Round table meeting ‘Russia-Azerbaijan: Topical Issues of Media Cooperation’ underway in Moscow

A round table meeting “Russia-Azerbaijan: Topical Issues of Media Cooperation” is taking place in Moscow, Report informs.

The event, held at the Russian news agency TASS, is attended by heads of leading media outlets of Azerbaijan and Russia.

Before the start, the participants of the round table got acquainted with the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, near the TASS building and with the activities of the agency itself.

During the round table, its participants will discuss the most pressing issues of cooperation between the media of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, as well as the main challenges in this area.

Opening the event, TASS Director General Sergei Mikhailov noted the symbolism of the fact that such a round table is being held in the year of the 100th anniversary of the national leader Heydar Aliyev. Mikhailov noted that just a week and a half ago, three exhibitions dedicated to this legendary personality opened in Moscow, and one of them is near the TASS building.

“We appreciate and will continue to develop cooperation with the Azerbaijani media,” Mikhailov said. He stressed that TASS is closely cooperating with the Azerbaijani state agency Azertag, including within international media structures.

“I hope that this cooperation will continue in the future and will only grow stronger. Today we have a lot to talk about,” the TASS director general said.

In turn, the chairman of the board of Azertag, Vugar Aliyev, also noted the ‘exemplary cooperation’ of the organization he heads with TASS: “We support each other within the framework of international media structures.”

He said that the new realities, the ongoing large-scale geopolitical processes open the way to improving the quality of cooperation. Changes are taking place in the media under the influence of new trends, he noted, adding that in the current conditions, when social networks are overflowing with disinformation, the media must not only be retained, but also increase the audience.

“We must try to be at the forefront of the process, and not try to keep up with it,” he added.

Fuad Huseynaliyev, director of the Report News Agency, said that holding such events would further strengthen cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Russian media.

He noted that in Azerbaijan there is a fairly large percentage of media in Russian, and in this segment, Russian media serve as an example of quality, a ‘pattern’ of journalism for those who write in Russian. Therefore, proposals for the exchange of journalists can only be welcomed, he added.

Huseynaliyev told the round table participants about the activities of the agency he heads, as well as about the Global Media Group holding, which includes Report.

“The field for cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Russian media is large,” he said, noting a number of problems, in particular, one-sided coverage of the realities in Karabakh by colleagues in Russia. Huseynaliyev reminded that the Karabakh conflict is over, which is recognized by both the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides.

“The recognition by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan leaves no room for separatist sentiments. At the same time, some Russian channels still provide a platform for speaking with one-sided information,” he said.

Huseynaliyev stressed that the cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Russian media should correspond to the level of strategic partnership that exists between Baku and Moscow.

According to Pavel Gusev, general director of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, he has repeatedly visited Baku and witnessed the development of the country: “Azerbaijan has shown how to build its economic policy, its political prerogatives.”