10th South Caucasus Conference on Freedom of the Media starts in Tbilisi
Tbilisi 12 (AZERTAC). A two-day conference on Freedom of the Media in the South Caucasus opened in Tbilisi.
The conference was opened by Andrei Richter, Director of the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.
Addressing the participants, Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, spoke of the importance of the conference and called it “a good platform to have exchange of views on changes in media legislature in the last decade, on the freedom of speech and expression in region and its development”.
Azerbaijan was represented by a large delegation.
Vugar Aliyev, Head of Sector for Media Relations of the Presidential Administration, said it was “the 10th conference organized by the OSCE Freedom of the Media Office in Tbilisi”.
He highlighted what the Azerbaijani government has been doing to strengthen the protection of the freedom of speech and press in the country.
“All necessary conditions have been created to ensure the freedom of speech and press in Azerbaijan,” he stressed.
Aliyev noted that having regularly participated in the OSCE conferences on freedom of speech and press in recent 10 years, Azerbaijan has informed the participants about the state of media, freedom of speech and press: “Azerbaijan has made great progress in the development of the freedom of speech and press in the past 10 years. Azerbaijan abolished censorship in 1998 and refused control over the media by abolishing the Ministry of Press and Information in 2000”.
Aliyev said consecutive steps are being taken in Azerbaijan to improve social conditions of journalists.
“A lot of measures have been taken in Azerbaijan to improve social conditions of journalists. Some 156 journalists have been given apartments, and a new building is being built for 240 journalists. Work is also continued to ensure security of journalists and establish necessary conditions for their activity. Current state of media in Azerbaijan should be welcomed,” he said.
Joao Barata, Chief Adviser of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, spoke of the problems and tasks of media in the globalization period.
The conference will see a master class on the transition to digital broadcasting. The master class is an interactive series of presentations and discussions on the benefits, challenges and the necessary steps in the transition to digital broadcasting in the countries of the South Caucasus.
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