On 2 October the Tajik Union of Journalists hosted a discussion on creating an independent national Media Council. The meeting was held upon the initiative of the Union of Journalists, the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT), the Tajik National Association of Electronic Media (TAJANESMI), the Tajik Journalists’ Memorial Fund and a number of Tajik media under support of the OSCE Bureau in Dushanbe.

Chairman of NANSMIT Nuriddin Karshibaev stressed that an initiative group started working in May 2009. So far, the group developed and adopted the Ethical Standards for Tajik Journalists. “The next step is the creation of the Media Council – to protect the rights and ensure the freedoms of Tajik journalists. All necessary documents are already developed,” — said Karshibaev. The Council’s draft charter was designed by media experts who consulted experienced legal specialists.

Participants of the meeting came to the conclusion that the draft constituent documents for the Media Council should be published in local newspapers, and the final version must be adopted after wide discussions.
The final meeting of the task force will be held by the end of October.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service