Earlier this week we reported on Rwanda’s regulatory body the Media High Council ordering the closure of newspapers and radio stations they felt were operating “illegally”. Now Azerbaijan has produced a ‘blacklist’ of publications it feels violates rules governing journalism “behaviour”.
According to the SFN blog, the Azerbaijan’s Press Council today released the latest edition of the annual list of “racketeer” newspapers and journals – this year totalling 77 – which they claim have breached the Journalists’ Professional Behavior Rules and should be investigated. The blog quotes council chairman Aflutun Amashov:
This list is a tool for public condemnation of the press, which ignore the professional principles, publish materials, affecting the honor and dignity of people, slander, and commit other such illegal actions.