NEW AND OLD MEDIA: TRENDS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
Today’s Zaman
Aug 6 2012
Turkey
ZAUR SHIRIYEV
New research by the US public relations firm Burson-Marsteller shows
that Twitter is increasingly being used as a tool of diplomacy
and communication for state leaders worldwide. The data on the
South Caucasus reveals that Twitter is popular with the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Georgia, but that the Armenian president is not
actively engaged in this mode of communication. What is striking about
the content of the tweets by Azerbaijani and Georgian leaders is that
they are raising the key issues facing their respective countries. For
example, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has more than 27,000
followers, and his most popular tweet in English is: “Independence is
the biggest asset, the biggest achievement, the biggest value for us.”
According to the findings, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
has more than 5,000 followers, and his most popular tweet to date is
taken from a speech before the Azerbaijani parliament in March, “I
don’t want a weak Russia and I am far from hostile to Russian national
interests. I’m dreaming about a proud and stable Russian Federation.”
But this data is fairly limited in what it shows; just the leaders’
attitudes and how they make use of social media. If we compare
the popularity of social media networks as a means of obtaining
information, the South Caucasus cannot be compared with EU countries
or with the US.
Traditional Media versus New Media
Meanwhile, the Caucasus Research Resource Center’s (CRRC) regular
monitoring unveils some interesting facts about how people in the
South Caucasus use mass media, and how they stay informed.
For example, according to a 2012 CRRC survey on social capital, media
and gender in Azerbaijan, television is the main source of information
for 90 percent of the population. Some 79 percent of Azerbaijanis
do not read newspapers at all, while 10 percent read them, but not
on a daily basis and the other 11 percent say they read newspapers
at some point on an average day. In light of the increasing role of
the internet, the younger generation prefers to read news online. As
a result, there are increasing numbers of new media news agencies
operating in Azerbaijan. The newspaper with the highest circulation
is the opposition newspaper “Yeni Musavat,” which is both printed and
online, but its circulation is still less than two thousand. A new
newspaper was launched several months ago called the “New Baku Post,”
which is published in both Azerbaijani and Russian and distributed for
free. Its mission is to get people accustomed to reading newspapers.
Interestingly, there are similar attitudes in Armenia. CRRS and Eurasia
Partnership’s survey on “Armenia’s Media Landscape” shows that in
terms of news sources, television is by far the most important,
while two-thirds of Armenians (67 percent) do not read newspapers
at all. Even those who do read newspapers do not purchase them very
frequently; only 6 percent buy a newspaper daily, with the largest
proportion, 38 percent, buying a newspaper on a weekly basis.
According to the same data in Georgia, the main source of information
for receiving news about current events is television, which 88
percent say is their preferred source. In Georgia, even though the
print media can not compete with broadcast media, the daily circulation
of all newspapers is still higher than in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Across the region, it is mostly the young generation activists who
are using new media extensively, including social networking sites
like Facebook and Twitter. Thus new media is increasingly seen as
a venue for alternative news and ideas. The number of Azerbaijan
Facebook users is significantly higher than in neighboring countries
such as Georgia and Armenia. In Armenia, more than 80 percent of
social network users prefer the Russian language “Odnoklassniki”
site, which belongs to Mail.Ru Group, who confirmed this fact in its
Alternative Information Resources 2011 study.
Arguably of more importance, however, is the fact that Facebook is
being used a means of political empowerment in the region, at least
by some of those in-between the polarized government and opposition
camps. There are also examples of Facebook being used to resolve
non-political issues. However, that is not to say that Facebook or
Twitter are not useful for activists, especially in highlighting
political concerns.
Low Quality in Media
In general, the quality of broadcast and print media quality is low
in the South Caucasus, and across the region there are some common
problems:
First of all, the quality of education among journalists is low, even
among those who have studied it abroad. As a result, the quality of
broadcast programs as well as interest in reading newspapers is low.
For instance, the Azerbaijani public has little problem with the
growing number of low-quality entertainment programs, while there
are few talk shows or debate-type programs. In addition, people are
not used to reading newspaper columns or editorial pieces, proving
the thought that when there is little debate, there is less interest.
One of the reasons for the lack of public interest is that there is
almost no investigative reporting. Governmental restrictions on media
activity make this a risky business, and financial difficulties also
contribute to the problem.
The other problematic factor in new media, despite the fact the
online media outlets offer high quality “talk shows” and interesting
entertainment in high-definition quality, the audience for such shows
is limited, due to poor internet infrastructure in the region. Many
users still rely on dial-up connections, which are too slow for
watching broadcasts.
In conclusion, statistics and public attitudes show the division
between the younger generation, who are engaged in new media, and
the older generation, which is more traditional. It remains the case
that traditional media is more popular, and in order to increase the
profile of new media productions, they need to be better quality. For
this to happen, better education and professional training is required.