DUSHANBE, June 29, 2010, Asia-Plus — Cooperation between press services of the government bodies and media was the focus of the seminar that took place in Dushanbe yesterday.
The main objective of the seminar is to discuss sustainable partnership between media organizations and government bodies, Abakhan Sultonnazarov, the Regional Director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) for Central Asia, said while opening the seminar.
Speaking at the seminar, the chairman of the Board of the Media Council of Tajikistan, Professor Ibrohim Usmonov, noted that many, including media organizations themselves, government bodies, political parties and separate individuals, today tried to use media as a weapon “and in this case, it is still premature to say that media are the fourth power.”
Dwelling on activity of press secretaries, Usmonov noted that their duties have not yet been determined properly: it is unclear whether they should protect interests of journalists or interests of their agencies. “Today, press secretaries impede journalists’ access to information,” the expert said.
The seminar participants also discussed issues related to accreditation of reporters from separate media at certain ministries and departments as well as problems of self-regulation of media and role of media and human rights organizations in settlement of conflicts between media and press services of the government bodies.
