DUSHANBE, September 8, 2011, Asia-Plus — Solidarity among Tajik journalists has become stronger in recent years, especially when it is talked of protecting rights of media outlets and separate journalists, and these are the first steps towards real consolidation.
Tajik media experts think over this subject on the occasion of International Day of Journalists’ Solidarity, which is marked today.
Chairman of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit) Nouriddin Qarshiboyev reminded us of cases when journalist community, both national and international, supported three independent newspapers
Asia-Plus
,
Ozodagon
and
Farazh
as well as BBC correspondent Urunboy Usmonov and detained journalist Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov.
Head of the Media Alliance of Tajikistan (MAT) Khurshed Atovullo, for his part, noted that solidarity has appeared not only among journalists but also among journalist organizations and heads of media outlets.
“Establishment of 29/09 the Committee, which grouped all journalist organizations and heads of independent media outlets and ensured reappearance of three newspapers on newsstands, reopening of ‘undesirable’ websites and support for BBC correspondent Urunboy Usmonov and detained journalist Mahmadyusuf Usmoilov are evidence of solidarity among my colleagues,” Khurshed Atovullo said. However, all this is only the first steps towards real consolidation, he added. “In the future, we have to establish the fund for supporting journalists who found themselves in extreme situation in order to hire lawyers for them in the case of necessity, provide money to their families and so on,” Atovullo stressed.
Meanwhile, the Nansmit head Qarshiboyev considers that one of reasons for insufficient solidarity among Tajik journalists is division of media outlets on the independent and state-run ones. “It would be expedient to review the policy regarding media,” said the media watchdog head, “Numerous federally funded newspapers and magazines do not promote development of Tajikistan’s information market and access to various alternative sources of information.”
Head of Tajik Journalists’ Union (TJU), Akbar Sattorov, considers that the level of journalists’ solidarity depends on resource base. “Everything is correlated here – the better resource base the higher level of solidarity among journalists,” the TJU head noted.
International Day of Journalists’ Solidarity This day is marked worldwide since 1958, when the 4th Congress of the International Organization of Journalists was held in Bucharest. It is confined to the day of execution of the Czech anti-fascist journalist Julius Fucik by Nazis on September 8, 1943.
