ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Journalists from the independent online television station Stan-TV say police in the restive city of Zhanaozen are hindering the media’s work, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Stan-TV chief editor Asel Limzhanova, along with journalists Zhuldyz Toleu and Qasym Amanzhol, said in Almaty on January 11 that local police and security forces have been trying to block their coverage of the mass strike of oil workers in the western city of Zhanaozen since May.

They said the tension between police and journalists worsened after the deadly clashes between striking oil workers and police took place in the city on December 16.

The Stan-TV journalists added that they and their relatives had been under pressure since last summer as they started covering the standoff between oil workers and the OzenMunaiGaz oil company.

After the deadly clashes last month in Zhanaozen and the nearby town of Shetpe that left at least 17 protesters dead, the Stan-TV journalists and their relatives were summoned more often to police for questioning.

«As we are currently under police scrutiny we would like to state publicly that we do not use drugs, we are not associated with any extremist group, and do not possess any weapons,» Limzhanova said.

The three also stated that they have officially called on President Nursultan Nazarbaev to protect them from security officials’ and law enforcement officers’ «lawlessness.»

The Almaty-based Stan-TV makes video reports from the five Central Asian countries and posts them on its website. It is associated with Kazakh businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov, who is wanted in Kazakhstan on criminal charges but lives in self-imposed exile in England.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_tv_journalists_complain_of_police_harassment/24449015.html

The International Federation oOf Journalists (IFJ), says more than 100 journalists or other media staff were killed in 2011 – an increase in comparison with 2010.

According to the IFJ, violence against the media was worst in 2011 in Pakistan, Iraq and Mexico, with 11 media deaths reported in each country.

The organizaton says a total of 106 journalists were killed in 2011, compared with 94 in 2010.

It said that 20 more journalists or other media staff died in accidents and natural disasters in 2011.

The IFJ has appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to lead an effort to better protect journalists, saying many governments around the world “are in denial or indifferent to what has become a regular pattern of targeted killings of journalists.”

The IFJ says it represents more than 600,000 journalists in more than 100 countries around the world.

compiled from agency reports

http://www.rferl.org/content/media_deaths_rose_in_2011/24439112.html

ASTANA — Kazakh media NGOs and international experts say that country’s new broadcast law would put restrictions on the freedom of information, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

The draft law — initiated by the Communications and Information Ministry and passed by the Senate on December 28 — has been sent to President Nursultan Nazarbaev for final approval.

It requires all foreign television and radio stations to be fully registered with an official Kazakh entity and that 50 percent of the broadcasts of foreign channels consist of domestic content by 2018.

The Kazakh human rights organization Adil Soz, the National Association of Kazakh Broadcasters, and the NGO Internews-Kazakhstan wrote a letter to Nazarbaev requesting that he postpone adopting the law until after parliamentary elections scheduled for January 15.

The letter was signed by some 40 Kazakh media NGOs and it expressed concern about media restrictions within the draft law.

Dunja Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media, also expressed concern about the legislation in a statement issued on December 28.

She said the draft law would violate the rights of citizens to freely receive and impart information and it increases state control over the electronic media.

The statement also noted that the recommendations made to the Kazakh government and parliament members by the OSCE and Kazakh civil society organizations during the last several months were not considered in the final writing of the legislation.

Mijatovic sent a letter to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry on December 12 in which she called on Nazarbaev to veto the draft law.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_senate_approves_controversial_broadcasting_law/24438533.html

DUSHANBE — Huge billboards urging people to denounce corruption have been prominently placed in front of two Tajik universities this month, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

The billboards, in the capital, Dushanbe, depict two hands: one extended hand offering cash with another hand rejecting the apparent bribe by pushing the money back.

«We Say NO to Bribery in the Education Sector,» read the billboards, which appeared ahead of the winter exam season at Tajik universities.

The billboards were prepared by Tajikistan’s anticorruption agency along with the Dushanbe offices of the UN Development Fund and Britain’s Department for International Development.

Corruption is rampant in Tajikistan, and the country’s education sector is particularly notorious for its widespread bribery.

Several students at Tajikistan’s National University (TNU) told RFE/RL that some professors demand a bribe in order to pass a test and there is even a concrete price for each exam and test, ranging from 30 to 100 somonis (approximately $6-$20).

In a recent meeting with students at TNU, Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov admitted that bribery exists in Tajik universities. But he blamed the students’ parents for the problem.

«It’s common knowledge which professors at which schools accept bribes,» Rahmonov said. «It wasn’t like this before. It’s the parents’ fault. I personally heard some of them saying they would agree to pay a bribe as long as their children pass their exams.»

TNU student Abubakr Mulloev told RFE/RL that he hopes the anticorruption billboards will prompt students and professors to think twice before giving or receiving bribes.

Mulloev said «many university professors — although not all of them — have let students know how much their exams and tests will cost.»

Tajikistan is ranked 152 in the 2011 Corruption Index of Transparency International, a body that annually ranks countries on their perceived levels of corruption.

http://www.rferl.org/content/anticorruption_billboards_erected_tajikistan/24438555.html

Professional and amateur photographers can participate in a contest on human rights.

The annual FotoEvidence Book Award will recognize a documentary photographer whose project demonstrates courage and commitment in addressing a violation of human rights, a significant injustice or an assault on human dignity.

The winning project will be published in book form, as part of a series of FotoEvidence books dedicated to photographers whose commitment and courage create an awareness of social injustice. The photographer will receive royalties on book sales.

Applications are accepted all year until the February 15 deadline, submissions received after are entered in the 2013 contest. Photographers should submit up to 15 images from one project along with a $50 entry fee. (That fee may also be waived by writing to contest organizers.)

For more information, click here: http://www.fotoevidence.com/book-award

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/documentary-photo-contest-open-worldwide

Journalists who want to improve their writing and reporting skills can apply for fellowships to a course in London.

Applicants must be currently working as a journalist or regular contributor to media organizations. They must be able to demonstrate a commitment to a career in journalism in their country, must have at least two years’ professional experience and have a good level in spoken and written English.

Full bursaries for journalists from the developing world/countries in political transition working for organizations with no resources for training. Bursaries include return air travel (economy class), accommodation and a modest living allowance.

Part-funded bursaries are available for journalists from the developing world/countries in political transition who work for organizations that have limited resources for training, in this instance Thomson Reuters Foundation waives the tuition cost and you will be expected to cover travel and accommodation costs. In exceptional circumstances, journalists from the developed world will be considered for part-funded bursaries.

Thomson Reuters Foundation also offers training for journalists from any region from an organization that has the resources to fully cover the costs of the program.

For more information, click here. Deadline for applications is January 6, the course will be held in March.

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/reuters-offers-fellowships-writing-reporting-class-worldwide