“Yeni Nesil” Journalists Union is monitoring the way the presidential election and election campaign are being covered in the press through the project “Free and Fair Elections.”
Within the framework of the project, seven TV channels (ANS, ATV, AzTV, ITV (Public TV), Lider, Space and Khazar) are being monitored everyday from six p.m. to midnight. In addition six daily newspapers are being monitored. They are “Azadlig,” “Azerbayjan,” “Yeni Musavat,” “Khalq Gazeti,” “Zerkalo,” and “525 Gazeti.”
According to “Mediaforum,” the results from the first 10 tens days of monitoring were unveiled. In the results it is stated that 86 percent of airtime on AZTV is dedicated to the members of the Yeni Azerbayjan Party, government officials, and the activities of the president. In comparison, alternative political parties are given very little airtime. According to the monitoring this tendency is the strongest on AZTV.
In addition to this, in state newspaper the amount of space allocated to the president and members of the ruling Yeni Azerbayjan Party is 89-90 percent. In comparison, pluralism can be seen in the in private newspaper, where both the opposition and the ruling party are given coverage.