Azerbaijan, Baku, April 27 /Trend, T.Hajiyev/
Conference titled "The Role of the Media in Formation of Civil Society" was held in Baku.
In an opening address, Head of the executive power of Baku's Surakhany district Ilgar Abbasov informed the guests of the Heydar Aliyev Center that hosted the conference. According to him, the Center has been operating for two years, and the Center's opening ceremony was attended by President Ilham Aliyev. About 37,500 people have so far visited the Center to study Heydar Aliyev's heritage, he said.
The conduct of conference "The Role of the Media in Formation of Civil Society" is of great importance, said Vugar Safarli, Executive Director of the Fund of State Support to the Media Development, which is part of the President's Office. According to him, the media play a substantial role in the formation of civil society.
The Fund has provided assistance to many newspapers and news agencies over the past 2 years, Safarli said.
"At present, more than 4,000 media outlets have been registered; some 300 of them operate permanently. Many newspapers, which had been established in the years of independence, were closed after they failed to withstand competition. This process still continues. The State of Azerbaijan supports the media in their development", the Executive Director said.
Hikmet Babaoglu, chief editor of newspaper Yeni Azərbaycan made a report about the role of the media in civil and state management system. The nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev, who knew well about the role of the media in the state and civil management, broadly used the opportunities of the media, he said.
Lugar Rahimzadeh, chief editor of paper İki sahil told about the methods of struggle with journalists-racketeers in Azerbaijan.
"As legal provisions become simpler, every person can establish his/her own paper. Any person with the higher education can be engaged in journalism but this sometimes leads to negative consequences. Some persons establish newspapers and start racketeering", he said.
The Council for Press should fight such journalists, according to Rahimzadeh.
The chief editors of newspapers Olimpiya dünyası (The Olympic World) and Paralel also shared their opinions.
Then, the event continued in the form of dialogues. Azerbaijani students, who study in abroad, partook in the conference through the Internet and could ask the event's participants a question.
