On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we discuss the crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan. As of January 25, at least 11 Azerbaijani media workers remain behind bars due to their work, according to the International Press Institute.
Azerbaijan ranks 151 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, behind Pakistan, Libya and Sudan. “President Ilham Aliyev has wiped out any semblance of pluralism."
The report says the entire media sector is under official control, and state-owned television is the most popular information source. No independent television or radio is transmitted from within the country, and all print newspapers with a critical stance have been shut down. Most independent news sites, such as Azadliq and Meydan TV, targeted by state censorship, are based abroad.
Guests:
Ilya Lozovsky, staff writer and senior editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Vyacheslav Abramov, Central Asian editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Resources:
OCCRP: ‘Total Control’: Azerbaijan’s Jails Fill With Journalists and Dissidents as Election Approaches
OCCRP: Independent Media Under Attack in Kyrgyzstan as Court Shuts Down OCCRP Member Center Kloop Media
RSF: Media landscape in Azarbaijan
The Guardian: Azerbaijan accused of crackdown on journalists in run-up to election
France 24: Forbidden Stories continues work of imprisoned Azerbaijani journalists
