Armenia: 1998

Special Reports

  

CPJ and the World

Executive Director William A. Orme, Jr., who was interviewed on CNN International, Fox News “In Depth,” MSNBC “Online,” and numerous radio shows about Attacks on the Press in 1997, traveled to California for the April 6 launch of the book at a program at the Freedom Forum in San Francisco. He also addressed the regional conference…

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Appendix II: Attacks on the Press in Armenia, 1996-97

Lragir, newspaper, legal action, March 1, 1996 A Yerevan court suspended the publication of the independent daily Lragir for three months.

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Introduction

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caucasian republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have declared their desire to model themselves after Western European societies, with free-market economies and democratic government. But their passage from communism to a new social order has been rife with contradictions. In the current transition period, leaders of both countries…

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Censorship Plagues Press in Armenia, Azerbaijan, CPJ Reports

Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 1998-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling on the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia today to respect the right to a free press accorded citizens in democracies and to provide guarantees enabling journalists there to work freely and safely, without fear of reprisal.

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Introduction

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caucasian republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have declared their desire to model themselves after Western European societies, with free – market economies and democratic government. But their passage from communism to a new social order has been rife with contradictions. In the current transition period, leaders of…

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Azerbaijan’s Media Navigate a Legal Maze

Editors of Baku’s leading newspapers were thrown into turmoil in early November 1996. The Milli Medjlis had just amended the law on mass media to require licensing in addition to registration with the Ministry of Justice before newspapers could begin, or continue, operating. Fourteen chief editors of newspapers and news agencies gathered in December to…

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Key Media Officials in Azerbaijan

Minister of Press and Information: Siruz Khudat ogli Tabrizli, born 1942 in Tabriz, Iran. A writer, poet, former journalist. Holds democratic views but is a strong supporter of President Heidar Aliyev. Member of parliament and a leader of Aliyev’s New Azerbaijan party. Serves as minister under the “List of 18” exception which allows 15 percent…

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Armenian Officials Tout Press Freedom But Bully the Press

There are two views of the press in Armenia today. The first holds that the press is entirely free to report as it chooses. The second is that the press is irresponsible. One thing is certain: In the absence of censorship, Armenian officials resort to verbal pressure and sometimes physical retribution, to knock journalists into…

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Armenia’s New Journalists

The collapse of Soviet-style journalism has brought a new type of writer to the fore-youthful, enthusiastic, but often without training or experience. A problem in Armenian journalism is the need to replace Soviet-era training with new methods. Ruben A. Satyan says he assigns new recruits at Vremya to senior editors for on-the-job training. Astghik Gevorkian,…

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Oil Flows More Freely than Ideas in Azerbaijan

The smell of oil, profits, and risk hang heavily over Baku. To the Western visitor, this port city looks like a boom town. Azerbaijan has discovered new oil reserves in the Caspian Sea which may be nearly as great as those of Kuwait. And outsiders are rushing to town to pump oil and get rich…

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1998