A press conference scheduled for 16 October 2007 in Vose district was cancelled due to another public meeting in Kurgan-Tube city attended by the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon.

Chairman of Vose district Alimurod Tagaimurodov accompanied by a group of officials left for the administrative center, Kurgan-Tube city to attend the meeting.

However, the head of the State has nothing to do with the cancelled press conference since the date of his visit had been known well in advance, and the Khatlon province chairman’s press service presented an unconsidered schedule of press conferences to be held in the province.

This is not the only failure of the province’s press service. A meeting between the Kulyab municipal administration with the media had been scheduled for 12 October (which was the final day of the sacred month of Ramadan; it should be noted that 95 percent of Tajikistan’s population are Muslims who wanted to properly celebrate the Reverence Day).

The press conference in Vose district was postponed for 25 October; and in Kulyab for 27 October.

NANSMIT monitoring service.

Tajik Press Review, 4 October 2007

Press review in Russian is available at: [url=http://www.nansmit.tj/publish/?id=118]http://www.nansmit.tj/publish/?id=118[/url]

Tajik politicians complain that the popular Russian TV show “Nasha Russia” (“Our Russia”) defames the national dignity of Tajiks. Among the characters of the TV serial are two Tajik labor migrants have become an object of derision.

However, nobody intends to dramatize the incident. So far, there has been a proposal to organize a meeting with representative of the Russian TNT channel, the host of the TV show for an amicable settlement.

The TV channel administration considers this situation absurd. In October, the TV company intends to launch the third season of “Nasha Russia”. The script writers and actors will present new funny characters, but they are not going to forget about the old ones.

The Tajik characters (heroes of the scandal) – Jamshut and Ravshan – will be presented in a new quality; they will refurbish an apartment of Kseniya Sobchak (a Russian show business celebrity).

According to Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe, Mirek Topolanek, Prime Minister of Czech Republic in his public speech called on the global community to strengthen international pressure on Russia.

Topolanek made his statement on 4 October, during a press conference at RL/RFE office in Prague. The meeting was dedicated to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya, a famous Russian journalist, correspondent of “Novaya Gazeta”, who was murdered on 7 October 2006 in Moscow.

The Czech Prime Minister also noted that the outcomes of investigation on the journalist’s murder will clarify the real situation in Russia in the sphere of media and freedom of speech.

NANSMIT monitoring service

According to Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe, Mirek Topolanek, Prime Minister of Czech Republic in his public speech called on the global community to strengthen international pressure on Russia.

Topolanek made his statement on 4 October, during a press conference at RL/RFE office in Prague. The meeting was dedicated to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya, a famous Russian journalist, correspondent of “Novaya Gazeta”, who was murdered on 7 October 2006 in Moscow.

The Czech Prime Minister also noted that the outcomes of investigation on the journalist’s murder will clarify the real situation in Russia in the sphere of media and freedom of speech.

NANSMIT monitoring service

The Khujand city court accepted an action by Makhmudjon Dodoboye, founder of a private newspaper “Sughd” against the former editor of this newspaper, Abdumajikdi Bobodjoniyon.

M. Dadabayev, the climant informed the NANSMIT monitoring service that he required Mr. Bobodjoniyon to return the newspaper’s property, which the former editor had illegally sold.

According to the court verdict, Bobodjoniyon must return to Makhmudjon Dodoboye, the newspaper’s founder, the amount of 5,660 Somoni (about $1,650).

NANSMIT monitoring service

A TV journalist from Kulyab, Davlatali Shamsov took part in the International field-and-track athletics marathon in Zvyozdny Gorodock, Russian Federation, where he was the 33-rd among 3,600 participants in a 10-km race.

The Tajik winner says that the competition was dedicated to the 50-th anniversary of the launching of the first artificial space satellite – “Sputnik-1”.

The Kuluabi journalist is shortlisted for a championship on cross-country disciplines in Sochi.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

Tajik delegation went to Warsaw to take part in a meeting of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The meeting started on 24 September in the OSCE headquarters.

The OSCE Center in Dushanbe informs that the Tajik delegation is headed by Mansour Saifiddinov, President’s advisor on social development and public relations. The delegation also comprises leaders of some Tajik media agencies.

The source says that the issues of freedom of speech will be discussed during the last days of the meeting of OSCE member countries. Nuriddin Karshibayev, chairman oа NANSMIT is going to present a report on freedom of speech in Tajikistan.

Currently, the number of OSCE member countries is 50.

NANSMIT monitoring service

A first issue of popular-science magazine “Farkhang va Khunar” (“Culture and Art”) has seen the light in Dushanbe.

Rukhshona Olimova, media program coordinator of the Open Society Institute (OSI) in Tajikistan informed Asia Plus news agency that the new magazine is published under support of the OSI program “”Culture and Art”.

The magazine contains materials on history and culture of the Tajik people describing main stages of development of arts, traditional handicrafts, articles about Tajikistan’s written heritage, museums, cinematography, photo, ethnography, etc.

Olimova says that the first issue of “Culture and Art” is focused mainly on contemporary trends in Tajikistan’s culture. The new specialized printing outlet allows to monitor key social changes and tendencies in cultural life of Tajikistan enabling public interpretation of these processes.

Gulandom Nabieva, the OSI “Culture and Art” program coordinator says that the magazine will be published on a monthly basis. It contains 40 pages with articles in Tajik and Russian languages. The magazine will be disseminated through libraries and universities. Editor of the new magazine is Jelmat Shermatov, director of the Tajik Scientific Research Institute of Culture and Information.

Note: The founder of the outlet is the public union “Farkhang va Khunar” (founded in 2006). The union’s main activities are revitalization, study and promotion of Tajikistani peoples’ cultural heritage, and global achievements in science and culture.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

On 27 September European Commission organized a workshop for printing and electronic media professionals.

According to Varorud news agency, the workshop is covering the issues of newspaper marketing and management.

Nazira Raimkoulova, trainer from Kyrgyzstan says that “During the two days of training media professionals will learn how to survive in market conditions. Among the topics for discussion are strategy and culture of sales, human resource management, and sales operations”.

Raimkoulova also said that a similar workshop has already been conducted for personnel of local TV stations in Khujand.

http://www.varorud.org/