Sudden end of "permanent" development

Some changes are going to be observed in the management system. It is too early to call them reform, but the "wheel" began to spin. Some of the useless structures, funds remained under it. The State Media Support Fund is trying to evade the "wheel"; therefore makes hasty and illogical decisions.

On December 14 at the Supervisory Board of the Fund, it was announced that "based on the requirements of the new time" financial assistance to the media would be provided not for 6, but 3 months. ("Well," The requirement of time!"). In early January, SMSF allocated 32126,500 manat to 32 newspapers to "survive the winter" for now. After only three weeks, the Supervisory Board realizing that the problem is much more complicated than it seems at first glance, meets again and declares that it turns out that in order to fully meet the "time requirement" it is not enough to reduce the time needed to provide financial assistance to newspapers; ! So the amount of aid is compressed by more than half a million manat!

However, each illogic has its own logic. A sharp reduction in the number of "patients" who are given an "oxygen pillow" can help others recover. That is, instead of providing imaginary support for 32 small newspapers, it is possible, by providing real assistance to 5-10 newspapers, to turn them into mass media with a wider range of influence.

However, it is useless to hope. Because all the activities of the Foundation are based on false criteria. What is this criterion? If, until now, financial assistance was provided to newspapers with a circulation of 2500 copies and 1000 subscribers, then from now on such newspapers will receive newspapers with a circulation of at least 5000 copies and at least 2,000 subscribers! The network of newspaper sales in Azerbaijan has been torn down, and the subscription system is completely based on fraud: the subscription plan is left in the official"s office, and then the institutions are given instructions on how many copies of the newspaper to subscribe. Nothing is changed but numbers, the principles remain the same. Now around the public boiler there will be not 32, but 10 newspapers. The journalism of Azerbaijan will not feel the extinction of 22 newspapers, and the improvement of the situation of 10 newspapers; only a certain amount will be deducted from their salaries.

Some may say, "This is the beginning of a new trend." I can say with complete confidence that the persons who made the above decision are not aware of serious trends in the development of the international press. The SMSF justifies its failures and the decision to "change" by the fact that "Currently, for objective reasons, the print media faces problems" and that the circulation and media revenues are falling everywhere.

It seems that the news of the "newspaper crisis" reached our Supervisory Board too late. For almost 10 years (approximately, since the creation of the SMSF), the reverse process has been taking place in the world. According to the report of the World Association of Newspapers, only in 2010-2015 print editions increased by 21.6%. Even in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany, where new media is highly developed, in 2016 the circulation of newspapers increases annually by at least 2-3%. That is, in the world the development in this area is going not in the direction in which the State Media Support Fund is moving.

Professionals have repeatedly warned that those who teach the newspapers of the country to "feed on the arm", by thoughtlessness or deliberately push them into the abyss. Experts emphasized that budget funds allocated for such an important public purpose as "supporting the mass media" cannot be dispersed, and issuing them to individual editors as "loyalty payments" will lead to bankruptcy.

Each time, the editors of these newspapers, the "on-duty" deputies, were raised against those who spoke about this. What happened? How did the newspapers collapse in one day, the cost of which was monthly AZN 1-1, 5 million for 10 years? Money and many publications with a glorious history have been lost. Was this the purpose of state media care? Is this an indicator of the development and power of our press, "blooming from day to day"?

Unfortunately, we must repeat again: if it goes on like this, the rest of the newspapers will suffer the same fate. There is not a single sign that the SMSF will make some changes in its activities. Proof? Yes, take at least the decisions of the last meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Fund. After the deprivation of 22 newspapers of support, the Foundation continued to sit as if nothing had happened.

A competition was announced for the remaining 10 newspapers for the next quarter on the same principles, and in the same manner, the competition of individual works of journalists was launched in connection with the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Foundation and on the Novruz holiday. No one will ask them: over the past 10 years, the organization, the anniversary of which will be marked, has been allocated 50 million of the people's goodness. What have you created what have you achieved? They will say that they distributed money from the state budget to private and party newspapers, held individual competitions, went to meetings with executive authorities, made collective visits abroad, celebrated holidays and are now preparing for the next holiday!

Why does not the SMSF change the principles of their work, and makes the same mistakes? Because the media policy pursued in the republic is being pushed it on this path. This is not about officially announced, but actually pursued policy. There is a document showing the discrepancy between the ten-year activity of the Foundation and the goal of its creation. This is an official document signed by a resident of the country in 2008 entitled "The Concept of State Support for the Development of Mass Media in the Republic of Azerbaijan", which is often referred to by SMSF. It stresses, "Financial support includes the allocation of state subsidies to strengthen the material and technical base, modernize the infrastructure, and strengthen the economic independence of the media, finance programs, projects and activities aimed at solving problems important to the state and society."

Financial support provided on a non-competitive basis includes the targeted assistance to regional media, special socio-culturally significant and children's publications; subventions (deductions for the publication of official documents); subsidies (funds allocated from the budget for certain purposes); placement of social advertising in the media. Financial support provided on a competitive basis implies long-term and concessional loans to strengthen the independence of the media; financial assistance in connection with the implementation of targeted programs and projects.

The State Media Support Fund, having chosen for itself among so many tasks one, and the most recent one, is engaged in the distribution of aid and awarding. He does not even recall such more important tasks as infrastructure development, modernization, economic independence, subventions, loans and social advertising. Here is the result!

In addition to some specialized, for example, children's publications, no newspaper should be allocated a share of the budget from the list! It is necessary to put an end to such a shameful and unjust media experience as the division of the people's good based on a list compiled by one person or a group of three to five people. Why, for example, at the expense of a tax deducted from the salary of a 60-year-old sick teacher, a "pension" is given to a young, rosy-cheeked editor having two foreign cars, and the teacher does not even suspect the existence of such an editor? Budget funds should be spent on development serving state and public interests, infrastructural changes in the media field and the creation of new resources.

It seems that we have come to the question "What exactly should be done?", but should stop here. We repeatedly made suggestions, but we took over their form, changing the essence, used the idea for completely different purposes. At one time, we proposed to create a Press Council as the most advanced form of media self-management. Having taken over this idea, we were ousted by administrative means.

"Immortalized" the chair of the Council, they turned it into an institution worse than the abolished Ministry of Press. Elchin Shikhly and Mehman Aliyev initiated the creation of the State Media Support Fund and developed the Statute on SMSF. The Statue was accepted, but Shikhly and Aliyev were distanced from the process, and created what we see today. Now we feel that some people have the same enthusiasm. To be honest, it would be better if everything goes on as usual and finds its logical conclusion.