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.
Theoretical foundations for researching the roles of the press in today's Central Asia / Eric Freedman -- Under the commissars. Soviet foundations of the post-independence press in Central Asia / Richard Shafer -- National perspectives. Oligarchs and ownership: the role of financial-industrial groups in controlling Kazakhstan's "independent" media / Barbara Junisbai -- Reinforcing authoritarianism through media control: the case of post-Soviet Turkmenistan / Luca Anceschi -- Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan as presented in Vecherniy Bishkek: a radical Islamist organization through the eyes of Kyrgyz journalists / Irina Wolf -- The future of Internet media in Uzbekistan: transformation from state censorship to monitoring of information space since independence / Zhanna Kozhamberdiyeva -- Journalistic self-censorship and the Tajik press in the context of Central Asia / Peter Gross and Timothy Kenny -- Trans-regional perspectives. Loyalty in the new authoritarian model: journalistic rights and duties in Central Asian Media Law / Olivia Allison -- Ethnic minorities and the media in Central Asia / Olivier Ferrando -- Journalists at risk: the human impact of press constraints / Eric Freedman -- International broadcasting to Uzbekistan: does it still matter? / Navbahor Imamova -- Journalism education and professionalism. Journalism education and professional training in Kazakhstan: from the Soviet era to Independence / Maureen J. Nemecek, Stan Ketterer, Galiya Ibrayeva, and Stanislav Los -- Professionalism among journalists in Kyrgyzstan / Gregory Pitts -- New media, new frontiers. Internet libel law and freedom of expression in Tajikistan / Kristine Kohlmeier and Navruz Nekbakhtshoev -- Blogging down the dictator? the Kyrgyz revolution and Samizdat web sites / Svetlana V. Kulikova and David D. Perlmutter -- Conclusion: through the crystal ball / Richard Shafer.
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