AZERBAIJAN: PUBLIC TELEVISION HIT BY BIAS CLAIMS
By Sevinj Telmanqizi in Baku
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
May 4 2006
Critics say that Azerbaijan’s new public television channel is serving
the government, not the public.
Azerbaijan’s first public television station, launched with high hopes,
is drawing criticism for accusations of pro-government bias.
Former parliamentarian Ismail Omarov, appointed in April last year,
to be the general director of ITV (as the channel is known in
Azeri) has been fiercely criticised not only by the opposition and
non-governmental organisations, but also by international experts.
Last year, Azerbaijan was the last of the three countries of the
South Caucasus to create a public television station in line with
recommendations by the Council of Europe on media freedom. The channel
was launched last August and broadcasts for 12 hours a day.
The station still relies on government funding but in theory has a
degree of autonomy and run by an independent management.
However, media experts say ITV is virtually distinguishable from its
state rivals. “It’s a great pity that we have not seen any difference
between this television channel and the others,” said Zeinal Mamedli,
a lecturer in the journalism faculty of Baku State University.
“Society has not seen a reflection of itself in this television
channel.”
Although Azerbaijan is both bigger and wealthier than its neighbours
Armenia and Georgia, it lags behind the other two for choice of
television viewing. According to figures published by the international
media development organisation Internews, in 2005 Georgia had 68
regional television stations, Armenia 28 and Azerbaijan just eleven.
Baku is now served by one state channel, the public television channel
and four private ones. Government figures argue that ITV has become
an important addition to the media market.
“The staff of ITV have proved that it’s possible in a short space
of time to create a new professional television station loved by
viewers,” said Ali Hasanov, head of the socio-political department
of the presidential administration. “ITV not only meets the cultural
needs of society but also has high-quality news programmes.”
However, media experts say that ITV is operating within the same
restricted environment as the rest of the Azerbaijani media in which
stations that offend the presidential administration risk being shut
down, as has happened with two former channels, BMTI and Sara.
Opposition politicians have been strongly critical of ITV. At rallies
of the opposition alliance Azadlyq last year, there were calls for
the dismissal of Omarov, the channel’s director.
Former prime minister Panah Huseyn, elected to parliament with Azadlyq,
said, “We all expected that public television would first of all
reflect the existing pluralism of opinion in society and periodically
give air time to different political organisations. But the most
they do is invite an opposition politician on to their discussion
programmes.
“Even some private pro-government channels are braver than ITV.
Unfortunately, public television has become another kind of state
television.”
Research last year by Azerbaijan’s National Council on Broadcasting
determined that only one per cent of airtime was taken up with
advertising and that almost a quarter was filled with films.
A monitoring study carried out by the Council of Europe identified
a pro-government bias in the channel’s news coverage. Another study
by the Najaf Najafov Foundation from last September to this January,
covering the period of Azerbaijan’s divisive parliamentary elections
in which the opposition alleged mass fraud by the government, said
most of ITV’s positive coverage was for government parties.
Sardar Jalaloglu, secretary general of the opposition Democratic
Party of Azerbaijan, blamed the channel for unfairly influencing
voters. “They have no idea what balance is,” he said. “They gave
one or two minutes to our speeches and a whole hour to slander and
attacks by YAP (New Azerbaijan Party) functionaries on us.”
In its recently published annual report on media freedom, the
international organisation Freedom House placed Azerbaijan 161st in
the world, behind Georgia, Armenia and Russia. On public television
it concluded, “The ITV’s coverage of the election campaign was
indistinguishable from other pro-government channels; an OSCE
monitoring report suggested that the ITV devoted 68 per cent of
prime-time news coverage to [president Ilham] Aliev, the government,
and the ruling party, while Azadliq received 23 per cent of the
airtime, of which 53 per cent was assessed as negative and one per
cent positive.”
Ismail Omarov rejected these criticisms. “Public television was
created not to create the impression of political balance and please
the critics who are never satisfied,” he told IWPR. “Our channel
is very remote from politics. Currently ITV works as an democratic
institution in Azerbaijan and this democratic institution was created
personally by me.”
Omarov said that his channel had a code of ethics and “we do not give
air time to appearances by primitive and mediocre singers because we
do not take bribes”.
Omarov called the monitoring research into ITV biased and comparisons
with public television stations in other countries misplaced, saying
Georgian public television was 12-13 million dollars in debt.
Public television in Armenia and Georgia has also disappointed
expectations. The Armenian channel is closely linked to the
government. Boris Navarsadian, head of the Yerevan Press Club, told
IWPR, “The station has not emerged as a public television station.
Only a small part of its public functions are being fulfilled. On
rough estimates public television carries out 10-12 per cent of the
functions entrusted to it.”
Georgia’s public television station was founded at the beginning
of 2005 and has also been criticised for being too close to the
government. Its supposedly independent board is mainly composed of
non-governmental figures, who played an active part in the “Rose
Revolution” that brought current president Mikheil Saakashvili to
power in 2003.
The channel has low ratings and a high staff turnover. This year it
has tried to change its profile, launching a new political talkshow
called Argument in March. Experts say many of the channel’s problems
stem from the general under-funding of media in Georgia and the poor
salaries for television employees.
Despite the criticism in Azerbaijan, Omarov said he had plans to
launch a second public television channel, “By law we have the right
to open two television and three radio channels and we will gradually
aim to do that.”
Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media,
visited Azerbaijan last July and was critical of Omarov’s role as
head of ITV.
“Omarov is a journalist who when he worked in state television was
famous for his strong attacks on the opposition, so the OSCE has
doubts about his appointment,” said Haraszti.
Omarov still has the support of Azerbaijan’s Broadcasting Board,
who appointed him. Its chairman Jahangir Mamedli said that the board
“highly esteemed” Omarov’s work.
Rafik Husseinov, a former employee of state television, was
more pessimistic. “I didn’t expect anything from this channel
and unfortunately my forecasts were borne out,” he said. “Public
television died before it was born as serious mistakes were made when
it was founded.”
Sevinj Telmanqizi works for Yeni Musavat newspaper in Baku.