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HEAD OF THE ENGLISH SERVICE OF TREND NEWS AGENCY: AZERBAIJANI MEDIA RUSH TO THE INTERNET
Day.az
Nov 5 2012
Azerbaijan
[Translated from Russian]
"Azerbaijani media are developing in line with global developments.
Similar to influential international media agencies, Azerbaijani media
are also increasingly moving their news content on to the Internet,"
head of the English service of the Trend news agency, Aynur Qasimova,
has said.
This is an absolutely symptomatic process for Azerbaijan, an
economically viable country following global tendencies, Qasimova
said as she addressed the seventh international Internet Governance
Forum in Baku on Monday [5 November].
She said that the point is not quality of information in traditional
and electronic media, but the fact that a modern person simply has
no time to receive information through traditional media. In terms
of electronic media, Azerbaijan is now using experience of developed
countries, which is a significant step towards understanding the
future of Azerbaijani journalism, Qasimova said.
Internet major source of information in Azerbaijan
"Today internet portals have become major sources of information. The
total circulation of newspapers in Azerbaijan is 5,000-10,000 copies at
a time when about 50,000 people visit the websites of these facilities
on a daily basis. The state cannot ignore such an important tendency -
recently it became obvious that there is a necessity to boost interest
in the development of online media," she said.
Qasimova argued that increasingly many readers receive information
from the Internet. "According to the Press Council statistics, in our
country about 100,000 people give preference predominantly to this
source of information. At the moment, 65 per cent of Azerbaijani
population use the Internet and 35 of the population are regular
users of the net. About one million people use Facebook. In addition,
at the moment, 23 out of 50 most visited sites in the country are
Azerbaijani websites - of these16 are news sites. Over 15,000 websites
are registered under the AZ domain. Over 4,700 media outlets are
registered at the Justice Ministry. These figures point to active
development of media in Azerbaijan in the context of the challenges
any developing country is facing at the moment. Over the past years
internet media has been shaping and developing at an extremely rapid
pace. These projects justify themselves in Azerbaijan not only in
terms of demand but also in terms of economic profitability," she said.
No media censorship in Azerbaijan
Speaking about the development of electronic media, Qasimova focused
on the possibility to restrict dissemination of information on the
Internet. "In reality, there are many countries, including developed
and democratic ones, where freedom of speech is restricted on the
Internet either through a direct ban or through special laws. A
number of post-Soviet countries also adopted laws regulating Internet
content. No such laws operate in Azerbaijan. Media censorship was
removed as early as in 1998 and today neither traditional, nor
internet media are subject to censorship. Moreover, according to
experts, the law "On Sources of Mass Media" operating in Azerbaijan
at the moment, is one of the most liberal in Europe. In due time,
this document was prepared within the frames of the cooperation
with international organizations and it completely draws on the
modern tendency according to which freedom of speech and plurality
of opinions are fundamental principles that need to be upheld on the
Internet. To be more precise, there are no specific laws regulating
internet content in Azerbaijan. These issues are regulated by laws on
media, fight against terrorism, cyber crime, etc. At the same time,
it is important to appreciate that the need to regulate the Internet
in terms of [dissemination] of scenes of violence or pornography,
as well as blatantly false or unverified information, constitute
social demand from the public," Qasimova said.
Azerbaijan should continue its cooperation with the EU, the Council of
Europe and the OSCE is terms of international institutions facilitating
the development of information and communication technologies and
the shaping of the online media in this country. At the moment, the
OSCE's Baku office is hosting regular online-TV courses to raise the
awareness of the youth in this aspect, Qasimova said.
In addition, issues of accountability, professionalism and training
of journalists are significant factors in the development of internet
media. Qasimova said that absence of a law regulating the Internet
should not encourage journalists to act irresponsibly. "For some
media, numerous lawsuits filed against them have become a matter of
prestige. In addition, many journalists use their time spent in police
departments to shape their image which then they successfully use to
further their interests. It is inadmissible when interests of separate
individuals are used to the detriment of the image of the country,"
Qasimova said.
Journalists' unprofessionalism plays into Armenia's hands
She stressed that for Azerbaijan this is a significant issue, not
least due to the fact that the country is in a state of perpetuated
conflict with the neighbouring Armenia. "At a time when 20 per cent of
the territory of the country is occupied, journalists' professionalism
is not only an issue of morals. Unprofessionalism of journalists or
anyone else who circulates information in new media may play into
the hands of the opposing side. It is important to bear in mind that
progress in the development of information technologies has led to
the emergence of new forms and styles of information publication. And
this means that reporters of new media are not always prepared to
observe professional standards, which have been elaborated and tested
throughout the history of journalism. When it comes to the publication
of information, issues of attracting readers and the speed of the
new media are often placed above professionalism today. In addition,
information that appears in the new media is less accurate because it
might not be checked as thoroughly as reporter materials are checked
with editors in newspapers and TV companies," she said.
In addition, it is very important to organize large-scale discussions
on issues of internet media with due consideration of all nuances. To
this end, regular meetings and discussions are being held alongside
international institutions in Baku and this tendency should be
preserved, she said.
[Passage omitted: Qasimova speaks about Trend]
[Translated from Russian]
From: A. Papazian
Day.az
Nov 5 2012
Azerbaijan
[Translated from Russian]
"Azerbaijani media are developing in line with global developments.
Similar to influential international media agencies, Azerbaijani media
are also increasingly moving their news content on to the Internet,"
head of the English service of the Trend news agency, Aynur Qasimova,
has said.
This is an absolutely symptomatic process for Azerbaijan, an
economically viable country following global tendencies, Qasimova
said as she addressed the seventh international Internet Governance
Forum in Baku on Monday [5 November].
She said that the point is not quality of information in traditional
and electronic media, but the fact that a modern person simply has
no time to receive information through traditional media. In terms
of electronic media, Azerbaijan is now using experience of developed
countries, which is a significant step towards understanding the
future of Azerbaijani journalism, Qasimova said.
Internet major source of information in Azerbaijan
"Today internet portals have become major sources of information. The
total circulation of newspapers in Azerbaijan is 5,000-10,000 copies at
a time when about 50,000 people visit the websites of these facilities
on a daily basis. The state cannot ignore such an important tendency -
recently it became obvious that there is a necessity to boost interest
in the development of online media," she said.
Qasimova argued that increasingly many readers receive information
from the Internet. "According to the Press Council statistics, in our
country about 100,000 people give preference predominantly to this
source of information. At the moment, 65 per cent of Azerbaijani
population use the Internet and 35 of the population are regular
users of the net. About one million people use Facebook. In addition,
at the moment, 23 out of 50 most visited sites in the country are
Azerbaijani websites - of these16 are news sites. Over 15,000 websites
are registered under the AZ domain. Over 4,700 media outlets are
registered at the Justice Ministry. These figures point to active
development of media in Azerbaijan in the context of the challenges
any developing country is facing at the moment. Over the past years
internet media has been shaping and developing at an extremely rapid
pace. These projects justify themselves in Azerbaijan not only in
terms of demand but also in terms of economic profitability," she said.
No media censorship in Azerbaijan
Speaking about the development of electronic media, Qasimova focused
on the possibility to restrict dissemination of information on the
Internet. "In reality, there are many countries, including developed
and democratic ones, where freedom of speech is restricted on the
Internet either through a direct ban or through special laws. A
number of post-Soviet countries also adopted laws regulating Internet
content. No such laws operate in Azerbaijan. Media censorship was
removed as early as in 1998 and today neither traditional, nor
internet media are subject to censorship. Moreover, according to
experts, the law "On Sources of Mass Media" operating in Azerbaijan
at the moment, is one of the most liberal in Europe. In due time,
this document was prepared within the frames of the cooperation
with international organizations and it completely draws on the
modern tendency according to which freedom of speech and plurality
of opinions are fundamental principles that need to be upheld on the
Internet. To be more precise, there are no specific laws regulating
internet content in Azerbaijan. These issues are regulated by laws on
media, fight against terrorism, cyber crime, etc. At the same time,
it is important to appreciate that the need to regulate the Internet
in terms of [dissemination] of scenes of violence or pornography,
as well as blatantly false or unverified information, constitute
social demand from the public," Qasimova said.
Azerbaijan should continue its cooperation with the EU, the Council of
Europe and the OSCE is terms of international institutions facilitating
the development of information and communication technologies and
the shaping of the online media in this country. At the moment, the
OSCE's Baku office is hosting regular online-TV courses to raise the
awareness of the youth in this aspect, Qasimova said.
In addition, issues of accountability, professionalism and training
of journalists are significant factors in the development of internet
media. Qasimova said that absence of a law regulating the Internet
should not encourage journalists to act irresponsibly. "For some
media, numerous lawsuits filed against them have become a matter of
prestige. In addition, many journalists use their time spent in police
departments to shape their image which then they successfully use to
further their interests. It is inadmissible when interests of separate
individuals are used to the detriment of the image of the country,"
Qasimova said.
Journalists' unprofessionalism plays into Armenia's hands
She stressed that for Azerbaijan this is a significant issue, not
least due to the fact that the country is in a state of perpetuated
conflict with the neighbouring Armenia. "At a time when 20 per cent of
the territory of the country is occupied, journalists' professionalism
is not only an issue of morals. Unprofessionalism of journalists or
anyone else who circulates information in new media may play into
the hands of the opposing side. It is important to bear in mind that
progress in the development of information technologies has led to
the emergence of new forms and styles of information publication. And
this means that reporters of new media are not always prepared to
observe professional standards, which have been elaborated and tested
throughout the history of journalism. When it comes to the publication
of information, issues of attracting readers and the speed of the
new media are often placed above professionalism today. In addition,
information that appears in the new media is less accurate because it
might not be checked as thoroughly as reporter materials are checked
with editors in newspapers and TV companies," she said.
In addition, it is very important to organize large-scale discussions
on issues of internet media with due consideration of all nuances. To
this end, regular meetings and discussions are being held alongside
international institutions in Baku and this tendency should be
preserved, she said.
[Passage omitted: Qasimova speaks about Trend]
[Translated from Russian]
From: A. Papazian