There are not many Azerbaijani activists from Azerbaijan who have not felt as the ‘Other’ in reporting on the news of their activism, when it comes to most Farsi news agencies. This marginalization has led many Azerbaijani activists to rightly distance themselves from the Farsi Media. But there are still activists who, albeit one-sidedly, have continued their communication with these media. The dissatisfaction of ethnic activists with the Farsi media and news agencies could be explored through examining the record of those media outlets; which is beyond the scope of this writing.
In the meantime, we should be fair and remember that among the Farsi language news agencies there is one news agency that has been able to shine relatively well in terms of news coverage of ethnic minority activists compared to others. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) is the one that has been able to break the hegemony of Farsi news agencies on how to report on ethnicities and has become an encouragement for those activists who have been marginalized.
HRANA may be one of the few news agencies that takes its audience seriously, takes criticism and tries to improve. For example, On April 15, 2020, I wrote a critique of the way in which the release of an Azerbaijani prisoner was reported: “I Call on HRANA and praise its news coverage of prisoners, especially non-Fars ethnic prisoners. For some time now, I have been following the news of Azerbaijani prisoners mostly from HRANA. But the photo that HRANA shared today in the news of Kazem Safabakhsh‘s release caught my attention. In the original photo, Kazem Safabakhsh holds the symbol of Gray Wolves (Bozqurd) in his right hand, which was not shown. Such an act of censorship is not appropriate For HRANA as the news agency of Human Rights Activists (HRA).” Fortunately, HRANA replaced the picture of Safabakhshi after hearing our concern.
Before thanking HRANA, I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my criticisms and those of many Azerbaijani activists. Last year, after the start of the operation of the Army of the Republic of Azerbaijan to liberate its occupied territories from the control of Armenia, protests took place in the cities of Azerbaijan provinces of Iran, in support of the Republic of Azerbaijan and condemnation of the occupation of the Armenian government. According to local reports and Azerbaijani activists themselves, more than 100 people were arrested during the protests, but unfortunately HRANA repeatedly used the unfamiliar phrase “in response to recent developments in the region” or similar phrases to write about the arrested individuals. First, based on the statement of the demonstrators it was obvious that the demonstration was “in support of the Republic of Azerbaijan and condemnation of the occupation of the Armenian government.” Secondly, the use of sentences such as “recent developments in the region” takes the audience’s mind to the developments in Syria, Iraq, etc., and therefore cannot convey the correct meaning to the Iranian audience.
Lastly, while thanking HRANA for their great work, I hope that some news agencies that do not pay enough attention to the news of ethnic minorities based on their policies will use HRANA as their role model and become the voice of the forgotten.
