Electronic Media in Azerbaijan - No Dialogue, No Polyphony

Azerbaijan should determine the presence of pluralism in the electronic media, said the journalist, Dr. Gulu Maharramli in an interview with Objective TV.

Pluralism has been identified and secured legislatively. However, in practice, the state-run, public and private TV and radio channels conduct a continuous monologue. The exception is shows by Sevinj Osmangyzy having practice on such channels as BBC, CNN, etc.

The situation in Azerbaijan is better than in Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan, but it is necessary to compare with Europe, as the officially stated strategic direction of the policy priorities is towards Strasbourg and Brussels, the scientist believes.

By itself, the legal framework does not mean anything and needs proper implementation. According to the National Council on Television and Radio and the degree of rotation in its ranks, it can be judged what this state department wants from the channels. It is better to take care of public interest than to engage in the ideological strengthening of those in power. For example, when you reach the Salyan region in the south, the Yevlakh district in the west, and Khizi in the north, you feel that your receiver does not catch the local airwaves. The population of the regions is captured by the ideology of the neighboring states.

The law spells out the possibility of public, private and community broadcasters. But we have no municipal channels yet.

The state and private television channels are aimed at promoting the achievements of the government. Although expectations of the public channel are more, they do not conduct objective monitoring of the quality and public importance of the programs, as well as the expenditure of the allocated funds. The state channel is allocated tens of millions of manat per year received from the taxpayers, but the public has no idea on the results of its activity.

Despite the fact that 21 years have passed since declaring Azerbaijan's independence, the Soviet propaganda syndrome dominates the government. The phase of "Grandpa Lenin" is over and ridiculed, but new "humane grandpas" has come to the screens and the population smiles ironically. The authorities should realize the victory of the globalization century. Today, any user can shoot materialized stupidity of the authorities with a mobile phone camera and circulate this through social networks. The world is like a small village, and all know the details about each other. There is no point in retouching reality and defaming journalists for their "washing dirty linen in public." - 17D-