According to Nazira Raimkulova, trainer-consultant from Kyrgyzstan, the workshop was dedicated to newspaper marketing and management techniques.

The workshop lasted for two days. Media professionals gained some survival skills in market conditions. Participants discussed such issues as strategies and structures of sales, human resource management, operative sales management, etc.

A similar workshop has been recently held in Khujand for local TV managers.

http://www.varorud.org/

Very often, foreign media accredited in Tajikistan presents political events taking place in the country in wrong light, i.e. with a certain incline in favor of foreign geopolitical interests.

Such a conclusion has been made by participants of a three-day scientific-theoretical conference held in Dushanbe. Jovid Mukim, chair of the department of international journalism under the Tajik National University informed Asia Plus news agency that the participants adopted a set of recommendations for the local media who should work more effectively and efficiently while covering political events in the country.

Besides that, it is recommended to expand domestic broadcasting (including broadcasting in foreign languages) in order to present an objective alternative to foreign media who sometimes present the situation in a prejudiced manner.

The Tajik media should be also fully presented in the online format; and the expansion of the national media representations in foreign countries can also be helpful in objective coverage of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

Media expert from Central Asian countries discussed issues of responsibility and development of the media. The round table was organized by the British Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

On 23 November, the British Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) organized a round table on the topic of “Responsibility and development of regional journalism in Central Asia”. Journalists and experts from Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, and the Tajik Foreign Ministry officials, representatives of media organizations and diplomatic corpus accredited in Tajikistan took part in the event held in Dushanbe.

”Although Central Asia is often seen as an integrated region, each of the five countries has its own specifics and problems, — says Abakhon Sultonnazarov, IWPR program manager. — Our goal is to provide the journalists with an opportunity to tell others about the peculiarities of their problems, and to exchange their experience”.

Journalists and experts discussed a number of vitally important media issues typical for the region. Tajik political expert Rashid Abdullo told the participants about the most topical media problems in Tajikistan, the main of which are the absence of daily newspapers, lack of access to the printing media in provinces, insufficient professionalism of journalists and low salaries. Abdullo also told about the new stage of development of Tajik journalism, which started in 2005 and is characterized by a big diversity and inconstancy of media groups (currently, there are more than 200 officially registered media outlets in Tajikistan). The expert said that the most sustainable and interesting among the Tajik media are information agencies “Asia Plus”, “Varorud” and “Avesta”.

The Kazakh expert Edward Poletayev, speaking on the subject of “Security for journalists in Central Asia”, stressed that the journalists can be protected only by means of his personal tolerance to the society and authorities. “Journalists must feel and depend on the moods in the society”, — he said. He also mentioned the necessity of human resource reforms in the media. Poletayev considers that instead of studying the history of journalism in universities, future media professionals should dedicate more time to political sciences, mathematics, economy and other disciplines.

Chairman of NANSMIT Nuriddin Karshibayev indicated the lack of regional cooperation among media professionals. Over the last 10 years, there have been several initiatives on regional cooperation among the media in Central Asia; however, the outcomes leave much to be desired. These initiatives were launched mainly by international organizations within the frameworks of certain projects. Most of them were non-commercial. The main reason for the lack of cooperation is the absence of financial mechanism for cooperation. Karshibayev says that we need to consider the problem of regional cooperation through the prism of political, economic and social aspects.

Ilim Karypbekov, Director of the Media Institute in Kyrgyzstan presented an analysis of the recent assassination of a well-known Kyrgyz journalist Alisher Saipov, and the ramifications of this case for the regional journalism. Karypbekov’s presentation was complemented by Poletayev’s speech on the topic of “Security for journalists in Central Asia”.

Participants of the round table also discussed the issues of patriotism and solidarity in Tajik journalism, and professional responsibility in the coverage of conflict situations and events. They also discussed the issues of defamation and libel in publications, and other topical problems.

Speaking of solidarity and journalism in Tajik journalism, Gulnora Amirshoyeva, editor of “Vetcherny Dushanbe” weekly said that there are not too many manifestations of solidarity among Tajik journalists. There have not been any precedents when in case of closure of a newspaper by the authorities, others would refuse to publish their outlets as a sign of protest. “Although, we cannot blame all media professionals equally, — Amirshoyeva said. — When journalists want to support their collegue who found himself in a difficult situation, they simply do not have opportunities for that. Founders and publishers, protecting their commercial interests, would hardly be willing to negotiate with the authorities”.

In reality, many journalists resolve their problems without external assistance; and each of them does seem to care about their colleagues who also face similar troubles. In view of their ignorance or being preoccupied with routine things, some journalists forget that professional problems can be resolved jointly or with the help of the existing media organizations.

Participants stressed the importance of the event for the region. Journalists in our countries find themselves in difficult situation in relation with their professional activities. Their families are also prone to risks. One common task for journalists in the region is to lay these problems upon the tapis, and to start acting together.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service

Priorities in the coverage of foreign policy in the media were discussed on 24 November among participants of a National Scientific-theoretical Conference in Dushanbe.

The Conference was organized by the Department of International Journalism under the Tajik State University. Among the participants were officials from the Tajik Foreign Ministry, scholars and representatives of local and foreign media.

The Conference will last for three days. Karamalullo Akhmadov, a well-know Tajik journalist told Ferghana.ru information agency that the participants will discuss the issues of media coverage of the Tajik foreign policy in electronic and printing outlets, in particular in the Russian media. One of the main topics of the Conference is strengthening of cooperation between Tajik and Uzbek journalists.

http://www.ferghana.ru/

Public unit “Democracy Development Center” under financial support of the Aga Khan Foundation announced a contest on the best photo snapshot, an artistic picture and a caricature on the topic “Civil Society and Citizens”.

There are no limitations for participation.

Organizers have prepared various awards. Three best works will be used in the future for calendars, posters, etc.

Application deadline: 30 December 2007.
Additional information:
Khujand, 50-anniversary of the USSR, 27-20
Phone: (96) 220 44 88
E mail: DDC-07@mail.ru

Presentation of a first information-entertaining web site www.mynet.tj was held today in Dushanbe.

Khorun Yakoub, one of the designers of www.mynet.tj said that this web resource is the first in a class by itself national information-entertaining portal consisting of more than 30 thematic segments.

The portal was designed by domestic IT specialists. It has a Tajik-language news page, which is especially important in view of the lack of publications in Tajik language in the Internet.

“The resource is very convenient and friendly to users, — Yakoub says. – You can get “a full picture of the day” within one portal browsing through other online media sources. The portal is fully available”.

Designers of www.mynet.tj told that while working on the new web site’s design they applied the experience they gained while creating another popular Tajik online source – toptj.com.

www.mynet.tj has a number of segments – “mail”, “chat”, “Tajik videos”, “music”, “acquaintance”, etc. for young Tajik web users.

“We offered our audience a convenient Tajik-Russian-English dictionary, — said Yakoub. — Besides, we applied the approach “everything at one place”, and we hope our subscribers will appreciate our efforts”.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

The British Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) organized a round table “Role of mass media in national reforms” held on 8 November in Dushanbe.

Well known political experts, media managers, representatives of government agencies and international organizations accredited in Tajikistan took part in the event.

The participants discussed a number of issues concerning the role of the media in development and implementation of political reforms, in the process of formation of nationhood, resolution of economic and social problems, education, and enhancement of the legislation.

Inter Press Service

Press Release

The Working Group created by Tajikistan’s media organizations summarized its activities on the reformation of the Law “On Printing and Other Mass Media”.

Preliminary assessment of the Law and administrative practice have proven again that the Law “On Printing and Other Mass Media” needs changes and amendments. A team of experts comprising journalists and lawyers have analyzed the text of the Law and proposed more than 80 amendments to various articles. The Working Group assessed the proposals and came to unanimous agreements on 8 amendments. The experts are commissioned to develop a well-grounded coherent proposal.

“The revision of the Law is finished, — said Nuriddin Karshibayev, Chairman of NANSMIT and Coordinator of the Working Group. – At the second stage, we intend to involve independent legal experts, representatives of government structures and the parliament, so that they would study the proposed amendments. We call up our colleagues to take part in the process of lawmaking”.

The Working Group is established within the framework of the initiative on the reformation of the existing Law “On Printing and Other Mass Media”. Among the media organizations involved in this process are NANSMIT, The Union of Journalists of Tajikistan, the Tajik Memorial Fund of Protection of Media Rights, the Media Alliance of Tajikistan, the Public Unit “Homa”, and the Tajik National Press Center.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service

NANSMIT conducts public awareness assessment in GBAO.

National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT) conducts assessment on public awareness about activities of civil society. The assessment is taking place in the city of Khorog, administrative center of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO).

Gavhar Davlatova, employee of Center of Civil Initiatives “Kalam” said that the assessment is being conducted in cooperation with Democracy Development Center with the purpose to reveal impediments in understanding of the role and tasks of the civil society. Davlatova added that both NGOs formed a working group to conduct interviews with public at large.

Representatives of authorities and the media discussed the issues of partnership among the government agencies, business structures and civil society.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

The Dushanbe Declaration on Self-regulation on Self-regulation in the Media

Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

Bureau on Media Freedom

The Ninth Central Asian Media Conference

Self-regulation in Media, Central Asia “On the way to independent and accountable Media”, Dushanbe, 1-2 November 2007

DECLARATION

Dushanbe hosted the Ninth Central Asian Media Conference organized by OSCE. Participants adopted a Declaration

Media professionals and representatives of non-governmental organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, international and regional experts gathered to discuss the current situation in the sphere of media in respective countries. The topic of the Conference is “Self-regulation in the Media”.

Participants of the Conference stressed that self-regulation in the media fosters respect to ethical standards, at the same time, ensuring editorial freedom. It minimizes the role of governments in control over the media, and can serve as an alternative to persecution of the media, especially in terms of actions for libel.

The Conference exhorts the Central Asian governments to abolish all laws that criminalize journalistic activities. Investigation of all cases related to journalism should be transferred from the sphere of criminal law to the sphere of civil law.

Participants of the Conference appreciate the acknowledgement of self-regulation in the media as an important factor in the improvement of the freedom of media in Central Asia.

Participants of the Conference adopted the Declaration on Self-regulation in the Media, which includes the following recommendations:

• Self-regulation in the media is targeted towards promotion of independent and accountable media.

• Editorial independence is a necessary condition of ethical journalism.

• Self-regulation in the media is an initiative of the civil society undertaken by journalists for public interests.

• Public authorities can make an utmost contribution in the formation of the mechanisms of self-regulation by means of creation of a legal basis guaranteeing the freedom of expression and pluralism in the media.

On the Code of Ethics:

• Where the common code of conduct does not exist, media organizations are recommended to convene meetings or establish a committee to design such a common code.

• The codes of ethics should be developed by journalists.

• Media organizations should enhance public awareness and remind media professionals about the necessity to stick to ethical standards. The issues of ethics should be included in curricula for journalists.

• Every medium that signed the national code of ethics should promote this code. The text of the code and references to it should be regularly published in the press.

• Codes of ethics should be perceived as working documents, which in the future can be amended and reinterpreted; they should not be seen as “a set of rigid rules”.

On mechanisms of self-regulation:

• Governments should not create impediments to the mass media who create their mechanisms of self-regulation, such as press councils and institutes of Ombudsmen.

• Governments should not participate in creation of mechanisms of self-regulation. The principles of self-regulation and codes of ethics should not be adopted in legal order.

• Mechanisms of self-regulation and their implementers should be independent on government’s interests.

• Mechanisms of self-regulation should be created by means of consultative and comprehensive process.

• Mechanisms of self-regulation should deal only with the issues of media ethics. They should not be authorized (by law or by decree) to close the mass media, or to dismiss anybody from the media community.

• It is necessary to conduct public awareness campaigns explaining the importance of ethics in journalism and the right of the society to appeal against activities of the media.

Dushanbe, 2 November 2007.

http://www.nansmit.tj/