ARTICLE 19 Survey of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Canada
May 4 2005

This briefing summarises the main findings of an ARTICLE 19 report on
the extent of the implementation of freedom of information legislation
in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and its impact on the media of
these three countries.

It also gives an overview of the evolving media landscape in each
of the three countries. The report examines media?s difficulties in
obtaining information from public bodies and how this affects their
ability to disseminate information in the interest of the general
public and fulfil their vital role as a “watchdog” in a democracy.

It includes a survey of 135 media professionals and 105 public
officials in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, carried out with the
assistance of ARTICLE 19 partner organisations.

The report focuses on situations where access to information procedures
should have facilitated the media’s performance. Instead, as the
key findings and recommendations of the report reveal, the media has
faced a large number of problems in seeking to access information,
and positive stories on access to official information appear to be
rare in the South Caucasus region.