Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAKU969
2008-10-10 13:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baku
Cable title:  

AZERBAIJAN'S 2008 ELECTION: MEDIA FREEDOM

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM AJ 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000969 

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S 2008 ELECTION: MEDIA FREEDOM
ENVIRONMENT CONSTRICTING

REF: BAKU 00524

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000969

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S 2008 ELECTION: MEDIA FREEDOM
ENVIRONMENT CONSTRICTING

REF: BAKU 00524

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Media contacts state that media in
Azerbaijan has worsened under a "personally insecure"
president, who has condoned a clampdown on influential,
critical media outlets. They point to a number of factors
behind the gradual, but steady, decline in media freedom
since Ilham Aliyev took office in 2003, including: GOAJ
harassment of journalists, the judiciary's lack of
independence, a limited advertising market that is dominated
by pro-government publications, self-censorship, and a lack
of professionalism in Azerbaijan's media industry. President
Aliyev in July approved a new program to develop the media
(septel) designed by media representatives. Some observers
are skeptical of a government role in such an effort;
Azerbaijan's leadership has requested U.S. assistance in
organizing and implementing the fund. The development of the
media as a strong institution of Azerbaijan's democracy is a
long-term effort and requires sustained U.S. support. End
Summary.


2. (C) This cable is part of a series on the broader
political environment before the October 15 Presidential
election. The Embassy met with seven media professionals to
hear their perspectives on the overall media environment,
including Shelly Markoff (IREX chief of party),Khadija
Ismayilova (Radio Liberty Baku bureau chief),Rashid Hajili
(Media Rights Institute director),Mehman Aliyev (Turan News
Agency director),Emin Huseynov (Institute for Reporters'
Freedom and Safety director),Osman Gunduz (Multimedia
Information Systems & Technologies Center director),and
Elnur Baimov (www.day.az editor-in-chief).

Media Freedom Declining
--------------


3. (C) The consensus among media professionals is that media
freedom declined in Azerbaijan under President Ilham Aliyev.
Media professionals we spoke with unanimously agreed that the
media was more free and robust in the late 1990s during the
later years of former President Heydar Aliyev. Reflecting a
common theme, Ismayilova told us President Ilham Aliyev is
insecure and cannot tolerate criticism, which distinguishes

him from his father. President Heydar Aliyev regularly
engaged directly with local journalists, while Ilham Aliyev
does not. At the same time, the media representatives claim
President Aliyev and other government insiders perceive that
the political cost of clamping down on the media is minimal,
as the GOAJ increasingly judges that Western states need
Azerbaijan as much or more than Azerbaijan needs the West.
The GOAJ also appears to see minimal domestic costs for
keeping the media on a short leash, as there is little in the
way of public clamor for a more vibrant media.


4. (C) The GOAJ's answer to the problem of developing
Azerbaijan's media is a state program on supporting the
media. In a September 11 meeting with the Ambassador,
Presidential Administration Public Policy Chief Ali Hasanov
discussed the GOAJ's plan for supporting the media. On July
31, President Aliyev signed a "concept paper," drawn up by
Azerbaijan's Media Council and editors-in-chief of various
Azerbaijani newspapers. Hasanov said that the purpose of the
GOAJ's program would be to support development of the media
as an independent institution that could work freely and
independently in a commercial environment. Hasanov
acknowledged government support for commercial operations of
media outlets would be difficult to manage, and noted he was
open to U.S. assistance on developing the media development
program. Having recently returned from a trip to the U.S.,
where he met with DRL A/S Kramer and EUR DAS Bryza and
attended the Democratic National Convention, Hasanov appeared
to have a fresh attitude toward cooperating with the media.


5. (C) President Aliyev in August also unveiled a new state
program providing direct grants to some 35 media outlets.
The one-time grants are the initial phase of the broader
state program to support development of the media that
Hasanov raised in his meeting with the Ambassador. Local

opinion is divided as to whether the program reflects a
serious effort by the GOAJ to support the development of the
media or a move designed primarily to deflect western
criticism of Azerbaijan's media environment.

Television: Most Popular and Controlled Medium
-------------- --


6. (C) Following a broad post-Soviet trend, the majority of
Azerbaijanis get their news from television. Well-educated
Azerbaijanis, however, increasingly complain that the
state-dominated television channels are uninteresting and
lack substantive political discussion. For years, ANS was
the leading beacon of semi-independent television
programming; it overwhelmingly was the most popular station.
In late 2006, the National Radio and Television Council
(NRTC) forced ANS off the air for several weeks, with the
NRTC claiming ANS was violating the national media law. All
seven media professionals interviewed argued that ANS
editorial line has become considerably less aggressive since
it was temporarily shut down; in previous meetings, ANS chief
Vahid Mustafayev conceded that the station more cautiously
approaches stories at this time, arguing that Azerbaijan is
at war and even democratic countries suspend liberties during
time of war.


7. (C) Experts agree the GOAJ is most concerned with
controlling the editorial line of television because it
remains the most influential source of information. In an
indication that the GOAJ has largely succeeded in influencing
television's editorial line, Hajili observed that harassment
of journalists has almost entirely focused on print media
journalists, vice television journalists. One potentially
positive development in the overall trend of declining
television freedom is the public television station (ITV),
which, while clearly a state-run channel, has begun to air
more nuanced, less blatantly pro-government programming.
Several experts suggested the station had some degree of
independence and the station chief has sought to introduce
some limited political discussions, although experts were
divided over the station's relative degree of political
independence and the station's level of professionalism. ITV
recently aired the U.S. Presidential debates, dubbed in
Azerbaijani. The Foreign Minister, who has taken the lead in
promoting a modern media by instituting the first-ever
regular weekly ministerial press conferences at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MFA),said MFA is now working with ITV to
introduce a limited "Meet the Press" type discussion program
on foreign affairs. A Fulbright Fellow with 20 years
experience on the McNeil-Lehrer show is assisting in
developing the program.


8. (C) A local study monitoring the media in the run-up to
the Presidential election, which is funded by the Council of
Europe, concluded in its initial report that the media --
particularly television -- provided a limited spectrum of
political views and actors. A respected local NGO (New
Generation) focusing on the media climate conducted the study
using quantitative analysis. Their Oct. 6 report noted that
TV channels in the Sept. 17-Oct. 2 campaign period paid
little attention to election activity, particularly that of
the opposition. While Public TV and ANS were able to devote
more attention to opposition candidates (14 percent for
Public TV, 24 percent for ANS),AzTV, Khazar and ATV focused
on the ruling party and its candidate for 99 percent of their
election coverage.


9. (C) One election-related media issue is candidates'
access to television. The election code, which was revised
in June, no longer permits the major state-owned television
channel (AzTV) to provide free air time to presidential
candidates. Instead, ITV is supposed to provide free air
time to candidates. According to ODHIR, the points of
concern are that AzTV currently has a greater geographic
reach than ITV and that AzTV may be exempt from providing
balanced news coverage for the candidates. (NOTE: The ITV
director told ODHIR that ITV reaches 85 percent of
Azerbaijani territory, in comparison to AzTV, which reaches
all of Azerbaijan.) CEC Chairman Mazahir Panahov told OSCE
Ambassadors that ITV will provide three hours of free air

time per week to candidates. (In the 2005 Parliamentary
elections, AzTV was required to provide six hours of free air
time - reftel.) This free air time has been employed in the
form of moderated discussions between the candidates or their
proxies.

Radio: Most Underused Media
--------------


10. (C) Radio Liberty, BBC and VOA Azerbaijani services
provide more news for radio listeners than the rest of the FM
and AM dial combined. Radio Liberty, which produces 10 hours
of local news programming daily, dominates the radio market,
but just over 2 percent of Azerbaijanis say they get their
news from radio. While RFE/RL President Jeff Gedmin heard
complaints from the government about imbalance during his
spring visit to Baku the TV and Radio Council has repeatedly
assured the Embassy that license renewals -- due in September
-- are not a problem. By all standards, Radio Liberty,s
election coverage has been the most vigorous of any media in
Azerbaijan, though the ruling party's representatives have
often declined invitations to participate in debates with
opposition candidates and surrogates.

Print Media: A Thousand Flavors, But Who is Reading?
-------------- --------------


11. (C) According to an Internews media study, more than
1,900 newspapers are registered in Azerbaijan. The vast
majority of these are not news-focused publications, but
instead small newspapers or newsletters with a run of several
hundred copies that provide information for specific
organizations, government ministries, or individuals. The
Embassy estimates that in Baku there are fewer than 25
newspapers that would fit the western definition, and just a
dozen of them have circulations larger than 2,500. Even the
most popular dailies have print runs of only 6,000-9,000
copies, this in a city of more than two million. Even those
figures are inflated, according to a report this week.


12. (C) The commercial model under which newspapers are
operated as commercial businesses and rely primarily on
advertising revenue is totally absent in Azerbaijan, leading
to a distortion of the very nature of media. In general,
most newspapers fall into the partisan categories of
"pro-government" or "pro-opposition." While the government
papers tend to be a chronicle of GOAJ activities, opposition
papers often are a sea of sensationalistic stories designed
to gather attention rather than accurately report the facts.
Both are essentially fully-funded branches of either the
government or the opposition. There is virtually no
commercial advertising. The two most popular opposition
dailies, Azadliq (Freedom) and Yeni Musavat (New Equality)
are paid for entirely by the opposition Azadliq political
bloc and the Musavat political party, respectively. They do
not seek to hide their political affiliations and run photos
of their leaders on the front page of every issue, whether
they have done anything newsworthy or not.


13. (C) On the other hand, Huseynov and other commentators
told us that print media has a greater degree of freedom
relative to television and interesting, critical articles can
still be found. Most experts agree that the Russian-language
daily Zerkalo is the most respected and independent
newspaper. Many independent media experts also argued the
GOAJ controls the distribution of newspapers through
unofficial economic monopolies, and it can accordingly
"punish" print outlets by tightening their distribution reach
as well as their advertising revenue.

Internet: Bright Spot to Meet Growing Demand
--------------


14. (C) The internet is the freest source of information
inside Azerbaijan, and it appears to be growing as the medium
of choice for educated Azerbaijanis who can afford regular
access, according to most experts. Multimedia Information
Systems & Technologies Center director Osman Gunduz told us
Azerbaijanis favor online news over traditional print
newspapers, as approximately three times the number of

Azerbaijanis look to the internet instead of print media as
their primary news source. (Gunduz estimated there are
approximately 150,000 Azerbaijanis using the web as their
primary information source, compared to 40,000 who read
newspapers as their primary source of news.) While the
internet can be a reliable source of information about the
outside world, there are a limited number of websites
providing reliable Azerbaijani domestic news.


15. (C) Gunduz said there is no official GOAJ censorship of
the internet, although in practice, GOAJ insiders can shut
down individual websites. Gunduz told us internet access in
Azerbaijan is granted through Delta Telecom, which provides
access to smaller, local internet provider companies. Gunduz
said Delta Telecom is an economic monopoly connected to the
Presidential Administration, and that it also serves as an
informal mechanism for shutting down select internet sites.
Gunduz said Vahid Akhundov, the head of the Presidential
Security Service (PSS),is linked to the owner, but we have
also heard that the nephew of Deputy Head of the PSS Baylor
Eyyubov -- who reports to Akhundov on paper, but unofficially
is rumored to hold the real reins of power within PSS -- runs
Delta Telecom.


16. (C) The most popular news website in Azerbaijan is
www.day.az. The primary site is in Russian, although there
is an English-language mirror site at www.today.az. The
articles tend to be tightly drafted factual reports on a
range of political, economic, and social topics, vice
investigative journalism. While the website tends to avoid
examining politically-sensitive topics like corruption, the
articles feature comments from a broad spectrum of
pro-government, independent, and opposition actors.
Editor-in-chief Baimov told us there are approximately 25,000
daily readers and the site receives about 300,000 daily hits.


Major Problems in the Media Environment
--------------


17. (C) Several long-term, mutually-reinforcing factors have
eroded the media freedom environment in Azerbaijan. Critical
print journalists have been beaten, imprisoned, or harassed.
The pattern appears to be GOAJ insiders targeting journalists
who are perceived as critics of the government's policies or
of certain officials, or those who go too far in
investigating an elite's financial fiefdoms. Kompromat --
the widely-known Russian term for acquiring derogatory
information on someone that could be used as blackmail -- is
a key driver in Azerbaijan's political economy, wedding
elites in a complex interaction of distrust and
collaboration. In what can be called a "culture of
kompromat," investigative journalism touching on an elite's
personal financial interests quickly crosses a redline.
According to a wide range of government and civil society
contacts, print media outlets are frequently controlled
behind the scenes by oligarchs or GOAJ officials and are used
to advance personal financial and political interests.

18. (C) Another challenge is a string of dubious court
proceedings initiated against journalists who are often
charged with libel. Ismayilova argued that the executive's
control of the judiciary, which prevents journalists from
having a neutral outlet for legally addressing the incidents
of harassment and intimidation, is a core problem. Experts
also argued that the cumulative impact of multiple attacks
against journalists is greater than the sum of the individual
episodes, generating a climate of fear of criticizing members
of the elite. Since 2006 there have been 11 journalists
arrested and imprisoned for reasons considered by domestic
and international observers to be politically motivated.
Five of these journalists, all convicted of libel, were
released by presidential pardon in December 2007 while two
were released after their cases were overturned on appeal.
The pace of libel cases filed by government officials has
diminished in the pre-election period. Of the four remaining
imprisoned journalists, three are prominent opposition
journalists convicted of terrorism, hooliganism, and
narcotics possession whose cases have been raised to the GOAJ
by the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and the USG. Embassy
officials have received indications from the GOAJ that these

three journalists may be released after the election. The
fourth case involves due process violations concerning the
airing of video footage of alleged bribery on national
television, and his release is not considered imminent.


19. (C) Local experts repeatedly cite lack of a local
advertising market as a key compounding factor that limits
the degree of media freedom. Aliyev and others opined that
the economic basis of independent media outlets is steadily
constricting. Over the past few years, limited advertising
dollars increasingly have migrated to television and print
media outlets that are perceived as "pro-government," leaving
opposition or independent outlets with limited means. Aliyev
told us the advertising market for television is rapidly
growing (tripling over the past three years),but remains
"stagnant" for print media. Ismayilova and Markoff said
banks and mobile telephone providers are major sources of
advertising dollars, but these companies are linked to elite
insiders, who selectively back pro-government media outlets.
Experts said that opposition-oriented publications often run
on a shoe-string budget, which leaves them open to writing
sensationalistic stories with limited or no sourcing, or
vulnerable to corruption and influence from shadowy
"patrons." Media experts note the urgent need to assist both
print and television outlets to learn how to run them
commercially as businesses, a strategy that could work if
businesses are permitted to make their own decisions about
where to spend advertising dollars without government
influence, they say.

In the Context of the Upcoming Elections
--------------


20. (C) In the days before the October 15 presidential
election, most experts we spoke with thought the GOAJ might
grant more political space to the press. These experts
argued that President Aliyev feels confident of winning the
election and that from the GOAJ's perspective, more harm than
good could be done in having to deal with a high-profile
media rights issue while there is increased international
scrutiny of Azerbaijan's pre-election political climate.
Most commentators agreed that if there was a more relaxed
environment before and during the election, it would likely
be "business as usual" after the election.


21. (C) These analysts argued that the problems with media
freedom are part of a broader trend, with several noting a
domestic parallel between Azerbaijan and Russia. Ismayilova
said the GOAJ is "eliminating platforms of discussion" and
replacing them with GOAJ-orchestrated forums.

Ideas to Support Media Freedom
--------------


22. (C) When asked for recommendations on how to promote
positive changes in the media climate, Ismayilova suggested
U.S. support for a South Caucasus television station, which
would be admittedly expensive, but central to opening up an
alternative information source for populations eager for
information and promoting regional integration. Other
experts suggested the U.S. increasingly focus its assistance
on internet news and radio broadcasting over the internet,
since it is relatively cheap and Azerbaijanis increasingly
are looking to the internet for their information. Aliyev
also stressed the need for more systematic interaction
between state officials and journalists and more training for
spokespeople. Finally, Husyenov suggested that U.S.
officials should encourage the GOAJ to privatize the state
media agencies, appealing to Azerbaijan's stated desire to
modernize its political institutions.


23. (C) COMMENT: The development of the media as a strong
democratic institution in Azerbaijan is a long-term task,
requiring consistent effort by the government to create the
legal, economic and political conditions for a free press to
develop, and an effort by the media to develop the
professional standards needed. Support for independent media
and professionalization of journalists has been the top
priority of the Embassy's public diplomacy programming in
recent years. Projects have ranged from journalism training


at the Georgia Institute for Public Affairs and the newly
created American-Azerbaijan Journalism Academy, to financing
an innovative NGO media monitoring project that rates the
professional and ethical performance of daily newspapers.
The Ambassador and other Embassy officers also regularly
press the GOAJ to remove the legal prohibition against libel
from the criminal to the civil code. There is still much to
be done, as standards remain low, and improving the work of
journalists must be accompanied by the GOAJ loosening control
of media institutions and allowing normal interaction with
advertisers. Only a financially independent media -- free of
government, political party, and financial "patrons"
influence, and one fully trained in professional journalistic
ethics -- will be able to play the Fourth Estate role so
important in vibrant democracies.
DERSE