There is no political pluralism or dissent on TV channels in Azerbaijan, and they are absent of opposition views, according to monitoring results conducted by the Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) during the period from September 1 to November 30.
The IRFS monitoring covered six nationwide broadcasters, ITV, AzTV, ANS, Space, Lider, ATV, as well as public radio and the state news agency AzerTac. Monitoring was conducted according to the the Slovak organization MEMO methodology, which over the past 14 years, have conducted similar studies in 38 countries.
The monitoring assessed the "positive", "neutral" and "negative" content colors of TV programs in terms of coverage of relevant political subjects. According to the study, the media mentioned above gave little space to political diversity, limiting the ability of citizens to obtain objective information about the state.
The main activity of the state TV channel AzTV was reduced to form a public opinion about the alternativeness of Ilham Aliyev and the predetermination of his reelection.
Public television does not function, as an independent and objective source for information, and does not create opportunities for debate between government officials and the opposition on the important issues.
Private broadcaster ANS TV, pays a lot of attention to the president’s activites, the government, and the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan", but compared to other broadcasters, there are more diverse opinions.
Other private channels give broad coverage to the activities of officials, but not criticizing them. This deprives the citizens an opportunity to assess how the current government implements public affairs.
Public radio does not prepare political, social and welfare programs.
State agency AzerTac, dedicates most of it’s work to President Ilham Aliyev activities. Authors of the study point out that the state television channel AzTV covers the entire country. Despite the channel’s transformation in 2005 into a joint stock company, it is completely controlled by the government and is financed by the state budget.
On the private TV channel ANS, representatives of the opposition are invited to talk shows, but its not for leaders of major opposition parties; the Popular Front (PPFA) and the "Musavat". The same applies to public television, which invites you to watch the programs "Actual", "Common Denominator", "Cross-View”, which only represents the parliamentary opposition parties loyal to the authorities.
"On air, there is no place for criticizing the government. Content of private TV channels is determined, not by the audience, as it is in democratic countries, but by the leadership of the channels close to the authorities," the report says.
In the next four weeks a detailed version of the monitoring report and recommendations for improving the situation will be distributed.—06D—
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