With Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev keeping a low profile, the country's mass media outlets are in the spotlight. Extensive coverage of Aliyev's evident health problems is posing a challenge for authorities, who prefer to control the flow of information about the ailing president. At the same time, some media outlets are grappling with how to separate fact from rumor concerning Aliyev's condition.

Azerbaijan's handling of Aliyev's illness may end up marking an important point in the country's civil society development, especially in the mass media sphere. At present, however, it appears too early to draw any definitive conclusions, as the struggle over information continues to play out between the government and opposition media outlets.

Aliyev has remained largely out of sight in recent days. State television broadcast brief footage without sound on April 28 of the president greeting visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi. Pro-government media continues to insist Aliyev is making a speedy recovery from his April 21 collapse. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In an interview with ANS television April 28, Health Minister Ali Insanov denied rumors that Aliyev had been taken abroad to receive treatment. "Soon he [the president] will resume work. There is no problem, do not worry," Insanov said.

Ilham Aliyev, the president's son and widely viewed as the elder Aliyev's most likely potential successor, told ANS on April 28 that his father was recovering at home from a cracked rib. Ilham added that Aliyev could take up to five weeks to recover, while stressing that the president remained in constant contact with his aides and with government officials. "We are trying to keep him at home for as long as possible so that he can return to his office after a full recovery," Ilham said. "I cannot say to what extent we will manage to do this. Everything depends on him."

Opposition media, including the newspapers Huriyyat and Yeni Musavat, have portrayed a starkly different picture concerning Aliyev's health status, seemingly eager to expand the boundaries of media freedom outward, while at the same time possibly undermining the Aliyev administration. The opposition newspapers assert that Aliyev remains seriously ill and unable to fulfill his presidential duties. A report in Huriyyat on April 29, for example, suggested that Aliyev may be having trouble speaking.

Some opposition media outlets have been overly aggressive in some cases, reporting rumors that have fanned uncertainty in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. Perhaps the most prominent example of such reporting concerned the whereabouts of Ilham Aliyev. On April 25, the Azadliq newspaper carried an unattributed article that claimed Ilham had fled the country with his family shortly after the president's April 21 health episode. Within hours, Ilham and his wife made an appearance on state television to refute the rumor.

Officials and pro-government journalists have accused some opposition media of irresponsible behavior, saying the intensive coverage of Aliyev's health could undermine national security. On April 26, ANS TV chief Vahid Mustafayev issued an appeal to all journalists in the country. "Regardless of what people think about him [Aliyev], his deeds in the name of Azerbaijan are a component part of our history," Mustafayev said in the address. "Unethical speculation about Heidar Aliyev's health problems, and the use of it, hits below the belt in the [domestic] political struggle, and does not befit Azerbaijani journalists."

The Aliyev health issue is posing an early test for the country's newly created Media Council, which is designed to alleviate friction between the government and mass media outlets. Many newspapers and journalists in Azerbaijan have long had a tense relationship with authorities.

Opposition journalists have been subjected to various forms of harassment, including physical attacks, verbal abuse and defamation lawsuits. Government-media relations perhaps reached their low point in late 2002, when various governmental officials and businessmen brought twelve lawsuits up against Yeni Musavat. Officials have used similar tactics, involving heavy fines, in the past against other magazines and outlets. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives].

In mid March, a Congress of Azerbaijani Journalists – which attracted almost 450 media representatives and 200 international participants – agreed to establish the Media Council after lengthy debate. The Media Council includes representative of both government and opposition publications, as well as public interest advocates. Its main task is to improve the relationship between government and journalists.

"If a governmental official's rights are violated, or wrong information is reported, the former does not have to appeal to a court. They can appeal to the Media Council and we will review the case and request the newspaper to publish the correction. By doing so, governmental officials will show their commitment to democracy," says Aflatun Amashov, a free press advocate who was elected chairman of Media Council.

Amashov insisted that the council would strive to maintain an independent stance in government-media disputes. "If we do our work correctly, make fair decisions, then the press and society will accept us as an authority."