Armenia
EIM MEDIA REPORT FROM THE CIS
July 2000
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
UzbekistanArmenia
Media News
A CD called Elections in the Republic of Armenia was published by the NGO Cooperation and Democracy, the UN Development Program, Internews-Armenia and Patker agency. It contains information on the presidential elections in 1998 and the parliamentary elections in 1999 such as the documents of the Central Election Committee, the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, data about all participants of the campaigns, a digest of the reporting of daily newspapers during the campaigns and a selection of analytical materials.
The Yerevan press club celebrated its fifth anniversary. The European Institute for the Media assisted the launch of this association of media professionals and experts.
Media and Public Authorities
On July 7 the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan met with the heads of media outlets. Next day a similar meeting was held with journalists. Officials said that in future such events will be conducted on regular basis.
Seminars and Conferences
On July 1 to 3, a Caucasian regional conference on Journalist Solidarity for Peace and Resolution of Conflicts was held in the resort of Tsakhkadzor. The event was organised by the International Federation of Journalists, the Yerevan press club and the Council of Europe. Journalists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia participated. Two sessions were arranged: Media coverage of conflicts and Cooperation between journalists' associations.
New Technology
On July 27-28, the international conference „Internet and Society" was held in Yerevan. Experts from European countries, the UN, Russia, the Transcaucasian republics and from the Armenian diaspora delivered reports on the development and usage of information technology in Armenia and its functioning in a democracy. The conference was organised by the Fund of Information Technologies, the UN Development Program, the Open Society Institute (Soros Fund), and the Council of Europe.
*********************************************************************
Azerbaijan
Media News
A first issue of the „Persona (Person) weekly" appeared. The newspaper will cover social, political, cultural and economical issues. Journalist Lala Alieva is the founder and the editor-in-chief of the new publication.
During recent months the price of newsprint soared to $ 800 per ton (see June issue of the Newsletter). Because of this the newspaper Ulus suspended publication; other publications had to cut down circulation. Problems with the newsprint supply emerged because of new customs requirements. Customs officers (guided by the President’s decree) are demanding new documents, some of which are not provided by paper mills. For example, Russian newsprint producing enterprises do not provide quality certificates. Russian newsprint comprises the bulk of the newsprint import to Azerbaijan.
During the airing of an interview with the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, electricity was cut off in the building of the independent ANS TV channel. Next day the general prosecutor’s office reprimanded the ANS top management.
Media and Public Authorities
On July 21, the President of Azerbaijan met with the heads of the national media to discuss the talk problems of press.
Seminars and Conferences
On July 15-16, the Committee for Protection of Journalists RUH held a seminar on Azerbaijani journalism in the transition period: problems and perspectives. At the meeting, the development of the national media and future trends were analysed. The event, sponsored by the international oil corporations BP and Amoco, was attended by 60 media professionals.
*********************************************************************
Belarus
Media News
On July 7, Dmitrii Zavadskii, a cameraman of Russian state television ORT and a member of the Belarussian Association of Journalists disappeared at Minsk airport. Officials believe that this event is related to Chechnya. During several recent months Dmitrii Zavadskii and his former colleague in the Minsk ORT bureau and now an ORT presenter Pavel Sheremet were working in Chechnya producing a film called Chechen Diary. However, Pavel Sheremet gave a statement saying that Belarus special services are involved in the disappearance of Zavadskii. Vladimir Zametalin, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, suggested that the disappearance of Zavadskii might be orchestrated by the opposition to shape a negative image of the country in the world public opinion.
In Grodno, the first issue of the independent newspaper "Reporter" appeared wit a circulation of exactly 299 copies. This is the largest print run allowed by the Law on press for unregistered editions. For several months newspaper founders cannot obtain permission from city authorities for the editorial office (see earlier Newsletter issues). Because of this, they cannot register their newspaper with the State Committee for Press.
In Minsk, "Grazhdanskaya Gazeta" (Citizen's Newspaper) has begun publishing. The founders announce it as an "analytical family weekly". The newspaper will cover social, cultural and political issues.
Media and Public Authorities
President Lukashenko appointed Viktor Chikin, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarus Communist Party, to the post of the chairman of the Belarusian State Broadcasting Company. He also nominated Aleksandr Zimovskii, the author and host of the infamous pro-presidential programme "Resonance", and Yegor Rybakov for his deputies.
Seminars and Conferences
On July 1, the 4th extraordinary congress of the Belarusian Association of Journalists was held. Participants adopted a declaration on discrimination against the independent media. The main message of the declaration was that authorities discriminate against the independent media with the purpose of eliminating them. To this end arbitrary rates for services of Belpochta (the postal service) are used. This state-owned company is a monopolist in distributing periodicals by subscription and in newsstands. Starting from last year the rates for non-government editions were increased several times. Belpochta requests 50 to 70 percent of the retail price for its services, several times more than from the state-owned editions. In addition, printing costs for independent media are 1.5 to 1.8 times higher than for their state-owned counterparts. Authorities use any leverages for diminishing of advertising in non-governmental editions up to harassing of advertisers by tax inspection and police. Even the most successful editions lost 30 to 40 percent of advertising revenues from the beginning of this year.
*********************************************************************
Georgia
Media News
Vasiko Sigaladze, a reporter of the Eco Didgest daily, published an article in which he questioned why so many people strive to become policemen while police officers did not get their salaries for months. A few days later a group of people who identified themselves as police officers kidnapped Sigaladze. They brought him to a wasteland where he was brutally beaten.
*********************************************************************
Kazakhstan
Media News
On July 6, a new city TV channel called Almaty-Yuzhnaya Stolitsa (Almaty-Southern Capital) began broadcasting. Programmes are distributed via the 44th channel of the Alma-TV cable TV network. The channel operation is financed by the Alma-Ata city council. Currently the channel operates for three hours daily; later the broadcasting time will be increased to six hours. Isaak Dvorkin was appointed as the general director of the new channel. In Soviet times, he used to be correspondent of Soviet central TV in Kazakhstan and later editor-in-chief and general director of the KTK TV channel.
A department of journalism was opened at the Gumilyov Eurasian University in Astana. Over 170 students will be trained in its Russian- and Kazakh-language branches. The department curriculum includes a number of new subjects: management in journalism, PR, world communication systems, and international relations.
Media and Public Authorities
Beibut Isabayev, a professional journalist, was appointed a head of the governmental department of information. Earlier he was working in a number of national media and in state agencies and was also a deputy mayor of Alma-Ata. Previous to his new job, he was head of staff at the Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
*********************************************************************
Kyrgyzstan
Media News
Publication of the "Res Publica" newspaper was resumed. The newspaper was fined about $ 5,000 in February for insulting the honour and dignity of an official. Renewed publishing of the newspaper became possible after the penalty was paid. A considerable part of the Award For Courage and Honesty which was presented to the newspaper’s editor Zamira Sadykova was spent on paying the fine. She received this award from the International Fund of Women working in the Media.
Two Kazakhstan-based independent news agencies began distributing online newsletters in Kyrgyzstan. The Central Asia Agency of Political Research (www.caapr.kz) dispatches weekly analysis of current political events in Central Asia and in Russia. The KODA news agency (e-mail: koda@ academset.kz) produces a daily newsletter updated 24 hours a day. The newsletter covers news from all areas of life of the five Central Asia republics.
Media and Public Authorities
Osh TV is a single independent TV company broadcasting in the southern regions of the country mostly in the Uzbek language. The National Agency for Communications demanded the company to switch to a different frequency. This would result in losing viewers and advertisers and, eventually, in the closure of the company. If this had happened, Uzbekistan TV would be prevalent in southern Kyrgyzstan. To prevent such a development Kabai Karabekov, the chairman of the Committee for Public Associations and Information Policy of the Kyrgyz parliament, after meeting with the Osh TV management decided to submit the issue for the next parliament session (September 2000).
Media Law
Three months before the presidential elections, the Central Election Committee (CEC) published some new regulations. One rule stipulates that prior to official registering of the candidate in the CEC any form of the candidate's electoral agitation is considered illegal. The CEC made it clear that, in particular, interviews with the candidates and advertising by candidates-to-be of their persons and deeds fall under this rule. The CEC considers illegal even materials which do not contain any mentioning about elections but "by their content, for example, stories about professional achievements of yet unregistered candidate intend to encourage audience to vote for or against … of the unregistered candidate". Media violating these provisions will be punished with large fines, and the candidates-to-be, with possible refusal in registration.
*********************************************************************
Moldova
Media News
Radio stations Russkoe Radio (Russian Radio), Khit-FM (Hit-FM), and Serebryanyi Dozhd’ (Silver Rain) appealed to the parliamentary committee for the media with the request to elucidate provisions of clause 15 of the Law on Broadcasting. This clause establishes obligatory quotas for broadcasting in the official language of the state. The appeal was a response to the letter of the Association of Alumni of the Rumanian and European Universities to the Coordination Council on Broadcasting. The letter stated that Kishinev-based radio stations which re-transmit programmes of popular Russian radio channels violate legislation on languages as the bulk of broadcasting is carried out in Russian. The Council higher officials immediately responded to the letter by demanding the channels to bring their broadcasting policy in compliance with the legislation. Otherwise they could have their licenses revoked. The parliamentary committee confirmed that the clause concerning language quotas refers not to the re-transmitted but to own original programmes. The committee also advised the Council about its conclusions. The management of the radio stations believes that the attack on them was an attempt to redistribute broadcasting frequencies as it coincided in time with expiring of their broadcasting licenses.
The NIT TV company opened a paid master class in TV journalism with specialisation for editors, cameramen, reporters, hosts, and directors.
The state news agency Moldpress became a member of the Association of News Agencies of the Balkan countries.
Trans Dniester region
The Committee for Broadcasting of the Trans Dniester Moldavian Republic decided to exclude the programmes of Moldova national TV from broadcasting of the most popular cable TV network in Tiraspol, Sheriff. This step is explained by the refusal of Moldova to pay for the distribution of the programmes.
Seminars and Conferences
On July 17, a seminar was held for officers of law enforcement bodies. It was devoted to issues of interaction between their agencies and the media. The event was financed by the US State Department and Department of Justice.
*********************************************************************
Russia
Media News
On July 26, the General Prosecutor’s office announced that the criminal suit against Vladimir Gusinsky was cancelled due to "absence of corpus delicti" and his property was released. Vladimir Gusinsky left for Spain where his family is currently living.
In mid July, during an interrogation of the head of the Media-MOST holding Vladimir Gusinsky, the investigator had announced that Gusinsky’s property would be arrested. Gusinsky’s lawyer Pavel Astakhov explained this measure of the General Procesutor’s office by the necessity "to ensure possible confiscation" in the lawsuit on embezzlement of $ 10m during privatisation of the Russian Video company. Gusinsky’s villa in the Moscow region and the property in the building were arrested. Valentin Nikolaev, an investigator of the General Prosecutor’s office, also stated that soon all Gusinsky’s property would be arrested including his share in Media-MOST. Reportedly V. Gusinsky owns 64.4 percent of the shares of the holding that incorporates NTV company.
Andrei Babitsky, the Radio Liberty correspondent, was accused of intentional using of false documents. The maximum punishment for such a crime is imprisonment from three to six months. Babitsky was accused of this crime because of using a fake passport when he registered in the hotel in Dagestan. Babitsky says that he was given the document from unknown persons who were transporting him from Chechnya to neighbouring Dagestan. The court will be considering Babitsky’s case in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
Soon a new holding will appear in Russia, which will incorporate printed and broadcasting media controlled by Boris Berezovsky. It will comprise, in particular, ORT and TV-6 channels, radio station Nashe Radio, newspapers Nezavisimaya Gazeta and Novye Izvestiya and illustrated magazine Ogonyok. Reportedly, the holding will be headed by Igor Shabdurasulov who was dismissed from the office of the first deputy head of the presidential administration. Earlier Shabdurasulov was general director of the ORT company.
On July 19, Boris Berezovsky renounced his status of the State Duma deputy. The day before he made a statement expressing his disagreement with the policy of President Putin. In his interview to Radio Liberty, Berezovsky announced that he could possibly transfer to the state 49% of the ORT shares controlled by him. In July Vneshekonombank (Bank for Foreign Trade) officially confirmed that ORT obtained an $ 85m credit secured by a major share of the TV channel. In the opinion of experts, the mechanism of securing used by Vneshekonombank may be used for changing the structure of the channel’s ownership.
The presidential administration showed recently increased interest to the ORT TV channel. President Putin invited to the Kremlin Sergei Dorenko, the host of the popular ORT analytical programme. He also had meetings with the authors and hosts of the ORT news and analytical programmes Aleksandr Lyubimov and Mikhail Leontyev.
On July 16, journalist Igor Domnikov died in Moscow due to grave injuries. He was an editor of the department of special projects of Obshchaya Gazeta. Domnikov was attacked by unknown person(s) in mid May. Investigators believe that the attack on the journalist was a response to his publications in the newspaper.
On July 26, Sergei Novikov, a president of Smolensk-based independent radio station Vesna, was murdered in the lobby of his house. The day before the radio station, which is opposition to regional authorities, aired the programme "Globe of Smolensk Region" containing sharp criticism of the administration.
On July 27, Irina Grebneva, the editor-in-chief of Arsenyevskie Novosti newspaper, was arrested in Vladivostok. Her newspaper, which often criticises the regional authorities, published a transcript of phone calls between the governor, deputy governor and the Vladivostok mayor which included many obscene expressions. The court convicted the editor to five days in prison for hooliganism.
Aleksei Abakumov was appointed the general director of the radio station Radio Rossii. Earlier he was a director of the department of news programs of the state-owned RTR TV channel.
A new newspaper Informatsionnoe Agentstvo "Mir Novostei" (News Agency "World of News") was registered. The first issue will appear in September. The newspaper is founded by the publishing house Mir Novostei (World of News). Mikhail Zuev was appointed the editor-in-chief of the weekly, which will cover on its 16 pages political, economical, and cultural events and also entertainment.
A first issue of the new daily Nash Vek (Our Age) appeared in news stands. The newspaper is the edition of the publishing house Vek Informatsii (Information Age). The "flagship" of Vek Informatsii – information weekly Vek (Age) – will be published as before. The new edition will cover social and political issues. Aleksandr Kolodny was appointed the newspaper’s editor-in-chief (concurrently he is the editor-in-chief of the Vek weekly). Yurii Kazarin is the editor of the new daily. From 1998 to March 2000 he was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva (Night Moscow).
Andrei Polisitsky was appointed the general director of the radio station Evropa Plyus. Till 1997 he was developing projects of paid TV in Russia and after that he was the general director of the radiostation Evropa Plyus in Saint-Petersburg.
A new publication named Chestnoe Slovo (Word of Honour) appeared in Novosibirsk. This is a newspaper covering social and political issues. The publishers announced their ambitious plans to make this newspaper a national edition.
The Ministry for Press, TV and Radio Broadcasting annulled the license of a major regional TV company NTSC. For yet unknown reasons the general director of the TV company Nikolai Zemlyanov voluntarily refused the license. The NTSC company was broadcasting for several years in major Western Siberian cities of Barnaul, Kemerovo, Tomsk, and Omsk. In September the broadcasting license will be offered for the tender. Local branches of the TV company are going to participate in bidding as independent entities.
Media and Public Authorities
On July 8, President Vladimir Putin delivered to the Federal Assembly a report on the "State of Russia - A Way to an Efficient Power (on the state of the nation and main concepts of the internal and foreign policy)". Concerning the state of the media Vladimir Putin said : "Media play a very important role in shaping of the civil society … Protecting the right for freedom, Russian journalists often put at risk their careers, and not only this – they risked their lives! Many of them perished. The free Russian press nevertheless has emerged. However, the Russian media as the entire society are yet at the stage of maturing. … The media reflect as a mirror all the problems and growing pains of the country. Our journalism is the same as our society or our power. So when someone tells me: "Take care of the media, make this or that" I reply: Let’s take care of the entire society, then the media will also change. However, Russian democracy cannot survive without a genuinely free media, and without them we will fail to develop the civil society.
Unfortunately we have failed yet to develop clear-cut democratic rules, which could ensure genuine independence of the Fourth Estate. I would like to emphasise the word genuine. The journalist freedom became a luring piece for politicians and major financial groups; it has developed into an instrument for fighting between clans. As the president, I would like to attract the attention of the nation to this issue. Censorship and meddling in the activities of the media are prohibited by the law. The authorities strictly adhere to this principle. However, censorship may be performed not only by the state, and meddling may be not only administrative one. Financial inefficiency of the majority of the media make then dependent on commercial and political interest of their owners and sponsors. This allows them to use media for fighting with competitors or sometimes to even transform the media in an instrument for mass disinformation or for fighting with the state.
That is why we are obliged to guarantee journalists genuine and not showcase freedom. We have to create in the country legal and economical conditions for a civilised information business. Freedom of expression has been and keeps being an unquestionable value of Russian democracy. This is our fundamental position ".
On July 14, the newspaper Izvestiya published an interview with President Putin entitled "Russia should not and will not be a police state". There he explained once again his position concerning the media. "The conflict between the power and the media is a myth. Someone actively tries to push us into the quarrel thus leading away from the legal essence of the matters. I believe that this reflects subconscious fears of the owners of media empires, of oligarchs, who are attempting to save more their influence on the state than the freedom of press and expression. I am sure that if the state wants the media to be a really independent and democratic instrument of the development of the society, then it has to provide certain privileges to this segment of the market. We already see now, that this is not a too profitable business … The situation is to be changed; the media shall be really independent. Then they will start mirroring real life and not the life which those who orders information would like to see".
Media Law
On July 7, a meeting of the working group of the Council for Printed Media under the RF Ministry for Press, TV and Radio Broadcasting was held. It was devoted to the draft federal law "On Amendments to the Law on the Media" prepared for the second reading in the State Duma. The working group suggested that publishers of the print media prepare within one month their proposals for the draft law to be discussed later in the State Duma.
Seminars and Conferences
In the wake of the General Procesutor’s office crackdown on the Media-Most holding, a meeting of the Russian Press Freedom Support Group was held on July 13 in Moscow. The event was organised by the Russian Union of Journalists and the Glasnost Defence Foundation with the participation of representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (New York City), International Federation of Journalists (Brussels), International Federation of the Periodical Press (London), International Press Institute (Vienna), World Association of Newspapers (Paris), and World Press Freedom Committee (Washington). They expressed their concern with the future of the Russian press identifying four threats for its freedom: government attempts to control the press with new information security policies; regional governments and oligarch media owners; lack of high standards of ethics and professionalism in the news media; lack of an economic environment to create the media financial independence. Confronting statements by President Putin concerning press freedom to the real steps made by his administration and law-enforcing bodies (in particular, the "war" against Media-Most, persecution of journalist Babitsky and environmentalists Pasko and Nikitin, legal provisions for the surveillance of all Internet communications by the Russian Federal Security, annual re-registering of media outlets planned by the Ministry for Press and many others), the participants of the meeting came to conclusion that the freedom of expression in Russia is in real danger.
New Technology
On July 11 – 13, the conference Bee Internet 2000 was held in the Moscow State University. Representatives of over 20 Russian Internet companies discussed legal, economical and information problems of RUNet.
On July 10 – 14, Internews carried out in Moscow a seminar on Web-journalism for Russian TV companies posting news in the Web.
New Institute for Social and Political Research published a report Monitoring of Russian Internet 2000. The document contains data on the state of RUNet as of February 2000. If the maximum Internet audience in February 2000 is taken as 100%, then at the end of 1997 the number of Internet users was only 18%. This means that the audience increased by 82% from early 1998 till present. If the trend sustains, then during year 2000 the maximum RUNet audience will increase 1.4 times attaining by the end of the year 9m people and, by the end of year 2002, over 27m.
*********************************************************************
Tajikistan
Media News
A pilot issue of the newsletter Nabzi Osie (Puls of Asia) appeared at news stands. The publication was founded by the independent news agency Nizom. Bakhodur Zairov was appointed editor-in-chief of the edition, which will be published on weekdays on six A4-format pages. Materials in the issue devoted to events in the Central Asia region and in neighbouring Afghanistan were mainly downloaded from Internet.
Media and Public Authorities
Ubaidullo Radzhab, a popular comic actor, was appointed by the presidential decree to the office of the chairman of the State Committee for Broadcasting.
The Tajik parliament adopted amendments on the Law "On Broadcasting". The new wording of the law prohibits disseminating of information containing state secrets and also of calls for the violent overthrowing of the government and of the president. The law prohibits inciting of racial discrimination and of ethnic and religious hatred.
New Technology
Vavilon-T (www. tojikiston.com) headed by the general director T. Faizullayev is a new Internet provider in Tajikistan. Its appearance in the market was a competition blow for the Telecom Technology company, which enjoyed a monopolistic position in the market of Internet services. The new provider in addition to e-mail offers a number of services starting from registration of domains to creating of a personal Web-page and to storing of information on the server. Vavilon-T began a broad advertising campaign in the local media; the company also offers lower rates for its services.
*********************************************************************
Turkmenistan
Media News
From July 1 to 10 activities of all non-government printing houses were suspended in the country. Following an informal order, officers of the Committee of State Security and of the tax inspectorate checked all enterprises which produce printed materials. Informed sources report that the aim of the operation was to search for subversive literature. In Turkmenistan, there are no publications containing criticism of President Niyazov’s policy.
On July 20, Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov demanded that the efficiency of the third national TV channel should be increased. This channel is now not used. The President stated that the channel should broadcast news, educational programs and programs devoted to issues of economy.
Media and Public Authorities
After a scandal with the expulsion from the country of Aleksandr Bushev, a correspondent of the Russian newspaper Delovoi Vtornik (Business Tuesday), the authorities tightened rules for the accreditation of foreign correspondents. A case is known of a Turkmenistan citizen, correspondent of Reuter’s agency, who cannot receive his accreditation since almost a year. Previously he was accredited for several years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For over two months a France Presse correspondent has not received his accreditation, although, according to a presidential decree, permission is to be issued within two weeks. Experts believe that the accreditation procedure takes more time because now it requires a clearance from not only Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the presidential press service but also from the Committee of the National Security.
*********************************************************************
Ukraine
Media News
According to the data of the state enterprise Pressa, the combined circulation of periodicals in the Ukraine is, by the beginning of July, 3,960,220 copies. Subscription to periodicals has increased as compared to the same period of the last year by 880,000 copies. A leader in subscription is the newspaper Poradnitsya (1,533,000 copies). As compared to last July the subscription has almost doubled. Silski Visti is second among the editions with the largest circulation (about 485,000 copies). However, the subscription to the edition as compared to the same period of the last year has diminished by almost 26,000 copies. The third is Nasha Gazeta Plyus, the edition of the Social-Democratic Party of the Ukraine (united) (178,000 copies published in the Ukrainian and Russian languages). The circulation of the Rabochaya Gazeta remains large (about 75,000 copies which are sold by discount price). Its combined print run with the Ukrainian-language counterpart Robitnicha Gazeta makes 90,000 copies. Popular newspapers Ukraina Moloda and Fakty I Kommentarii have about the same circulation numbers, 77,000 copies. Party editions Kommunist (newspaper of the Communist Party of the Ukraine) and Tovarishch (newspaper of the Socialist Party of the Ukraine) are rather popular among the readers (their circulation is over 71,000 and about 56,000 copies respectively). The combined circulation of the newspaper Golos Ukrainy published in two languages is 36,000 copies. The subscription for the newspaper Molod Ukrainy and Argumenty i Fakty (in two languages) is about the same and exceeds 13,000 copies. Subscription for the weekly Zerkalo Tizhnya is, by early July, 11,500 copies, and for its Russian-language edition, it is 5,100 copies. Over 5,000 readers subscribe for the newspaper Den with 7 supplements, and 33,000 are subscribers of the newspaper Segodnya with its 4 supplements.
Representatives of media from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and the Ukraine founded an association called Common Cause. The idea of such an organisation appeared during the round table "Role of the media in reforms and supporting of public sector in the CEE countries". The new association is announced as a non-formal, non-political and non-aligned institution, which aims at establishing contacts among journalists of 10 participating countries and exchanging of experience and information.
Larisa Skorik, a professor of the Academy of Art and Architecture, appealed to the General Prosecutor of the Ukraine. She demands to lodge a criminal suite because of publishing of xenophobic articles by Oles Buzina in the newspaper Kievskie vedomosti in June 1999. L. Skorik claims that the author deliberately distorted the image of the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko by misquoting statements of the known Zionist Zeev Zhabotinskii.
Media and Public Authorities
The National Council of the Ukraine (NCU) for Broadcasting recommended the top management of broadcasting companies to bring the founding documents and broadcasting activity of the companies in compliance with the legislation in effect till September 2000. Members of the Council stressed considerable shortcomings in the operations of broadcasting companies, which are evidenced by "appeals of citizens, organisations, and institutions" to the NCU with the demands to tighten control over compliance with the legislation on broadcasting in effect.
The RF Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Rushailo after the talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Yurii Kravchenko stated that the Russian Federation is concerned with the activity of Chechen information centres in the territory of Ukraine. He added also that the Russian authorities understood that the Ukrainian legislation did not allow making their organisers answerable for these activities. V. Rushailo told that Russian and Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies are exchanging information about the centres’ activity.
Aleksandr Zinchenko, the chairman of the Committee for Freedom of Expression and Information of the Supreme Rada, announced the introduction of a two-tier system for accrediting parliamentary journalists. Staring from the 6th session of the Supreme Rada, journalists who are permanently present at the Supreme Rada sessions will be separated from those who appear there only occasionally for covering of hot topics. A. Zinchenko stated that the former would get additional information from the information department of the Supreme Rada.
Media Law
On July 5, the Committee for Freedom of Expression and Information of the Supreme Rada proposed to establish a maximum value of compensation for libels damaging honour and dignity of an individual or business reputation of a legal entity. This is to be limited by 150 non-taxable minimum incomes of an individual. The actual size of the compensation may be set by only the court. A. Zinchenko, the chairman of the Committee, stated that the Committee had already finished its work over the amendments to the law On Information. He expressed hope that new provisions of the law would bring information wars to the end.
Seminars and Conferences
On July 20, in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, a round table was held. The event was devoted to the Role of the Crimean Authorities in Constitutional Guarantees of the Freedom of Expression and Press in the Region. The meeting was organised by the Committee for Monitoring of the Freedom of Press affiliated with the Crimean Independent Centre for Political Research in the framework of the US-EU Transatlantic Initiative for promoting of the civil society in the Ukraine. The event was participated by journalists, media editors, and representatives of the national power bodies. They made a decision to establish in the Crimea an Association of Independent Publishers and Distributors of the Press. The participants of the meeting believe that this way they will be able to make distribution cheaper and to save means for the development of printed press.
New Technology
A reference Resources of the Ukrainian Internet 2000 appeared for the first time in the Ukraine. This is a joint project between the Lucky Net company and the information center ELVISTI. The reference contains data about over 5,000 Ukrainian information resources (Web-sites). In the process of preparing the reference, over 1,000,000 Web-sites belonging to the Ukrainian Internet segment were investigated. The book is published in Russian in 10,000 copies. It is scheduled for updating once every six months. According to the president of Lucky Net Artur Gabovich, now there are from 200,000 to 1,500,000 Internet users in the Ukraine. Of them 200,000 to 250,000 users have individual access to the Web and about 50,000 use corporate computers. Aleksandr Grigoryev, the director of the information centre ELVISTI, states that the bulk of the resources are connected with IT, followed by advertising and information about services. Next in the number are resources connected with reference, economic and financial information and the media, which "differ by quality and size". The number of the media sites in the Ukrainian segment of Internet exceeds 400.
********************************************************************
Uzbekistan
Media News
A new weekly in Uzbek language Mokhiyat (Essence) appeared in the republic. It was founded by a non-governmental news agency Turkiston-press. The new edition will cover "social, political, and economical issues, integration processes, and public reforms in the democratic law-based state".
Readers received the first issue of the magazine Aloka Dunesi (World of Communications). The specialized edition published by the Uzbekistan Agency of Posts and Telecommunications will target mainly telecommunication professionals.
Media and Public Authorities
The press service of the President of Uzbekistan organised a press conference for local and foreign journalists. The event was participated by the presidential press secretary A. Zieyev and the secretary of the Council of National Security M. Rakhmonkulov. They stated that the reforms carried out in Uzbekistan are often "covered in a biased and deliberately wrong way". The officials stressed that the journalists working for foreign media should cooperate more actively with state agencies and, in particular, with the presidential press service. Correspondents of the foreign media and news agencies, who are largely Uzbekistan nationals, were unambiguously hinted that their citizenship entails certain obligations from their side.
On July 10, a meeting of the Committee for Press and information of Olii Mazhlis (parliament) was held. It was devoted to situation with the laws "On Guarantees and Freedom of Access to Information" and "On Advertising" in the Fergana region. There, 49 periodic editions are published, of which 2 are regional editions, 6 city, 14 district and 24 specialized newspapers and 3 magazines. In the region a state TV and radio company is broadcasting, and also non-governmental channels: Kokand public TV Mulokot and TV channels Bagdad (Bagdad district) and Margilon TV (Margilan). However, circulation of many newspapers is vanishing, and their publications feature low professionalism. A non-governmental TV station Dangara has to cease operations because of bad quality of the broadcast programs and of advertising video clips. The deputies called Fergana regional authorities, regional agency for press, regional branch of the art association Tasvirii Oyina to provide financial and moral aid to the local media.
Media Law
The President of Uzbekistan signed the law "On Licensing of Certain Business Activities", which is to come in effect on September 1, 2000. TV broadcasting is subject to such licensing. Up to now the procedure for licensing was regulated not by a law but with a number of rules. This legal situation sometimes created insurmountable barriers for broadcasters. In addition, it facilitated bureaucratic arbitrariness. The new law establishes that the license effect is not limited in time unless the applicant does not wish to have the license being issued for a definite period of time. The licence cannot last less than five years (clause 12). The law contains a list of documents to be submitted for obtaining a license (clause 14). It is prohibited to require from the applicant to submit documents not stipulated by the licensing legislation. The law establishes that the licensing body is to make a decision concerning issuance of the license or refusal in its issuing within thirty days from submission of the required set of the documents. The applicant is to be notified about the decision made within three days (clause 16). The law also establishes reasons, which may be grounds for refusal in issuing of the license. At the same time, the law prohibits refusing in issuance of the license by reasons not stipulated by the legislation, and, in particular, if, as if happened before, the licensing body arbitrarily considers licensing not purposeful.
Seminars and Conferences
The first stage of the new Internews-Uzbekistan project for training of TV journalists ended. A seminar was held for the students of journalism of the Uzbekistan National University. The attendees were trained in theory and professional skills. The next stage of the seminar will consist in practical work in regional non-governmental TV channels. The training was carried out by a German journalist Gabi Henze and professionals of Internews-Uzbekistan.