The project promotes Internet publishing, blogging, social media, and other new media tools to increase media plurality and civic activism in Azerbaijan. Donor: IREX

Objectives

The project continues TOL’s strategy of promoting Internet publishing, blogging, social media, and other new media techniques and tools to increase media plurality and civic activism in Azerbaijan. Objectives include promoting Internet-based media as an alternative to the poor quality and bias of traditional print and broadcast media; building the capacity of civil society groups to advocate for their members’ interests and raise public awareness; empowering underrepresented groups by providing them with tools and techniques for creating their own media content; and appealing to young people and getting them more involved in creating their own media and contributing to the political process.

 

Project Activities

Project activities include 10 new media workshops in Baku and the regions; a combined Social Innovation Camp in Baku; two roundtables for journalists, media executives, media-related NGOs, and journalism students; the localization of online new media tools into the Azeri language; the writing of an overview of the new media situation in Azerbaijan; and the production of a new multimedia CD magazine for youth.

For more information about TOL's other current projects, please click here.

Updates

TOL held Azerbaijan’s first Social Innovation Camp on 18-19 September, with funding from IREX and NED. Over those two days, around 60 developers, designers, bloggers, journalists, and NGO representatives competed in teams to build web-based tools for solving social problems. Another 40 people participated in concurrent training in online campaigning, e-marketing, and the latest new media trends and tools. The majority of the participants were from Azerbaijan's regional cities. Seventy-three project ideas were submitted on the Sicamp website, www.syd-az.net  (SYD stands for Sosial Yeniliklər Düşərgəsi, meaning SIcamp in Azeri), which were then narrowed down to the six that the teams worked on at the event. A team of international experts then helped facilitate the projects' development and then voted, as judges, for a winner. The experts included Tony Bowden (UK), David Birman (Israel), Vahid Gasimov (Azerbaijan), Elza Ketsbaia (Georgia), Alexey Leonchik (Belarus), and Jana Terzimehic Petrlikova (Czech Republic). At the end of the event, the popular vote went to a keep-the-environment-clean website, and the judges’ vote went to a website that will display maps and other essential information for those using the Baku public transportation system, delivered via the Internet and mobile devices. TOL will provide monetary prizes and cover consulting costs for the selected teams.

As part of an IREX/OSCE-funded project, TOL held a new media workshop in the city of Shirvan, Azerbaijan, on 2-3 June, with local partner Shirvan City Library. Participants included people from local NGOs, the Resource Center, the local newspaper Shirvan, bloggers, students, workers at the central library, and teachers. The project promotes Internet publishing, blogging, social media, and other new media tools to increase media plurality and civic activism in Azerbaijan.