Building an independent and informed media couldn’t be more important for Kyrgyzstan. For much of the country, public access to information is limited to thin weekly newspapers and nightly national news broadcasts. Still, Kyrgyzstan has one of the most open media environments in Central Asia.
So when Alisher Saipov, a 26-year-old Uzbek journalist living in Kyrgyzstan, was shot dead earlier this week as he left his office in the southern city of Osh, it was a significant blow to those working to build a strong media. (See the New York Times article.) While the circumstances and motivations surrounding Saipov’s murder aren’t yet clear (he was known as much for helping Uzbek refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan in 2005 after the horrible events in Andijan as he was for founding the Uzbek-language Siyosat newspaper and his work with Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), the tragedy certainly has brought attention to issue of free media in Central Asia.
For Kyrgyz citizens who live in Bishkek or the country’s handful of other cities, accessing a diverse array of quality information is now as easy as taking a walk to the internet café. For those who live in rural villages and even the larger towns, it may be more problematic. Television is Truth for many of these people, and without a range of perspectives or analytical tools, citizens often have skewed perspectives of current events and politics. Questionable “documentaries,” news broadcast under heavy state influence, and sometimes even movies are accepted at face value.
It is crucial that a culture of independent media is supported in Central Asia, particularly in the face of those who, literally, would kill it. In Kyrgyzstan, the reforms that resulted from the political upheaval in 2005 depend on the support of a public informed by quality journalism. Relevant policies that support economic growth and a free market depend on media analysis and constructive debate. (CIPE is partnering with the Kyrgyz Institute for Public Policy to train young journalists in quality reporting practice.) As reformers across Central Asia mourn Saipov, I hope their resolve and commitment to reform are strengthened, and I certainly hope for a future in which they will be able to write and report free from threat.
Published Date: October 26, 2007