Venue: Ambiorix Center, Square Ambiorix 7, Brussels
Date & Time: 6 May 2025, 16:00 \u2013 17:30<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brussels, 6 May 2025 \u2014 As part of UNESCO\u2019s World Press Freedom Day celebrations, a critical parallel event titled \u201cShrinking Media Freedom in South Caucasus & Central Asia\u201d will take place at the Ambiorix Center in Brussels, shedding light on the deteriorating media landscape across Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. Scheduled, the event aims to highlight the growing threats facing journalists and independent media in these regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organized by the Institute for Reporters\u2019 Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the Media Diversity Institute (MDI), the event will bring together frontline media professionals and experts to discuss key drivers behind the narrowing space for press freedom. Among the issues to be explored are government crackdowns on independent journalism, media capture by political or oligarchic interests, and the introduction of restrictive laws aimed at silencing dissenting voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panel of speakers includes prominent figures from across the region:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emin Huseynov, founder of IRFS, known for his advocacy in Azerbaijan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arsen Kharatyan, editor-in-chief of Aliq Media in Armenia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luc Steinberg, representing Media Diversity Institute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ruslan Myatiev, founder of Turkmen News, an outlet focused on Turkmenistan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irma Dimitradze, journalist from Gazeti Batumelebi, Georgia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discussion will be moderated by Teona Sekhniashvili from the International Press Institute (IPI), who will guide the conversation through both the specific regional challenges and broader implications for democracy and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One alarming trend to be addressed is the rise of “information deserts”\u2014regions where reliable, independent news is scarce or non-existent. This vacuum is often filled by misinformation and propaganda, undermining public trust and democratic institutions. The event will also touch on potential policy and institutional responses, including the role of international bodies in promoting and protecting press freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As global attention turns to press freedom during this week of reflection and advocacy, this session stands out as a critical moment to focus on regions that are too often underrepresented in international media freedom discussions. Organizers hope the event will galvanize support for embattled journalists and highlight the need for a coordinated, international response to defend the free flow of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This event is open to journalists, policy-makers, civil society representatives, and members of the public committed to defending media freedom across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Venue: Ambiorix Center, Square Ambiorix 7, BrusselsDate & Time: 6 May 2025, 16:00 \u2013 17:30 Brussels, 6 May 2025 \u2014 As part of UNESCO\u2019s World Press Freedom Day celebrations, a critical parallel event titled \u201cShrinking Media Freedom in South Caucasus & Central Asia\u201d will take place at the Ambiorix Center in Brussels, shedding light on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":30499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-30456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed","tag-editor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30458,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30456\/revisions\/30458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}