Ganja paper gets start-up help

Gulnaz Guliyeva

CASPIAN BUSINESS NEWS, July 28, 2003

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Ganja Basar, or Bazaar, is a new independent, regional weekly newspaper launched with the support of non-governmental organizations Internews and the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute.

Covering the northwest region of the country around Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city and former capital, the paper is the first the organizations have set up in the country from scratch.

Internews and OSI presented the first issue of Ganja Basar to media representatives and the public at a ceremony dedicated to National Press Day in Ganja on July 19.

'Ganja Basar' is an old Azeri term for Ganja and the neighboring districts of northwest Azerbaijan.

"It is our first experience of setting up a regional newspaper in Azerbaijan, although we have supported media outlets in Baku," said Farda Asadov, executive director of OSI in Azerbaijan.

"We hope that the newspaper will assist in creating the environment for independent journalism and developing the media in the districts [the country outside Baku], as well as establishing an information exchange between the capital and the region."

For long time, OSI has considered possible ways of supporting mass media in the regions, where independent media is practically absent, Asadov told CBN.

"When we found out about the Internews initiative to create an independent regional newspaper, we decided to get involved in launching the project."

Asadov said that the availability of regional media is very important, especially in Ganja. "This city has huge nationwide importance," he added.

Ganja is 300 kilometers west of Baku on the Ganja River, south of the Kura River.

Namik Heydarov, the public relations and advertising manager of Internews Azerbaijan, also said that the western region of the country was a large area that "has a profound effect on the political and social life of the country."

"Although we helped to set up the Ganja Center for Independent Journalism and wished to create a regional newspaper for a long time, we couldn't do it because it required funding," Heydarov said.

The grant provided by Internews and OSI will cover annual salaries, office rent and essential computer equipment. The financial support is estimated at up to $50,000.

The ownership of the equipment will be transferred to the newspaper one year after publication of Ganja Basar begins.

The projected circulation of the weekly newspaper is 3,000. Ganja Basar will be distributed not only in Ganja City, but also in Shamkir, Mingachavir, Khanlar and Samuh.

"Of course, we realize that this project is risky, since commercial survival rates and the level of sustainable development of the media is very low here, particularly in the regions," Asadov said. "And we will probably keep financing the project, at least partly, after that time. We also expect that the economic situation in the country, thanks to large-scale economic projects, will improve over the next two years, and this will have a positive effect on the regional economy. As a result, the newspaper will be able to find more opportunities to become a self-financing organization."

Internews is also willing to continue its assistance and will seek sources of financing for the newspaper, as long as it becomes self-supporting. "To be a sustainable organization, the newspaper will have to attract advertisements and expand its readership," Heydarov said.

Internews intends to establish three regional newspapers in the country. Apart from Ganja Basar, one of the newspapers is published in Masalli to cover events and issues in southern Azerbaijan.

The region where the third newspaper will be launched has not been announced yet.

However, OSI will not sponsor the other two newspapers. "We selected Ganja from among the three regions, because in this area, the Soros Foundation is running several programs to support civil society and non-governmental organizations. The newspaper gives people the opportunity to be informed about NGO activities there, as well as the life of the region," Asadov said.

Over the last decade, not even a single local newspaper has managed to come out regularly in Ganja. The public, said Asadov, get their information about what happens in the region through chatting with neighbors or rumors.

At the founding ceremony, Nushaba Mammadova, Ganja Basar's newly elected editor-in-chief said: "I am delighted that we have an independent newspaper in Ganja now. I see it as my primary job to ensure that our newspaper provides the local community with objective and balanced news. We want our newspaper to promote democracy. In fact, that is why we chose three words - Democracy, Independence, Human Rights - as our motto," she said.

The joint Internews-OSI selection committee elected Nushaba Mammadova, a respected Ganja journalist and playwright, to become the paper's editor-in-chief. Journalists from the Ganja Center for Independent Journalism, established by Internews in 2001, will contribute to the newspaper with news stories and editorial opinions.

In August, Internews will publish the 10th issue of its newspaper in Masalli, Jenub Habarlari (Southern News). Unlike Ganja Basar, it is not completely a new publication, but it is based on the Masalli Habarlari (News) newspaper.

Its circulation is also 3,000 copies a week, for distribution in Lenkoran, Astara, Lerik, Yardimly, Masalli, Imishli and Beylagan. After that, a third regional newspaper will also be launched.

According to both Internews and OSI representatives, these media projects are not directly connected with the upcoming presidential elections in October, as the idea first originated two years ago.

However, Asadov said that the newspapers will undoubtedly carry coverage of the elections to inform local people.