Journalist in Sheki Intends to Fight for His Rights in a Dispute with the Media Agency

The Media Subject Registry Portal of the State Agency for Media Development (SAMD) reyestr.media.gov.az accepted, after two years of delays, the application for the registration of the informational site Şəki Ensiklopediyası, created five years ago by the founder of the Virtual Sheki Encyclopedia, Aydın Salis. The site is published in Sheki. Without registration, it cannot receive state subsidies. The owner also intends to publish a magazine version of his creation but needs to obtain electronic registration of his site with SAMD.

As journalist Aydın Salis wrote in a letter to Turan, the Media Development Agency refused to accept the electronic application for the site shaki.info/wiki, citing non-compliance with the outgoing data of this site with the conditions for media registration in SAMD. However, in correspondence with SAMD, Salis presented his arguments, noting that the agency had registered other informational resources that, in fact, did not meet SAMD's criteria. The number of readers of some of these resources is less than that of the Sheki Encyclopedia, which is not registered in the media agency's electronic resource and belongs to Aydın Salis. According to last month's data, ŞE had more than five thousand visits.

Salis is puzzled by the illogicality of the rules established by the Media Agency: to receive state aid, a newspaper must have at least three employees with a salary of at least 500 manats per month. "But how, in our reality, without receiving advertising and state aid, can such expenses be covered, and in addition, have a readership of three thousand?" Salis asks the Presidential Administration in his letter.

In its response, the agency mentioned technical issues with the Media Resource Registry Portal, promising to resolve them soon. However, as Salis noted, this "soon" has been significantly delayed. The journalist had to file a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office, after which the Media Agency's website suddenly accepted Salis's registration documents.

In a phone conversation with Turan, he emphasized that the acceptance of the documents does not yet mean full registration. The journalist will wait for a response and continue to fight for his right to work as a media outlet and journalist, as stated in the Constitution.