“Legal aspects of journalism” is the title of the workshop held from 22 to 24 August in the city of Penjikent, Sughd province.

The seminar was organized by the NGO “Women of the East” under financial support from the Norwegian Helsinki Human Rights Committee.

During the two-day training course, the Penjikent journalists learned about changes and amendments to the Law “On printing and other mass media”, and with other legal bases of journalism, such as access to information, collection of data, limitations in access to publically important information, etc.

One of the most topical issues discussed at the seminar was the theme of rights and duties of journalists. It became obvious that not all of the local media professionals are familiar with their rights, which, in turn, leads to self-censorship among journalists.

Participants acknowledged that self-censorship is becoming a common feature of Tajik journalists, who “adjust” their materials to what is considered to be acceptable among the authorities. Thus, they do not dare to tread on forbidden ground, avoiding serious political, social and economic issues.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service