot act alone in the event of socio-political crises, it should cooperate with people and the authorities to prepare them for the crisis, equip them, and provide them with a timely and appropriate response, and also to seek public participation in solving the crises to prevent the crisis from spreading.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
All ethical principles were observed in this article. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Funding
This article was extracted from the master's thesis of Fatemeh Estarami at the Department of Cultural and Media Management, Soore University, Tehran, Iran. This research did not receive any financial support from government, private, or non-profit organizations.

Authors' contributions
Conceptualization, methodology, validation, analysis, investigation, and resources: Mitra Afzali Farooji and Fatemeh Estarami; Writing, editing & review: Mitra Afzali Farooji.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
The researchers would like to thank all participants in the research for their cooperation.


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