USINFO.STATE.GOV
02 May 2006
New Studies Note Decline of Free Media in Former Soviet Union
Studies by press freedom groups mark World Press Freedom Day
By Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington — Free media in a number of countries that once belonged to
the former Soviet Union continue to decline, according to new studies
released by press freedom groups to mark World Press Freedom Day May 3.
Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov personally approves the
front-page content of the major dailies, and the Central Asian
country’s newscasters begin each broadcast with a pledge that their
tongues will shrivel if their reports ever slander Turkmenistan,
the flag or the president.
Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov has re-established a Soviet-style
dictatorship that relies on “an informal system of state censorship,”
forcing foreign correspondents to leave the country and jailing Uzbek
journalists, six of whom were in prison at the end of 2005. (See
related article.)
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s administration has
stopped independent newspapers from being printed and distributed,
jailed journalists for attempting to cover opposition rallies,
and criminalized criticizing the president or “discrediting Belarus
abroad.”
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus represent the worst of the
worst in the former Soviet space, according to an analysis released
May 2 by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which called
state-sponsored censorship one of the most urgent threats facing
journalists worldwide.
In compiling its “10 most-censored” list, CPJ used such criteria
as state control of all media; the existence of formal censorship
regulations; the use by the state of violence, imprisonment and
harassment against journalists; jamming of foreign news broadcasts;
and restrictions on private Internet access.
“People in these countries are virtually isolated from the rest of the
world by authoritarian rulers who muzzle the media and keep a chokehold
on information through restrictive laws, fear and intimidation,”
said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper.
FREEDOM HOUSE STUDY A major study released April 27 by the independent
nongovernmental organization Freedom House documents setbacks in
press freedom in last year in a number of countries, including Russia,
Uzbekistan and Belarus.
The study, “Freedom of the Press 2006: A Global Survey of Media
Independence,” also shows a longer-term pattern of decline in press
freedom in the former Soviet Union.
The report noted improvements in press freedom in Ukraine and
Kyrgyzstan, both of which are rated “partly free.” The report rates
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia as “free.”
Freedom House bases its classification of each country on the degree
to which the free flow of news and information is permitted.
Turkmenistan once again was ranked among the five worst countries for
press freedom – along with Burma, Cuba, Libya and North Korea. Press
freedom conditions in Uzbekistan and Belarus put those two countries
in the bottom ten. The study deemed an additional 62 countries “not
free,” including Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
Concerning Russia, the study cited obstacles created by Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s government to prevent reporting on
sensitive topics, as well as numerous cases of journalists being
assaulted because they sought to report on corruption or protests
against the government.
“Although the Russian constitution provides for freedom of speech
and of the press, authorities were still able to use the judicial
system to harass and prosecute journalists for independent reporting,”
according to the Freedom House report.
The report also says the Putin government exerts direct influence on
media outlets and determines news content through state ownership or
control of the country’s three main national television networks —
Channel One, RTR and NTV.
But the Freedom House study is not without some good news, according to
the group’s Christopher Walker, director of studies, who described the
report’s highlights in an article for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Ukraine since the Orange Revolution of 2004 has significantly improved
its media climate, Walker said. Although the country “still confronts
the challenges that accompany oligarchic ownership structures,” he
said, its media “have achieved a degree of pluralism and independence
that would have been unthinkable in the pre-Orange Revolution era.”
“The significant yet incomplete progress in Ukraine should serve as
a reminder that overcoming deeply entrenched Soviet-era habits and
practices will be a trying, long-term effort for reform of the media,
as well as for other key institutions that form the building blocks
of democratic societies,” according to Walker.
The study by the Committee to Protect Journalists is available in
English and Russian (PDF, 11 pages) on the group’s Web site.
The Freedom House study includes a global table, regional tables,
and charts and graphs, as well as the survey methodology and detailed
country narrative drafts (PDF, 190 pages).
Christopher Walker’s article, “Press Freedom in Former Soviet Union
Under Assault,” is available on the RFE/RL Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
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