EPF Brings together Azerbaijani and Armenian Journalists

Media Bias Training in Armenia
Media Bias Training in Armenia

As part of an EPF program funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on March 27-29 22 journalists and editors from Armenia and Azerbaijan (11 from each country) met to develop a joint Action Plan. The plan includes recommendations and guidelines to media professionals, policymakers, and NGOs which aim to increase accuracy and unbiased reporting as well as plans for innovative pilot projects to be implemented in each country.

During the workshop, participating journalists shared their ideas for bilateral projects to reduce bias in the Azerbaijani and Armenian media. Once the project ideas are developed, EPF will review and select a number of them to be funded by small grants.

The workshop was organized as part of EPF’s Unbiased Media Coverage of Armenia-Azerbaijan Relations project supported by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The goal of the program is to increase the amount of accurate and unbiased reporting of the bilateral relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to foster a cooperative network of editors, journalists and media NGOs from Armenia and Azerbaijan. To implement the program EPF works closely with four core partners: Yeni Nesil (Azerbaijan), the Yerevan Press Club, Internews-Azerbaijan, and Internews-Armenia. The program combines focus group-based research on public perceptions about media bias with training for journalists and editors in each country; two separate media monitoring assessments to measure changes in bias and to further document the types of inaccuracies that frequently occur; and an innovation fund to launch small, pilot cross-border projects addressing issues of bias.

The workshop was preceded by a three-day in-country intensive training in each country for 20 local journalists and editors, during which the journalists learned about recognizing and reducing bias in journalistic reporting, objective reporting in conflict settings, and codes of ethics. Experienced professionals shared their expertise, and showed documentaries about unbiased media coverage. Trainings also included a presentation on public trust in media in Azerbaijan and Armenia, a summary of findings of Focus Groups carried out by EPF’s Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), and reports on a baseline media assessment carried out by “Yeni Nesil” Journalists Union in Azerbaijan and Yerevan Press Club in Armenia over the period of September 15 – November 15, 2008.

“This training provided me with further evidence that prudence is extremely important for journalists. I would like to see trilateral projects carried out with Turkish, Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts,” said Arman Suleyamanyan, a Radio Van reporter who has previous experience in carrying out projects with Azerbaijani counterparts.