Professional development

The Azerbaijani media still demonstrates loyalty to the old system of Soviet times. The main reason is that the conditions of the country are not favourable for the development of independent media, mainly due to the lack of market and competition. In such a scenario, it is difficult to obtain a successful career for journalists working in the media. In such unfavourable conditions, there is little room for discussions on development and journalists are also busy with fulfilling orders from specific interest and political groups. These interest groups go as far as nominating personal initiatives and making suggestions to the editorial staff.

Journalism is perhaps the only profession that gets tougher in all aspects: Social and political situation, pressure and persecution of journalists' for professional activities, poor economic situation, and even low social status. Under the best circumstances journalists can aspire to a ministry's press secretariat, while others change their professional orientation and engage in public relations. One reason is that most editors think that media still serve national and state interests and relegate professionalism behind these interests. Therefore, the information presented to the audience is not of public interest as it is not given in a balanced or impartial way.