Saidali Siddikov, Head of Information-Analytical Unit under the President’s Office says that “public television is present in this or that form in a country, where television as such exists”. Siddikov made this statement speaking at the Tenth Media Conference of Central Asian Countries “New challenges in the sphere of broadcasting, including public broadcasting, and transition to digital broadcasting” held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Siddikov considers that any medium – to a certain extent – belongs to the society, and should meet requirements of this society; otherwise, it cannot exist. “There is a specific model of public television in Tajikistan, which – like many public TV channels in Europe – is funded by the State. However, public servants do not interfere in professional matters of TV personnel – it is prohibited by Article 6 of the Law “On TV and radio broadcasting”, — he added.

Currently, there are 28 TV organizations registered at the Tajik Ministry of Justice, out of which 8 are State TV companies, and 20 – are non-state (private, corporate, etc.). The most popular, according to the public rating, are the First State Channel, TV “Safina” and the Children’s “Bakhoriston” channel. They cover 91-99 percent of the country population. Siddikov says that such a popularity is the evidence of existence of the public television.

The Conference in Almaty was organized by the OSCE Center in Almaty. Among the participants were media experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The participants discussed the issues of creating a regional broadcasting infrastructure based on editorial autonomy, financial independence and legal guarantees.

Chairman of NANSMIT Nuriddin Karshibayev and professor of the Tajik State University Jovid Mukim presented reports on the Tajik media.

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