“Media Advocate” initiative urges the local media to carefully choose the interviewees, as any careless word these days may have irreversible consequences for Artsakh and Armenia, which are currently at war. We urge to check the information voiced by the speakers and to clarify the sources.
These days, the Russian “Dozhd” TV channel expresses a somewhat pro-Azerbaijani position. During the few days of the war, the TV station was mostly neutral, but for several days now, the TV channel has been providing more airtime to Azerbaijani speakers in terms during their interviews and newscasts.
The website of the TV channel https://tvrain.ru/, which belongs to the TV company, published the interview of Azerbaijani General Hussein Makhmudov, who accused Armenia of provocation and bombing Azerbaijani settlements. In response to this, no interview from the Armenian side was published on the news outlet. It should be reminded that later it was proved that the photo of the rocket disseminated by the Azerbaijani side, according to which the projectile had slammed into the asphalt was fake, and Mingechaur was not bombed either.
By the way, let us remind that the representative of this very TV company came under fire in Stepanakert.
The situation in the international media is not unequivocal either. Some media outlets use the terms “occupied” and “Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity”. We urge the media not to make assessments, present the views of both sides and base only on facts.
