The recent election in Sweden provided an opportunity for visiting Azerbaijani journalists to learn about election reporting during their visit to Stockholm in October. Photo: Seymur Kazimov/AMC

Ahead of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on Sunday, 7 November, the Azerbaijan Media Center in Baku organised a study tour for seven Azerbaijani journalists to study political and elections reporting in Sweden. Seymur Kazimov from Azerbaijan Media Center reports

A group of Azerbaijani journalists recently participated in the “Media - Power - Elections” study tour to Sweden which took place from 17 to 23 October.  All participants were winners of the elections reporting competition held by the Azerbaijan Media Center (AMC) last summer.

Studying Swedish media habits

On the first day of the visit, Veronika Menjoun, a Swedish media consultant and study tour facilitator introduced the Swedish media landscape to her Azerbaijani colleagues followed by Fredrik Nejman from the “Poppius” Journalist School, who spoke about the responsibilities and role of the media in the election process. In addition to this, Nejman briefed the group on how the media's self-regulation works in Swewen.

The group visited Swedish Public Television, editorial offices of the “Focus” magazine, “Aftenbladet” newspaper which has the largest circulation in Sweden and regional “Norrköpings Tidningar” newspaper.  During those visits, journalists observed how a news room works and explored online journalism techniques. Special focus was on the production of balanced coverage of elections.

Meeting with Swedish politicians and tour to Riksdag

At the headquarters of Sosial-Democrats Party (The Swedish Labour Party), the second  biggest party in the Swedish Parliament, Riksdagen, the Azerbaijani group met with the party’s press attaché  Peder Palmsteirn who shared insights into how Swedish politicians deal with the press especially in the period of an election campaign.

The group spent the most of a full day in Riksdagen discussing the relations between spokespersons, political parties and mass media with, among others, the Press Ombudsman of Sweden, Mrs. Yrsa Stenius. She informed the journalists that her mission is to build a bridge between society and the media. It was interesting for the Azerbaijani journalists to learn that the Press Ombudsman in Sweden  is elected not by the government, but by journalist organisations, NGOs and civil society.

Master class on political reporting

"Cruel games of big politics" was the title of the master class on political reporting offered to the group by Erik Fichtelius.

A journalist with broad experience in political reporting, Erik Fichtelius is now Director General of the Swedish educational radio UR. He is the author of "The Ten Golden Rules of Journalism", a famous journalism book translated into many languages including Russian and Azerbaijani.

During his presentation, Erik Fichtelius focused on journalists' obligations, responsibilities and professional ethics.

Equal opportunities for all journalists

All participants were greatful for the opportunity to learn about reporting on elections in Sweden.

- Azerbaijan Media Center is the only organisation that provides equal opportunities for all journalists, proclaimed Idrak Abbasov, print journalist and a member of Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, an organisation well-known for its freedom of expression activities. Abbasov considers his participation in the trip an important step in his journalistic career.

Another participant, Anar Huseynov, a former TV journalist and press attaché of the state agency applauded the study tour project.

- During the study tour we held extensive discussions on the media issues with Swedish colleagues, which gave us a lot of food for thought and inspiration for our daily work, he stressed. 

Watch a video produced by AMC from the study tour. Click on the arrow to the left in the window below: