Awarding ceremony dedicated to National Press Day held in Baku

Source: AzerNews

Baku hosted a presentation ceremony of the traditional award of the Kavkaz Media public union dedicated to the 138th anniversary of the National Press Day.

Chairman of the union Azada-Taleh Abbas qizi congratulated journalists on the National Press Day. She said that this is the holiday not only of the press workers, but also of the Azerbaijani people.

Kavkaz Media awards journalists who contributed to the development of Azerbaijani journalism since 2004.

Awards were presented by the representatives of the Kavkaz Media Public Union in various categories. Trend Agency's correspondent Vugar Imanov is among the winners.

The first issue of Akinchi newspaper ("The Ploughman") founded by journalist, teacher and scientist, and a Moscow University alumnus Hasan bey Zardabi was published in Azerbaijan on July 22, 1875. This was the day of foundation of the national press, which is now celebrated as the National Press Day.

Akinchi played an important role in the formation and development of the Azerbaijani national press. In a short time Akinchi became popular among the intellectuals and ordinary people.

Akinchi newspaper was regarded as revolutionary not only as the first periodical published in Azerbaijani, but for being the means of reaching the masses. In order to make media accessible to lower classes, Zardabi propagated reforms in the literal Azerbaijani language aimed to make it more popular by excluding bulky expressions and loanwords from Persian and Arabic languages used mostly in religious texts and classical poetry.

This newspaper was shut down several times by the Russian authorities as "harmful and politically unreliable". After the closure of Akinchi in 1877 Zardabi was exiled to his native village.

Over the years, the Azerbaijani press has been a mirror of society's opinion on the ongoing processes. In 1998 National leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev abolished censorship. This decision gave impetus to the further development of the national press.

In accordance with the decree of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the 135th anniversary of the national press of Azerbaijan was marked across the country in 2010.