Azerbaijani media regulator warns News24.az over misleading headlines

Azerbaijan’s Media Development Agency has issued a warning to the news portal News24.az for misleading reporting and violating professional standards.

The agency said the portal, owned by Russian-Azerbaijani billionaire Ilham Ragimov, has been consistently publishing sensational headlines and using unrelated images to distort context.

One recent article titled “Bread prices rise” allegedly misled readers by using a photo linked to Azerbaijan to depict price hikes in a neighboring country. A similar issue was noted with the headline “Dollar rises sharply.”

The regulator urged News24.az to adhere to national media laws and ethical journalism standards. The site’s editor-in-chief is Ragimov’s wife, Azerbaijani singer Ruhi Aliyeva.