Asadullo Rakhmonov, chairman of the Tajik State Broadcasting Committee told the media that ten applicants were denied TV broadcasting licenses in Tajikistan in 2010.

The official said that the reason for denial is “incompletion” of licensing documents. Besides that, most of the applicants do not have sources of funding and proper documents proving compliance of their equipment to modern standards of broadcasting.

Rakhmonov explained that issuance of licenses does not depend solely on the Broadcasting Committee. “The licensing commission comprises of representatives of six ministries and government agencies”, — he added.

www.asiaplus.tj

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Police in Almaty have confiscated the latest issue of the opposition weekly «Golos Respubliki» (Voice of the Republic), RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.
Newspaper spokesman Sergei Zelepukhin told journalists that police stopped the paper’s delivery vehicle late on January 13 with thousands of copies of this week’s issue.

He said the driver and accompanying staff members were taken to a police station, where they were told they had been detained on suspicion of spreading false information. The individuals were later released, but the newspapers were confiscated.

Zelepukhin said the issue contained articles criticizing the proposed national referendum on prolonging President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s term in office until 2020.

The upper and lower chambers of parliament voted today in favor of holding the referendum. A yes vote could allow Nazarbaev to bypass the presidential election due in 2012.

«Golos Respubliki» journalist Oksana Makushina told a press conference in Almaty that just 3,000 copies of the total print-run of 19,000 made their way to newsstands in Almaty.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_opposition_newspaper_confiscated/2276556.html

The chief editor of Kazakhstan’s leading opposition newspaper, «Svoboda Slova» (Freedom of Speech), has resigned.
Gulzhan Ergalieva told RFE/RL today her resignation was motivated by the current campaign for a referendum to prolong Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s term in office until 2020.

She said she has found a new chief editor, Almaty-based journalist Yevgeny Rakhimzhanov, and given up her ownership rights to the paper.

Ergalieva, 59, founded the newspaper in 2005 and has served as its chief editor since then.

«My resignation is the only way to save the newspaper and to ensure the safety of journalists working for ‘Svoboda Slova,'» said Ergalieva, one of Kazakhstan’s most prominent opposition journalists.

In 2001, a group of masked men broke into her Almaty apartment, beat and tied her up before torturing her husband in front of her for several hours, leaving him handicapped. The attackers were never found.

Ergalieva and her colleagues say the attack was organized by officials in retaliation for her critical articles about the country’s political, social, and economic situation.

http://www.rferl.org/content/prominent_kazakh_opposition_journalist_resigns/2275641.html

A partnership between the Poynter Institute and the International Center for Journalists has launched the multilingual News University International. This new online platform offers interactive, self-directed courses for journalists, journalism students, bloggers and anyone else interested in improving their media skills.

NewsU International customizes Poynter’s News University e-learning courses so that they are culturally and professionally relevant for international users. The partnership’s first offerings include Persian courses on effective multimedia storytelling and understanding the language of images. New courses in Russian will launch soon. For future courses, ICFJ and Poynter will continue to work with a variety of local partners and together seek funding for additional courses in languages such as Arabic, Chinese and Spanish.

The partnership builds on NewsU’s unparalleled online-learning expertise and ICFJ’s global reach and vast experience in training journalists around the world.

Begun in 2005 with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Poynter’s News University currently has more than 170,000 registered users, including 15 percent from outside North America.

For 26 years, ICFJ has worked directly with more than 65,000 journalists from 180 countries. ICFJ also runs the International Journalists’ Network, IJNet, the premier global website for journalists and media managers to learn about training and networking opportunities.

http://ijnet.org/stories/90617

Deadline:01/02/11
University of Michigan
Location: MI United States
See map: Google Maps

Mid-career journalists from across the globe are invited to apply for the Knight-Wallace Fellowship.

The fellowship offers an academic year of study, with the opportunity for reflection and growth. Fellows will devise a personalized plan of study. A typical class includes twelve U.S. journalists and six international journalists.

Fellows receive US$70,000 for the eight-month program, and all trips, tuition and course fees are covered.

For more information, click here:

http://www.mjfellows.org/index.html

Date:05/01/11
The Fresh Outlook
Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom
See map: Google Maps

Young journalists can gain experience working for an international news desk in the United Kingdom.

The intern will help coordinate up and coming journalists, work directly with a managing editor and potentially write and research articles.

The internship is unpaid, and will last four to six months. Applicants must be a students or graduates of a journalism course, and be passionate about writing and journalism. A resume, cover letter and writing sample should be sent to international@freshties.com.

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/90595

Date:10/01/11 — 12/01/11
Internews Tajikistan
LocationDushanbeTajikistanAn online media training for journalists, editors and students will teach participants to use the free online publishing tool Joomla.

Joomla is a free and open source content management system (CMS) for publishing content on the web.

For more information (in Russian), click here:

http://www.reporter.tj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3619:-joomla-&catid=3:2009-05-13-14-48-29&Itemid=4

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/71737

Grants are available for media development and media management projects in Tajikistan.

Grants will be given up to US$50,000. Applicants are required to explain their goals and objectives and describe their project’s target audience.

For more information, e-mail GrantProposalsDushanbe@state.gov

Embassy of the United States

Central European University is a US-style, internationally recognized
institution of post-graduate education in the social sciences and
humanities. Its summer school (June 6-July 29, 2011) is a program in
English for graduate students, university teachers, researchers and
professionals in the social sciences and humanities. It draws its
student body of around 500 participants annually from more than 60
countries and its faculty from over 30 countries.

In 2011 the summer school offers 19 high-level, research-oriented,
interdisciplinary academic courses as well as workshops on policy
issues for professional development, taught by internationally
renowned scholars and policy experts (including CEU faculty).
Application from all over the world is encouraged. Financial aid is
available.

The general application deadline is February 15, 2011. More
information about the application process is available at
www.summer.ceu.hu/apply and the relevant course web sites.

We are looking forward to receiving your applications.

Summer University Office
1051 Budapest, Nádor u. 9
Hungary
Tel: (36-1) 327-3811
Fax: (36-1) 327-3124

www.summer.ceu.hu/apply

4 January, 2011
Dushanbe

The Coalition of the Tajik media organizations recently formed for protection of professional rights and journalists – The Committee of 29 September – has declared its voluntary dissolution in connection with main tasks.

In October 2010, a group of media managers, representatives of media and public organizations and particular activists created a media coalition, which was named “The Committee of 29 September”. This name is related to the date of the beginning of the unprecedented pressing of the Tajik independent mass media.

On 29 September 2010, the authorities blocked access to two local and three foreign web sites (Avesta.Tj; Tojnews.Tj and Tjknews.com; Ferghana.Ru; Centrasia.Ru accordingly). A few days later, the Tax Committee officials accompanied by the state TV crews held inspections of all private printing houses countrywide, after which the latter refused to provide their services to three private newspapers – Farazh, Nigokh, and Paykon. These actions were also accompanied by statements of the Minister of Defense accusing the private media of provocations and “jetting a crisis” upon the background of a complicated military-political situation. There was another particular statement about censoring of the contents of all periodicals prior to printing.

Members of the Committee promised to coordinate their activities and undertake all possible legal actions in order to return the situation to the previous state and terminate censorship.

It should be noted that the main participants of the Committee – representatives of the four blocked online sources and one association, NANSMIT – have undertaken joint actions to accomplish the tasks. These actions have resulted in the following:

— a statement addressed to the head of the state and his direct subordinates;
— a statement addressed to the international human rights bodies and foreign governments;
— a wide-scale public information campaign focused on the problems in the area of the freedom of speech (development of a web blog; social network pages; launching of banners; a series of interviews in foreign online media and TV);
— preparation of claims and legal actions against the government bodies exercising and supporting pressure against the independent media;
— negotiations with parties involved.

These actions have caused an international resonance and essential feedback in the Tajik government and non-governmental organizations. Gradually, the web sites were unblocked; the newspapers Nigokh and Farazh resumed their publications.

By 1 January 2011, the Committee fully accomplished its tasks. The attempts to limit the media freedom are neutralized by the Committee; the local media work in normal mode. Thus, the Committee decided to declare its voluntary dissolution.
Along with that, the media and other organizations, the former members of the coalition henceforth, jointly and individually, will keep protecting the indispensable rights of citizens on access to information. The web site of the coalition – http://tjk29.livejpurnal.com and the e-mail address – komitet29@gmail.com will be valid for further activities and consolidation of the media community to keep informing the public about the problems and the progress of the parties, former members of the coalition, as well as about the monitoring of rights in the media.
The created coalition, its success and victories have proven that the media community is a serious public force able to influence the processes of democratic development and civil rights.
Steering Committee

www.nansmit.tj