In a state of emergency, the Commandant’s Office had set rules for the game and had promised to respond to questions of media sent online has not responded to antifake.am’s questions for the second time in a row. Numerous attempts to attract attention and raise questions by the same news agency have been also ignored by the unified information platform of the Commandant’s Office. Many other media outlets reported to have dealt with the same problem.
“Media Advocate” Initiative alarms that the Commandant’s Office continues to divide the news outlets into insiders (ours) and outsiders (theirs), ignoring many of the issues raised by the media outlets. Considering the fact that each media outlet has its own audience and raises questions that are vitally importance to its audience in a state of emergency, it becomes clear that the Commandant’s Office disrespects the rules of its own game and does not respond to those media which are not favourable for the current government through a unified information platform.
“Media Advocate” Initiative warns that the double standards applied by the Commandant’s Office when dealing with the media, undermines the effectiveness of the information policy of the Commandant’s Office, as during the press conferences when responding only to questions sent by the media outlets favourable to the government, the Commandant’s Office, in fact, leaves many vital questions raised by the society in a state of emergency unanswered.
“Media Advocate” Initiative urges the Commandant’s Office to reconsider its information policy and stop the vicious practice of mass media differentiation. In a state of emergency, the Commandant’s Office and other relevant state authorities must recognize that the only ally and friend of effective communication with citizens who are in critical health, socio-economic, and psychological conditions are the media with which they should establish stable partnerships and respectful relationships without sorting or labeling any of them.
