Today, the 148th anniversary of the National Press of Azerbaijan is celebrated.
As reported by “Qafqazinfo”, since July 22, 1991, when the first newspaper in the country, “Akinchi”, founded by Hasan Bey Zardabi, began to be published, the National Press Day has been celebrated in Azerbaijan. Although from July 22, 1875 to September 1877, only 56 issues of “Akinchi” newspaper were published, it played an invaluable role in the establishment and development of the national press of Azerbaijan. “Akinchi”, which took on itself mainly an educational mission, in a short time gained more popularity among the intelligentsia and ordinary people. Not by chance, prominent intellectuals and writers of that time collaborated with the newspaper and published regular articles. However, the life of “Akinchi” did not last long. Tsarist Russia did not recognize the role of the newspaper in educating people, familiarizing them with public and political processes, and eventually stopped publishing the newspaper.
Since then, the Azerbaijani press, which has experienced various periods of decline and revival, has always played the role of a mirror that reflects the society’s view of the ongoing processes. The abolition of censorship in August 1998 gave a serious impetus to the development of the press in Azerbaijan.
According to the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev dated August 16, 1998 “On measures to ensure freedom of speech, thought and information in the Republic of Azerbaijan”, censorship of mass media was abolished in the country. This decree, in addition to giving a serious impetus to the rapid development of mass media, determined the main directions of a broad State program in the field of increasing their rationality.
Currently, a large number of different newspapers and magazines are published in the republic, and internet journalism is developing.
Decrees on the wide celebration of the anniversaries of the national press in the country, the provision of one-time assistance to the mass media, measures to strengthen the social protection of press workers, as well as the awarding of honorary titles to journalists for their services to the development of the national press are also part of the care of the press and its workers.
On the basis of the directives of the head of state on strengthening the social protection of press workers in Azerbaijan, two residential houses have been built for journalists. In 2013 and 2017, President Ilham Aliyev participated in the ceremony of distributing apartments on the occasion of the National Press Day in a building built for journalists.
The fact that freedom of speech and press is reflected in the Constitution of Azerbaijan as the main principle, gave impetus to the formation of media as a free and strong social institution in the country. It goes without saying that the main participants of all these processes, the main reasons for the obtained results are Azerbaijani journalists.
On June 30, 2020, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on holding the 145th anniversary of the Azerbaijani national seal. On January 12, 2021, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on deepening reforms in the field of mass media in the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the decree, on the basis of the State Fund for the Development of Mass Media under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to support the development of mass media in Azerbaijan, to continue work on institutional construction in this area and to stimulate the use of new information and communication technologies and innovations.
https://qafqazinfo.az/news/detail/azerbaycan-milli-metbuati-148-yasinda-407183