Independent media in the South Caucasus faces pressure, disinformation and funding cuts. Read our latest on the struggles - and resilience - of media in the region.
State repression, mis- and disinformation, cuts in donor funding, a lack of commercial markets, operating from exile – the challenges for independent media in the South Caucasus are manifold and diverse. In Azerbaijan and Georgia, government pressure on the sector – and on public access to unbiased reporting – has reached unprecedented levels. While Armenia improved its position in the latest World Press Freedom Index, media outlets and journalists remain vulnerable to financial pressures and political interference.
To raise awareness, advocate for media freedom and enhance exchange, the Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus supports the participation of six journalists from the region in the International Press Institute’s World Congress which will be held in Vienna on October 23-25, 2025. We will also host a side event called Reporting Across Borders: Media, Pressure and Cooperation in the South Caucasus.
Without access to reliable information, it is impossible to form well-grounded opinions. Without free media, democracy cannot thrive.
Read on for reports written by three distinguished journalists from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. They describe the challenges facing the media in the South Caucasus, outline recent trends, and yet find (some) glimpses of hope.
Azerbaijan: The Heavy Price of Doing Journalism in Azerbaijan
“Journalism is not just a profession; it is a lifestyle.” These words belong to Azerbaijani journalist Aytac Tapdig, currently held behind bars together with colleagues, from Meydan TV, an independent news platform. Tapdig is among 25 journalists who have been arrested since November 2023 in what she has called a “massacre of the media in Azerbaijan.” Independent journalism has always been fraught in Azerbaijan but never to this degree. Despite the risks, outlets tried to serve the public and hold authorities accountable. For that, they continue to pay a heavy price.
A 150-year-old Industry
This July, Azerbaijan marked the 150th anniversary of its national press. President Ilham Aliyev praised the country’s “independent, strong and modern media” and claimed the government had built conditions for free activity, strengthened the economic foundations of journalism and carried out reforms to protect media practitioners. To an outsider, this might sound credible. But for those journalists behind bars, their families, colleagues in exile and press freedom advocates, the reality could not be further from these words.
Last year, on the same occasion, Meydan TV’s Editor in Chief, Aynur Elgunesh, told Jam News that the media in Azerbaijan was “dead,” except there was no one left “to bury” the corpse. Since that interview, Elgunesh herself has been arrested, facing trial on spurious smuggling charges — the same accusations levelled against many other journalists. “Only a handful of people remain,” she said then, “trying to perform CPR on a corpse. Without pluralism, freedom of speech and freedom to reflect the government’s mistakes, there is no press in the country.”
One of the authors of that article, reporter Fatima Movlamli, has also been detained. Like others, she faces fabricated charges designed to cripple Meydan TV and silence critical reporting.
Repression Behind the Rhetoric
Contrary to official praise for “strong media,” Azerbaijan’s authorities have used restrictive laws, arbitrary arrests and intimidation to ensure that journalism is reduced to state propaganda. The strategy is not new: independent voices have faced censorship and harassment for decades.
Arrests and intimidation of journalists were already common in the 1990s. By the mid-2000s, authorities banned local retransmission of foreign broadcasters. By the early 2010s, bloggers and activists on social media were increasingly targeted.
A 2014 crackdown sent scores of prominent civil society members to prison. Soon after, websites of independent outlets like Meydan TV and Radio Liberty were blocked. Their offices were raided and more reporters jailed. This year, authorities revoked international media accreditation. Over the last two decades, laws were tightened in favour of the authorities and the elite: companies were no longer obliged to disclose ownership structures, defamation and insult offenses were extended to online content and constitutional changes granted lifetime immunity from prosecution to the president and his wife.
More recently, a 2022 media law (amended in 2025) introduced new licensing and registration requirements that further restricted the profession. The cumulative effect has been to eliminate space for independent journalism.
The Cost of Truth
In a series of sham trials, at least seven journalists have been convicted this summer alone, receiving between seven and nine years in prison on bogus charges. Many more face ongoing investigations. Exiled bloggers and critics have been handed arrests in absentia.
As Tapdig told the court during a hearing on yet another extension of her pre-trial detention, those complicit in these prosecutions “will one day be used and discarded one by one for the survival and protection of the Aliyev regime. You will pass away from this world without knowing what free will means.” She added: “The challenge for us journalists begins now. We will expose the authorities, who have known us so far with our news, investigations and video reports, face to face in our trial. Prepare well, be a little creative and through you, we will come to hold Aliyev’s government accountable.”
These words reflect both the resilience and the tragic reality of Azerbaijani journalism. Behind bars, journalists continue to see themselves as professionals with a duty to expose the truth, even when stripped of their freedom. Meanwhile, the government insists on speaking of reforms and “economic independence of the media” — a hollow narrative at odds with the lived experience of those silenced for doing their jobs.
The contrast between rhetoric and reality could not be starker. What remains is the determination of those, like Tapdig and Elgunesh, who continue to believe in journalism’s mission, even when the cost is their liberty.
Georgia: Georgia’s Independent Media Under Pressure
“Support Georgia’s beleaguered civil society and our independent media. Speak out for the people in the streets, for the journalists behind bars, for a society that refuses to bend. Offering your support to Georgia is not only an act of solidarity – it is the pragmatic choice. Another repressive regime in the neighbourhood would endanger Europe’s own security. To abandon Georgia now would be to reward Russia’s aggression.” This is an excerpt from a letter by Mzia Amaghlobeli, published in The Guardian on September 27.
Mzia Amaghlobeli, a Georgian journalist, is in detention - the first female journalist arrested in Georgia. The charges and sentence against her are disproportionate and politically motivated.
The accusations and court hearings against Mzia Amaghlobeli were a demonstration for the Georgian media that there is no longer an unbiased accusation and court for free and critical journalists in Georgia. We stand face-to-face with the power of the government whose aim is to silence us.
The Beginning of Unmasked Terror
Violence, persecution, interference in professional activities and aggressive rhetoric have become everyday life for Georgian journalists over the past year.
On September 3, while performing journalistic duties at a rally near the election headquarters of the ruling party, representatives of the Georgian Dream youth organization attacked me - one slapped me and the other spat on me. Their faces were not covered. I urged the police to respond, but no one moved.
Four days later, during a rally at the same headquarters, the same person stole a mobile phone from our journalist and physically assaulted him. Video footage of both incidents exists. He did not hide his face this time either.
In the past, crimes against journalists were committed mainly by masked, unidentifiable individuals. Investigations often attempted to argue that suspects could not be found which, in most cases, was absurd and served as a protection for those involved in the crimes. Despite formal investigations and public identification, no attackers have been brought to justice. The open attacks on journalists by the people directly affiliated with the Georgian Dream at the beginning of September, without masks, are a new level of terror.
The ruling party tells us that there is no law for independent journalists working in Georgia and there are no law enforcement agencies. They do not protect us and the attackers have a complete carte blanche - they act under guaranteed impunity and no longer even bother to hide.
The Georgian Dream’s goal is clear - we must no longer continue to work. The environment is hostile and violence against us is allowed which is further exacerbated by the statements of the ruling party representatives.
Due to our critical stance towards the government, Georgian Dream representative Shalva Papuashvili accused us of aiding and abetting criminal offenses through our journalistic activities. He also accused the British Embassy of “supporting extremism” because it gave a grant to the media.
Tbilisi’s mayor, Kakha Kaladze, commented about the videos showing violence against female journalists and said that he does not see women there, that we are people who have “lost faces.”
This is a large-scale campaign of dehumanization and discreditation that is besieging the independent Georgian media. The sense of security among journalists has practically dropped to zero.
According to the latest research by the Centre for Media, Information and Social Research (CMIS), 434 incidents against journalists, media outlets and civil society organizations working on media rights in Georgia were recorded over the past year.
During the 2024 protests, the attack on Maka Chikhladze, a journalist for one of the leading opposition TV channels, looked like a scene from a horror movie. Still, it was reality: a masked assailant attacked her live on the air and her cameraman was brutally beaten. Although the identities of the attackers are likely known, no one has been arrested to date. They have not arrested anyone for the violence against other journalists either.
Along with the physical threat, the Georgian Dream has declared war on independent media in the name of “transparency.”
The independent media in this country has struggled to thrive due to a lack of business opportunities and political reluctance to support it. In addition, the law on grants requires government approval for media organizations to receive funding. This allows the ruling power to block grants for independent outlets critical of the government. This system has already been used to set a precedent against such media.
The ruling party well understands that resources for the independent media in Georgia are scarce and so it has activated discrediting and repressive laws against them. They say independent media outlets are “agents” and that receiving grants will be possible only under government control.
Due to our Soviet history, and not only that, registering a media outlet in Georgia as an “agent of a foreign influence” carries a negative connotation and is perceived as working against the country's interests.
During the Soviet period, Georgia already went through this phase of history once when Georgians who opposed the Bolshevik government were declared “enemies of the people” and became victims of persecution and destruction under the label of foreign agents.
We do not want to accept these discrediting rules whose primary aim is to destroy public trust in us.
Today, the media in Georgia is on the verge of non-existence. Because of the scale of physical threats, hostile legislation and restrictions on access to information, continuing to work often seems unimaginable - yet it is even more unimaginable to leave Georgia without an independent and critical media.
That is why we continue to fight to preserve our profession in our own country, to serve the Georgian people who, despite the backdrop of terror, still raise their voices, seek independent platforms and are ready to fearlessly express their different opinions to the rest of society.
Finally, I will end this text with the words of Mzia Amaghlobeli from one of her earliest messages sent from prison:
“I do not intend to accept the regime’s agenda. Freedom is more valuable than life.”
Armenia: Glancing Over Armenia’s Media Realities
Since the 2018 Velvet Revolution, Armenia has continuously been making progress with regard to media freedom, freedom of speech and expression. The country has a leading position in internet freedom, not only in its immediate neighbourhood (the South Caucasus region) but worldwide. With only 3 million people, one could argue that Armenia has disproportionately big number of media outlets. Over two dozen TV stations and hundreds of online media resources function in the country.
While most TV stations have political affiliations, Armenia’s Public TV still has the largest viewership and coverage in all regions of the country. Besides state funding, the National Public Television also generates income from advertisements, which has been mentioned as a challenge for other TV stations, which argue that Public TV dominates in Armenia's overall advertisement market in country.
Independent Media
The only independent and mostly web based media outlets in Armenia are those registered as non-profit organisations or foundations which allows them to receive grants from international donor organisations. The abovementioned media outlets have editorial policies of their own liking; however, this brings challenges regarding their sustainability and long-term strategic planning. For instance, while some of these media outlets have strong video presence online, they are unable to receive income from their production through monetisation options provided by YouTube as advertisements through this channel do not exist in Armenia. YouTube simply does not have an official presence in the country. However, there have been successful cases of independent media outlets using Patreon and other crowdfunding tools for income generation.
While the overall quality of reporting has numerous challenges, starting from the education and the training of Armenian journalists and ending with politicized media outlets (affiliation with political groups), misinformation, disinformation, fake news and hybrid media threats, there are hopeful signs of independent fact-checking groups and investigative journalism. However, in most cases fact checking and investigative journalism outlets also depend on foreign financial assistance.
Over the past decade and particularly after the war of 2020 in Nagorno Karabakh, examples of external influence in creating public perception especially related to security issues are numerous and the problem of media literacy is a key area where significant work needs to be done. Especially in the aftermath of the 44-day Nagorno Karabakh war, the overall level of trust of Armenia’s society toward media reporting is very low. People are highly sceptical of media reporting especially when it comes to security related issues. This creates a situation when outside players such as Azerbaijan and Russia or media outlets, opinion makers and influencers connected with the latter often effectively create dominant public discourse based on either fake reports or through manipulations.
Cyber security is yet another challenge especially for independent media outlets in Armenia. While the country is preparing for important parliamentary elections in June 2026, it is expected that there will be foreign interference coming from Russia as happened in the case of Moldova and Romania in 2025. Independent media outlets will most probably be one of the primary targets, thus there is a great need for additional preparedness from the cyber security perspective. There are already examples of hacking incidents through the Signal app affecting well-known journalists and editors which cyber security experts link to a Kremlin-led hacking groups.
Media Self-regulation and Editorial Policies
A media self-regulation body created in 2007 brings together over 80 Armenian media outlets. This institution is well regarded among media professionals and outlets which aims at positively impacting the quality of journalistic standards and production. The organisation brings together both Yerevan-based and regional media organisations and has hitherto proven to be an independently functioning institution. Discussions around Armenia’s new media law include the possibility for a legal status to be given to this self-organized ethics regulatory body which will ultimately give more weight and status to this important organisation in the future.
The education and the training of independent journalists is yet another problematic area in the country. While there is a department of journalism at Armenia’s largest Yerevan State University, the faculty has not brought great value for the future reporters of Armenia. Our own media organisation has tried working with graduates of YSU~s journalism department and observed a low level of skills and reporting abilities among beginner journalists. Thus, one of the most successful investigative journalism organizations, Hetq, has created a media factory which has been instrumental in preparing young professional reporters over the past several years. Another initiative from the US Embassy in Armenia is the Centre for Independent Journalism which was created at the American University of Armenia.
As stated at the beginning of this article, the overall situation with media freedoms in Armenia is at a historic high as compared to the three previous decades. However, this reality may not be sustainable as it is based on the political will of the ruling party led by a former journalist and currently the Prime Minister of Armenia. There is a need for institutional/legal assurances of media freedoms in the long run.
This article first appeared here: ge.boell.org
