“Today, the important topic we discussed – working for a fairer world, of course, cannot be achieved without media. But as a representative of this profession, I regret to say that today, I find it hard to say that the media works for the justice of the world,” Vusala Mahirgizi, General Director of APA Media Group, said during her speech at the panel titled “A Fairer World is Possible” organized within the framework of the "Stratcom Public Forum" held in Baku by the Directorate of Communications of the Turkish Presidential Administration, APA reports.
Double standards in approaching facts and events
Vusala Mahirgizi noted that in some cases, the media’s work leads to the escalation of wars and information manipulations, rather than establishing justice in the world.
“One time, one of the ambassadors from Western countries told me that the Azerbaijani media had taken a fair and objective stance regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, giving space to both sides’ positions, and they were carefully following it and thanked us. At that time, I mentioned that this is the role of the media, the media's job is not to highlight the position of one side of the conflict and keep the other side in the offside. This might only be understood by the media of the country that is a party to the conflict.”
Vusala Mahirgizi emphasized that the Russia-Ukraine war was the bankruptcy of the world media, particularly those working with the concept of international media: “This stance also applied to social media. Even those who shared the opposing views on social media were banned, and this process is still ongoing.”
The General Director reminded that if the media's approach here was about the attitude towards the occupier, then in other examples, different approaches have been observed: “In the Russia-Ukraine war, the occupying side is Russia. This is true. In the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the occupying side was Armenia. But what did we observe here, by the way, this approach is still ongoing. International media gives more coverage to Armenia, falsifies facts more in favor of Armenia, rather than presenting Azerbaijan's fair position. After all, Armenia is also an occupier. So, the approach is not about occupation or violation of international law, but rather the interests of the countries that these media outlets are directly or indirectly connected to.”
The role of local information sources and their proximity to the truth
Recalling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's thesis that "The world is bigger than five," Vusala Mahirgizi emphasized that this also applies to international media: “The global powers demonstrate their power through their armies, arms industries, economic development, educational systems, and, in today's reality, largely through media. Today, there is a need for the collapse of the monopoly on information for a fair world. The global information space should not be controlled by 5-6 international information broadcasters. Countries should obtain information from one another through local information sources. For example, why should the media in Azerbaijan and Türkiye receive information about these two countries through a third country's information agency or television? Of course, this is the very issue we need to pay serious attention to: How manipulative will the information from a third country's media be when presenting this information? That’s the question.”
The importance of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Joint Media Platform
Vusala Mahirgizi stated that to prevent such information manipulations, the operation of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Joint Media Platform, established with the will of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Türkiye, is very important: "This platform works to ensure that the societies of both countries receive accurate information from each other and that no information manipulations take place. In my opinion, this activity should be further expanded. In the future, the media of both countries need to increase efforts to include Turkish and Azerbaijani experts, prepare more comprehensive programs and news, and help our societies get to know each other better."
New media reality for Turkic and Islamic countries
Vusala Mahirgizi stated that expanding the scope of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Joint Media Platform and the development of a common media platform for Turkic states are among the tasks ahead: "In an era where the world is increasingly governed by information, we must protect ourselves and our nation from information manipulations. Although social networks, ever-increasing softwares, and the development of artificial intelligence make this more difficult, the way to protect identity also involves ensuring information security. In my opinion, considering the geography we are in, there is also a need to develop a common media platform among Islamic countries in the future. These platforms would help us present more fair, objective, and manipulation-free news to our societies."
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