From Czarism and Bolshevism to the current post-communist era, the media in Central Asia has been tightly constrained. Though the governments in the region assert that a free press is permitted to operate, research has shown this to be untrue. In all five former Soviet republics of Central Asia, the media has been controlled, suppressed, punished, and often outlawed. This enlightening collection of essays investigates the reasons why these countries have failed to develop independent and sustainable press systems. It documents the complex relationship between the press and governance, nation-building, national identity, and public policy. In this book, scholars explore the numerous and broad-reaching implications of media control in a variety of contexts, touching on topics such as Internet regulation and censorship, press rights abuses, professional journalism standards and self-censorship, media ownership, ethnic newspapers, blogging, Western broadcasting into the region, and coverage of terrorism.
ContentsTheoretical Foundations for Researching the Roles of the Press in Today’s Central Asia | Eric FreedmanPart 1: Under the CommissarsSoviet Foundations of the Post-Independence Press in Central Asia | Richard ShaferPart 2: National PerspectivesOligarchs and Ownership: The Role of Financial-Industrial Groups in Controlling Kazakhstan’s “Independent” Media | Barbara JunisbaiReinforcing Authoritarianism through Media Control: The Case of Post-Soviet Turkmenistan | Luca AnceschiHizb ut-Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan as Presented in Vecherniy Bishkek: A Radical Islamist Organization through the Eyes of Kyrgyz Journalists | Irina WolfThe Future of Internet Media in Uzbekistan: Transformation from State Censorship to Monitoring of Information Space since Independence | Zhanna HördegenJournalistic Self-Censorship and the Tajik Press in the Context of Central Asia | Peter Gross and Timothy KennyPart 3: Trans-Regional PerspectivesLoyalty in the New Authoritarian Model: Journalistic Rights and Duties in Central Asian Media Law | Olivia AllisonEthnic Minorities and the Media in Central Asia | Olivier FerrandoJournalists at Risk: The Human Impact of Press Constraints | Eric FreedmanInternational Broadcasting to Uzbekistan: Does It Still Matter? | Navbahor ImamovaPart 4: Journalism Education and ProfessionalismJournalism Education and Professional Training in Kazakhstan: From the Soviet Era to Independence | Maureen J. Nemecek, Stan Ketterer, Galiya Ibrayeva, and Stanislav LosProfessionalism among Journalists in Kyrgyzstan | Gregory PittsPart 5: New Media, New FrontiersInternet Libel Law and Freedom of Expression in Tajikistan | Kristine Kohlmeier and Navruz NekbakhtshoevBlogging Down the Dictator? The Kyrgyz Revolution and Samizdat Web Sites | Svetlana V. Kulikova and David D. PerlmutterConclusion: Through the Crystal Ball | Richard ShaferContributors
