PACE Representatives Discussed Media and Elections in Azerbaijan with Journalists

Baku / 22.01.20 / Turan: At a meeting in Baku  the members of the PACE Mission for Monitoring the Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan and representatives of several media and journalistic organizations  discussed the topic  of mass media and parliamentary elections.

The guests were interested in media freedom issues, their involvement in covering the elections and participation in the election campaign of candidates.

PACE members were informed about some positive trends in the media, and in particular on Public TV. This happened after the dismissal of the media curator, the department head of the presidential administration for socio-political issues Ali Hasanov. 

Serious problems for the media remain, in particular, the economic and political dependence of the media on the state remains.

It was noted that the refusal of the main sources of information - television channels, to participate in election campaigning seriously violates the Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting and the right of citizens to receive information on such an important event as elections.

TV channels flagrantly violate the Law on Broadcasting, which requires the satisfaction of public interests, compliance with the principles of pluralism, balance and objectivity. The lack of response of the Broadcasting Council to this flagrant violation of the law shows that the state stands behind this policy, said Mehman Aliyev, director of the Turan news agency, citing this as an example of the real role of the media in covering the elections. —0—