Though the number of violations against mass media in 2005 was reduced 5 times in comparison with the last year. 2004-2005 was estimated by the expert organizations as the most negative in the modern history of Azeri media. The murder of the editor-in-chief of the "Monitor" magazine Elmar Huseynov on March 2 became the consequent result of the last year situation in Azerbaijan. At the time of writing this strategy no one had been prosecuted for the attack.

Position of the subregional journalists remained extremely difficult Complexity is dictated first of all by ignorance of the journalists of their own rights. In accordance with the studies, start of court proceedings and rendering of judicial decisions against journalists and media authorities is mainly associated with ignorance of journalists of the existing laws, nature of defamation, methods of journalist investigations, inability of journalists to work with enforcement authorities.

After the 2003 presidential elections journalism as the most active sphere of public life has been very much weakened and these trend has been increased throughout following years. The Constitution of Azerbaijan supports freedom of speech and mass media and especially underlines prohibition on censorship; nevertheless, in practice, the government indirectly restricted these liberties. Since the end of official censorship, Azerbaijani journalists agree it has been replaced with self-censorship. These tactics tend to revolve around courts levying excessive libel fines against opposition party publications, freezing media outlet bank accounts and the near monopoly the government maintains over the country’s printing presses and distribution agencies.

However it should be noted that in 2005 Azeri Media, with exception of TV, conducted active discussions, expressed critical opinions on some aspects of government policy and the direct critique of President was even more usual than during the tenure of his father’s presidency. Though the enforcement bodies overstepped the necessary levels of force impact and have been busy with persecution of journalists throughout 2005.

According to the RUH Journalists Protection Committee, more than 70 conflicts between the press and the authorities were reported in 2004. While the majority of these were minor, a handful of print journalists in both 2004 and 2005 were involved in more complex situations. Reporters from Yeni Musavat and Azadliq were involved in most of the ongoing disputes.

As a result of arbitrariness of the heads of President Apparat and Milli Majlis Administration. Some oppositional journalists have been deprived accreditations at the parliament sessions. According to the " Mass Media" law no one journalist can be deprived of its accreditations without court’s decision. The journalists of "Yeni Musavat", "Baki-Khaber" and "Azadlig" newspapers however faced with this problem.

Authorities use a variety of informal measures to prevent or limit news critical of the government from reaching the public. Major television outlets are either state-owned or affiliated and the government fully controls the issuing of radio and television broadcast licenses through a licensing board that consists entirely of presidential appointees. The opposition and independent media are under constant pressure, through limited access to printing presses and distribution networks, imposition of crippling fines from government-initiated defamation cases, and harassment of journalists. Within one year, journalists repeatedly were subjected to threats and physical pressure. In 2004, Hurriet, an opposition newspaper affiliated with the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, had to suspend publishing due to financial burdens and government harassment leading to difficulties distributing and selling the newspaper outside of Baku. In addition, journalists and editors face the threat of physical assault by unknown attackers bent on intimidation. For example, two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Four thugs abducted and beat Aydin Gouliev, editor of the opposition daily “Baki Khaber” on 17 July. His assailants accused him of "not serving his country’s interests" and warned him to stop all journalistic work. Eynulla Fatullayev of the opposition weekly Monitor was brutally beaten about the head in a Baku street on 26 July. He has written many articles highly critical of the government.
Besides, the courts continued to fine the printed media on huge amount of money. For example the fine amount imposed on the claims of MPs to the Monitor magazine, was 70 million manats ($15 thousand). In reality, there was an attempt to collect from Elmar Huseynov 100 million manat. These all happened some time before he was shot down by the unknown killer. The total amount of fines imposed on Yeni Musavat was more than $125.000.

State officials were able to influence the withdrawal from the newsstands of the papers they didn’t like. For example head of the Baku City Metro Administration Tagi Ahmedov prohibited distribution agencies and kiosks from selling opposition media (Azadlig, Baki Khaber and Futbol+ (a supplement to Hurriet newspaper, owned by the opposition Democratic party)) on the territory of the Metro. He earlier said that such situations resulted from the “newspapers’ disrespect for the President and the publication of false information,”implying that opinion critical of the authorities is not tolerated. Only after the organized efforts of the Journalists organizations, such as Ruh, Press Council and others he had to elevate the ban in order to avoid the suit actions at the courts.

Ali Hasanov, Presidential Advisor on Social and Political issues, was quoted in the October 29th edition of Baku Sun as saying “to speak of limits on the mass media’s activity in country where more than 600 publications are printed is fiction.” Mr. Hasanov did not mention the electronic media. Since the largest circulation of any newspaper is reportedly only 9,000 copies, it is doubtful that most citizens are exposed to a plurality of views through the print media. The plurality that does exist in print does not exist in electronic media – which is clearly where the vast majority of the population gets its news and information.

Voices ranging from Azerbaijan’s elite to Western embassies have voiced approval of some of President Ilham Aliyev’s actions concerning media. His use of the veto to return parliament’s draft law on the creation of public television was encouraging.

The Press Council, which is supported by OSI-AF in 2005, has also effectively influenced the government by securing more courtroom seats for journalists and managing to mediate the dropping of criminal charges against some journalists. However, penalties and fines for both criminal and civil defamation judgments remain disproportionate to both the salaries of journalists and the financial resources of the media organizations they represent.

The total number of registered newspapers in Azerbaijan exceeded 1900 in 2005.

Public Broadcasting – A priority for the COE, as member states must agree to transform State broadcasters into Public Broadcasting Systems. As indicated above, Azerbaijan currently has both a State and a Public broadcasting system. Budget support and advertising income provides a distinct advantage to both systems over privately owned electronic media. Separation of both editorial control and the funding mechanism for Public Broadcastings remains unresolved.

Legal Reform (Defamation & Libel) – Defamation & Libel remain criminal offences. Both civil and criminal penalties are also disproportionate for the media market. The concept of a “public person” is very limited, which encourages government officials to use defamation and libel mechanisms to silence criticism.

Journalists Rights Protection – Many working journalists are relatively unaware of the rights afforded them. Access to information is codified through the Constitution and Law on Freedom of Information, but information dissemination is not routine for most government agencies. The lack of information encourages speculative reporting rather than fact based journalism. Improvements are needed for an effective Law on Freedom of Information.

Media Professionalization (both editorial content & business expertise). Ethical standards, sourcing and balanced reporting are the exception rather than the rule for most journalists. Media business expertise is in its infancy. Training in both areas is needed, with an emphasis on follow up and expanded self-regulation of the working press.

Media Pluralism/Regional Media Development: Many print outlets exist, but none enjoy wide circulation. Exposure to diverse viewpoints is limited to those who can afford to buy several newspapers. Baku based nationwide television is generally viewed as supportive of the government’s position, further limiting alternative points of view. Most regional media are chronically understaffed and underfunded, severely limiting the amount and content of their news and information production.

Conflict Resolution: Resolution of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh remains a priority for most Azerbaijanis. In the 2004 IFES Pubic Opinion Survey, it was noted (by a very wide margin) as the single most important problem facing Azerbaijan today. The press often serves to heighten tensions rather than exploring solutions.

Coordination: Coordinated funding and evaluation of internationally supported media projects is sporadic. A Media Coordination Committee meets infrequently, and includes: OSI-AF, Eurasia Foundation, COE, GTZ, Internews, IREX, USAID, OSCE, among others. In addition, various embassies support individual projects or study tours to their respective countries for promising media outlets and professionals, but it is not clear if this information is shared.

Potential partners in priority directions could be other donor and non-governmental organizations that work on media problems in Azerbaijan. OSI-AF Mass Media Program will continue partnership with other OSI-AF programs, such as Law (legal), Civil Society, Elections, East-East, Public Health, Arts, Women Programs and Network Media Program.

The list of partner NGO-s and donor organizations had been provided in the last year strategy papers. As almost all those organization are still active, I provide the list of the others, which haven’t been included into the previous strategy’ list.

The International Press Center (IPS) is a relatively new organization headed by Djafar Djafarov, former employee of the Ministry of Youth and Sport. It’s a pro-government structure close to Ali Hasanov (Presidential Apparat Official). IPS is experienced in conduction seminars for press-services. After the “demise” of the Baku Press Club, this organization is trying to appear as politically not motivated and open for everyone who wishes to conduct in its premises seminars or the press conferences.

IREX is an international media supporting organization, fostering the establishment of free media market and interregional exchange of information and cooperation. They mainly focus on the electronic media support and journalists solidarity and professionalism. The USAID selected IREX as a major partner in their media freedom program. OSI-AF is partnering IREX in regional electronic and print media support.

The International Federation of Journalists is the world's largest organisation of journalists. The IFJ promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists. This organization shows interest to the journalists rights support particularly in the realm of Trade Union activities.

The Media Diversity Institute (MDI) is a London based non-profit, non-partisan organization that mobilises the power of media to lessen inter-group conflict, advance minority and human rights, and support deeper public understanding of all types of social diversity.

The analysis show that the media organizations in Azerbaijan are getting more organized every year despite of the numerous obstacles. This process could be more effective, if the political influence to Media activities decreases. In addition to this media legislation is not observed carefully by the government structures. Law on tele-radio broadcasting regarding the licence distribution for the new TV channels can serve as a sample. Big number of registered print media also brought to a misuse of their work, racketeering by some of them. Press Council does its best in fight with the irregularities in mass media and tries to bring the self-regulation activities on a higher level.

Some activities of the Media program in 2005 and lessons learned along the following lines.

Training and Education: Organization of the Young Reporters of Azerbaijan was awarded a grant on “Photojournalism”. The project was aimed to establish: on-line photojournalism simulations and trainings, photojournalism competitions, conducting of the round tables to discuss the problems of the modern photojournalism among the Azeri experts, creation of the web-site (www.azerphoto.com) containing database on photos related to extreme situations in the region.

Press Information&Monitoring: - Project from the Fund for Protection of Media Rights was aimed at studies of the public opinion to improve the press activity in Azerbaijan by collecting recommendations throughout the country. The results of the survey to be discussed by the experts and the representatives of media and then compiled in a form of a booklet.

Journalist`s Rights Legal Support On the grant awarded from OSI-AF, "RUH" journalist protection committee will continue providing the monitoring of the new regulations in regards with the freedom of speech and press in the country, law violations and those tendencies, conducting of the watch list, prepare reports and operative legal assistance/education to journalists, creation of the web-site database.

Above all, there were grants allocated to promote transparent 2005 parliament elections; support to JUHi Trade Union’s seminars on educating the activists on their labour rights and responsibilities. We have also made attempts to support the independent initiatives aimed to lift the information vacuum in the electronic media.

The major event to be expected by all the society in 2005 is parliamentary elections. Much efforts are more or less oriented to improve the situation in freedom of speech, access to information, transparency, voter education, strengthening of independent electronic, print media and the journalists organizations on the eve of elections.

We have gained some experience in promoting Trade Union organization JUHI which used to be too much politicized and professionally inactive. We have made some efforts to assistthem in getting over professional stagnation.

We still supported Press Council established yet in 2003. Press Council provided the Press materials monitoring, received and considered complaints from the journalists, created a web-site with the online Q-A and issued regular press bulletins.

Another positive results have been reflected by the activity of the journalists protection committee “RUH”, that conducted operative monitoring of journalists rights violation, prepared information bulletins calling for actions and as a result, many cases became widely known and processed by the NGO’s, foreign embassies and other organizations. Some of the achievements made by RUH indicated in the text above.

OSI-AF media program supported other initiatives to promote practice of the student journalists from various Universities via their cooperation in the electronic newspaper called “Journalist”. To break the vacuum in the sub-regional media OSI-AF supported publishing of “Gendjabasar” newspaper in Gendja which now becoming sustainable, widely known and respected throughout the regions of the country.

The issues to be covered by the consortium in a long-term activities are as follows:

1. market monitoring, position of mass media in society, audience study, marketing
2. study and advertisement market regulation, co-ordination of price policy in the field of advertisement, opposition to dumping prices of state mass media
3. centralized solution of problems, related to material security (newsprint, technique, communication, etc.)
4. establishment of joint production bases (printing-houses) and protection of independent editions
5. regulation and co-ordination of questions related to distribution of printed production (outdoor sale, delivery of newspapers to regions, opposition to monopoly prices and terms, set by large state distribution firms)
6. arrangement of common newspaper subscription centers
7. co-ordination of actions and views on common issues

The Consortium has already started activities on some of the above-indicated directions.
This idea would help to solve variety of Mass Media problems, such as printing service operations, distribution of newspapers, etc. Promotion of an access to information from the government bodies could be one of the fields of activities.

The experience shows that it’s important to support the "right" organization, which is known in the society by its equity and professionalism. Press Council and recently founded Najaf Najafov Foundation meet those expectations. One of the tasks of a Press Council was to develop better practices of media self-governance. OSI-AF has supported Press Council during almost 3 years since it was established and it needed initial administrative and program support. Currently it has strengthened its positions and received additional grants from the state (although it was supposed to be done when the Press Council was established). Nevertheless we’re going to continue our cooperation in particular areas, such as fight with racketeering in press, web-site maintenance, processing of the complaints. At the same time journalists need assistance in improvement of their own performance. They still lack skills, they lack knowledge of their rights. As a result, big number of non-professional print media depreciated the image of a journalist in our society. Necessity of self-regulation and application of international standards is still pressing. OSI-AF considers that organizations that are operating in this area should increase their role and coordinate efforts in monitoring and implementation of media legislation and delivering of government commitment of freedom of the expression as well as application of good ethical standards in media community. Therefore we’re planning to support initiatives of other organizations that are not much less effective than Press Council, such as Najaf Najafov Foundation, RUH, etc.
It is important to continue and strengthen support to those who have potential for cooperation and solidarity. OSI-AF will is intended to continue its contribution by supporting in:

• Media materials monitoring
• Acceptance and practical consideration of the complaints from the media entities and journalists
• Educing the media society about the new regulations and legislations on Media
• Supporting law improvement and awareness through translation and discussion of corresponding legal regulations related to media self-governance in European countries
• Initiatives in promotion and application of journalist ethics code.

In 2005 there were grants allocated for trainings on election education of the journalists, finance and administrative management improvements that were effective. It is still necessary to continue the trainings section of the strategy keeping in mind the topicality of the training themes, who the trainers are (which country they represent and their professional level) and how innovative they are. Thus we can particularly estimate the effectiveness of trainings conducted by Internews, Young Photojournalists organization, JUHi (Jounralists Trade Union). 2006 trainings will be addressed to the professionalism, education and practice, building of the self-management policy that is suppose to strengthen the area of internal management regulations, archiving and accounting procedures for further strengthening their survival capacity. The other trainings could be oriented to the groups of specialized journalists writing in:

• journalist investigations,
• freedom of religion and Islam,
• Mass Media role in building civil society.

Besides, there is a need to pay more attention to the new trends in development of the new technologies in media. Blogs are playing an increasingly important role in the media around the world facilitating discussions about issues often escaping the attention of the mainstream media. Internet penetration is still in its development phase in Azerbaijan, therefore enhancing of the work of independent media through technologies is seen very important. Supporting trainings in this area would be a new trend in promoting independent media in Azerbaijan through OSI-AF media program. According to the statistics the most popular US blogs have bigger online readership than the internet edition of New York Times while blogs in Iran have become a key platform for free exchange of views among Iranian youngsters. This kind of practices based on new technologies could be developed through available local resources. But even in that case some additional expertise/literature might be requested from the countries that are practicing this experience and can give recommendations.

1. Regional (intercommunity) initiatives
   In regions affected by war, media have huge capacity to either mitigate or escalate tensions, and, to a large extend, form public opinion. Collaborative projects in areas such as press monitoring, joint press media projects, policy contribute to open discussion among both media professionals and the public about issues that affect the societies. This project would promote conflict resolution through reporting in Karabakh Armenian, Karabakh Azerbaijani communities and Azerbaijani society as a whole. Fair, accurate and in-depth reporting is vital in promoting understanding between the groups. Currently there is a newspaper financed by some International Organization in Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh. There could be established a newspaper for the Azeri community with participation of the prominent Azeri journalists, that are known by experience and peace talk initiatives. The media could serve as a tool for strengthening mutual understanding and human rights. An agreement between the journalists of both communities could serve as an effective key for further cooperation. This cooperative efforts would help to create an understanding of how those communities have to build their life jointly, when the peace established. As another sample of the reflection of the human tragedy, could be articles about life of those mixed families, that got dispersed throughout the CIS countries or have been separated from each other due to the conflict. The project could be worked out in conjunction with MDI, Conciliation Resources and local NGO’s.
2. IDP radio or a newspaper
   

   This project would stimulate production of a radio or a newspaper for the Azeri IDPs who leave in the “refugee camps”. Taking into account the isolation of the IDP’s from the public activity (and from the rest of the azeri society as a whole) and unawareness about the changes in the country, reluctance to policy making activities this project could play particularly important role. Te media entity would consider the problems of the IDP’s and their transformation into more active life oriented to civil society building process. In order to avoid the pressure from the sub-regional authorities, this could be putted into practice in partnership with international organizations (such as Conciliation Resources, IREX, IDP journalists and local NGO’s working in IDP sector) in a most transparent and advertised manner. The series would draw in a range of local journalists and IDP organizations and this will stimulate a wider use of the materials to engage with the IDP community. It is important now to support those who preserve potential for cooperation and solidarity within the society.) The same journalist might cooperate in the area above.
   
   

One of the supporting pads for the independent electronic media is the role of the independent production TV studios and the content of programs to be offered for the future private TV channels or the Public TV. The programs would promote freedom of speech and information, and increase the level of professional approach to the broadcasting media. Although almost all the electronic media are under government control, there were observed attempts to establish independent TV stations (thus some pro-opposition forces succeeded in establishing the "Azadlig TV" in the US ). ANS TV channel seemed to be more impartial on the eve of parliamentary elections in comparison with its previous professional activities in Azerbaijan and for now can be treated as the most reliable TV channel according to the estimations of the monitoring programs conducted by the Council of Europe. OSI has funded monitoring of the Public TV by the Najaf Najafov foundation. There was established a Public Monitoring Council and the Monitoring Group which regularly presents its results to a public and organizes open discussions of the experts with the administration of the Public TV. This initiative is closely observed by the local media. Production studios were more effective in activities related mainly on social problems and historic documentaries. Although the Public TV didn’t meet all the expectations of the international and local media related organizations, it showed rather positive image before and during the parliamentary elections. In comparison with most of the TV channels there were balanced TV shows with participation of different political parties. Besides, the administration of a Company expresses interest for cooperation with independent production studios.

Based on the previous experience it is make sense to focus on journalists labour rights issue (that is taking serious place in their agenda now). Otherwise, many of them are not interested in a professional performance of their duties, while being ready to face with the illegal dismissals and other violations of their rights. It is also interesting to note, that the Press Council is going to establish e watch list in connection with the unstable personal security of the journalists. This issue became particularly topical after the murder of Elmar Huseinov. Demand for journalist rights monitoring and protection is increased after October 2003 presidential elections. Journalists Legal Defense Fund has been established by the initiative of Yeni Nesil, Baku Press Club, RUH, JUHI with the OSI-AF support. It’s been particularly active (by making protocols, preparing reports and receiving operative complaints) after 2003. The Defense Fund helped the journalists, suffered at rally disorders by providing their treatment at the hospitals, rendered assistance to arrested journalists, legal and financial support for the journalists whose rights were limited by the local governments in the regions of Azerbaijan. Project made huge efforts to limit the possibilities to use enforcement authorities for different type of pressure over media, reduce legal actions against mass media and as a result to minimise material and moral damages of editorial offices and journalists. It’s a new form of journalist’s defence which should be supported. Their assistance was also oriented in finding jobs for those journalists who became unemployed due to closure of a newspaper or the media agency. When police destroyed the equipment of the opposition Yeni Musavat newspaper, the Fund assisted financially to re-establish their activity. Now the Fund is intended to investigate the reasons of court proceedings against journalists and mass media, render advices to journalists regarding legality of their articles, investigate the writings with regard to defamation. It will coordinate efforts with those other organizations oriented to protection of media and freedom of speech by releasing statements, writing articles, addresses to international organizations and supporting of the journalists rallies.
Journalists Trade Unions are in a serious capacity building process. They still seem segmented by their political orientation and as a result too much politicized and disorganized from the professional point of view. However Trade Union of Journalists JUHi is now trying to establish its rather professional than political activity and OSI made its efforts to promote these intentions in 2005 by supporting seminars. International experience on Trade Union activities should be better learned and more practical steps be supported.Trade Union leaders understand that the journalists lack personal independence, they lack decent pay and conditions. And this issues are in their agenda.
IJF expressed a particular interested in promoting activities of JUHi and OSI-AF received some suggestions on cooperation in this field.

Mass Media program receives various informations on initiatives oriented to strengthen media capacity and its sustainability. One of the interesting initiatives was a rendering support to the alternative press distribution agencies. Promotion of the best journalist, or media of the year nomination process through the local NGO’s could be a good stimulus to raise the effectiveness of media activities. Taking into account the media environment and the topicality, we’re planning to announce a competition in the frameworks of this budget.

Mass Media program plans to continue its support to sub-regional media as the news from the regions of Azerbaijan are missing in media market, which is one of the reasons of the gap between capital and the regions of the country. Such initiative should be considered in compliance with monitoring of economic development projects, the pipeline project, and regional NGO support program based in OSI-AF Gendja Office. Coverage of these developments would help to develop regional journalists professionalism, awareness about civil society role and democratization. In these activities our goals coincide with those of IREX. Other journalist investigation projects of economic background are to be developed in cooperation with OSI-AF TORPF program.