19 October 2004
REPRESSIVE REGIMES STIFLE INDEPENDENT MEDIA DEVELOPMENT
Repressive laws and governments remain the most serious obstacles to a free press in Central Asia and must be reformed first if independent media are to develop, a World Association of Newspapers (WAN) conference has concluded.
While poor infrastructure, weak economies and a lack of adequate training and professional organisations are hindering the development of an independent press, political reforms must come first, said participants.
One participant suggested that international support for independent media is of limited use as long as "bad governments keep getting stronger." "The external organisations say things are improving in the region. We say that things are deteriorating."
Other participants said there was a greater need for solidarity in the region and coordinated actions to support media and journalists in danger. One example cited was a "Neighbours" newspaper supplement aimed at informing citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan about each other's countries. "We launched the supplement because there is total isolation among the countries. Neighbours know nothing about each other," remarked one of the newspaper partners.
Participants also emphasised the need for international support to pressure their governments, citing the success of international pressure in preventing the approval of a new media law in Kazakhstan in March 2004.
In addition to combating the well-known problems, several speakers warned against an over-reliance on foreign donations, which might be hindering the commercial success of newspapers in the region. "To break the cycle of grant dependency, we are looking for a small handful of people who understand that being dependent upon international donations is no more freeing than being dependent on the government," said Mike Stone, Project Director of the first independent printing plant in Kyrgyzstan.
The conference, entitled "Media in Danger/Media in Transition," was held 12-13 October 2004 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and brought together publishers and journalists from Central Asia to discuss ways of finding solutions to problems facing independent media in the region. Several IFEX members participated in the conference, including Adil Soz and the Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES).
Meanwhile, initiatives are underway to tackle repressive laws in Central Asian countries. At a conference hosted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Tajikistan in September, more than 100 journalists and media support organisations issued a declaration on libel and freedom of information (http://www.osce.org/documents/rfm/2004/09/3645_en.pdf).
They called on governments to decriminalise defamation and adopt freedom of information laws in conformity with international standards. Participants have formulated concrete proposals for action, which the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, will present to governments.
Visit:
- WAN: http://www.wan-press.org/article5575.html
- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media: http://www.osce.org/fom/
- Adil Soz: http://www.adilsoz.kz/
- CJES: http://www.cjes.ru/index-e.php
- Alerts and Reports on Central Asia: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/177/
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