(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 13 October 2004 WAN press release: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 13 October 2004 Repressive Governments Biggest Threat to Press in Central Asia Of all the obstacles facing the independent press in Central Asia, government repression is the most serious, according to publishers and journalists attending a World Association of Newspapers conference […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 13 October 2004 WAN press release:
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 13 October 2004
Repressive Governments Biggest Threat to Press in Central Asia
Of all the obstacles facing the independent press in Central Asia, government repression is the most serious, according to publishers and journalists attending a World Association of Newspapers conference aimed at aiding media development in the region.
While poor infrastructure, weak economies and a lack of adequate training and professional organisations are hindering development, it is repressive laws and governments that are the first problems to be overcome, they say.
“We are not fools that do not know how to run a paper. As soon as the presidents of these countries are removed, we will be profitable, independent newspapers. We need a political solution,” said Alexsander Kim, Editor-in-Chief of the MSH newspaper in Kyrgyzstan.
Sergei Duvanov, an independent journalist from Kazakhstan, said that local media and intergovernmental organisations working in the region have different ideas on how to develop the press in Central Asia.
“The external organisations say things are improving in the region. We say that things are deteriorating. You help and help, but the bad governments just keep on getting stronger,” he said.
Fifty publishers and journalists from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia took part in the “Media in Danger/Media in Transition” conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and were joined by speakers from Serbia, France, Denmark, Canada, Finland and the United States. The WAN conference, which ended Tuesday, sought to find ways to combat the obstacles that are hindering independent media development in the region.
Participants said there was a greater need for solidarity in the region and common actions to aid media and journalists in danger.
One such initiative is the “Neighbours” newspaper supplement that is distributed in a tense region where Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan share a common border.
“We launched the supplement because there is total isolation among the countries. Neighbours know nothing about each other,” said Ilkohm Djamolov, Editor-in-Chief of the Varorud newspaper in Tajikistan.
But one aspect of the project illustrates a major problem in the region. Mr Djamolov said the Uzbek partners were having difficulties participating because “often their email accounts are blocked for months. They have been called for interrogation by the government because of their involvement in the project. And their bank accounts have been closed, so today they must work on a volunteer basis.”
Oleg Panilov, Director of the Moscow-based Centre for Journalists in Extreme Situations, said: “The legal illiteracy of journalists in Central Asia continues to make them vulnerable to the use of media laws as a means of harassment and control.”
The conference was the third “Media in Danger” event organised by the Paris-based WAN, following similar events in the Basque region of Spain and in Colombia. For more on what WAN does to aid press freedom development, consult http://www.wan-press.org.
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
