A foundation conference on the creation of the Media Council of Tajikistan took place in Dushanbe on 30 October. The conference was convened by the Tajik Union of Journalists, the Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media (NANSMIT), the Tajik Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANESMI), the Tajik Journalist Memorial Foundation and the OSCE Center in Tajikistan.

The conference was attended by heads of Tajik media organizations, editors and publishers and representatives of international media organizations accredited in Tajikistan.

Chairman of NANSMIT Nuriddin Karshibaev stressed inter alia that the main goal of the new Media Council is to monitor ethical standards in Tajikistan’s mass media. The Council also will be facilitating the media agencies in resolving conflicts in a pre-trial order.

Participants of the conference ratified the main self-regulating document of the Media Council – “Ethical Standards for the Tajik Mass Media”. It is said in the preamble of the “Standards” that “the adopted ethical norms do not limit the freedom of speech; on the contrary, these standards serve to the improvement of quality of publications and ensure security for media professionals”.

The Media Council is open to any medium regardless of the form of property and ideological affiliation. The main condition for accession is observance of the “Ethical Standards”.

Participants of the conference elected the chairman of the Media Council – Professor Ibragim Usmanov, head of the International Journalism Faculty under the Tajik National University.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service