DUSHANBE, July 22, 2015, Asia-Plus — Independent media outlets in Tajikistan say it has become difficult for them to interview officials following a new government directive instructing officials to make the state news agency their first choice of channels for giving information to the press,
Radio Liberty
reported on July 21.
Editors of independent outlets say that the directive already has had a chilling effect on officials who once spoke with them. The result could be a further shrinking of the already small space for independent journalists to operate in Tajikistan, where government monitoring and censorship have long been the rule.
Umed Babakhanov, head of Tajikistan”s independent
Asia-Plus
media holding company, tells RFE/RL”s Tajik Service, known locally as
Radio Ozodi
, that “if all official information goes through one channel, ordinary people will get less news about the government”s activities. That will raise confusion and create a growing gap between the authorities and society.”
The head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), Nouriddin Qarshiboyev, has called the new policy “against the constitution,” which he said “provides equal rights to media outlets.”
RFE/RL notes that it is not clear when the directive assigning primacy to state news agency
Khovar
went into effect, since it was not made public by the government. On July 16, an exile-run news agency,
Ozodagon
, published a scan of what it said was the directive, dated June 30, but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
According to
Interfax
, the directive applies to information about government meetings, the president and his domestic and international trips, and any meetings attended by Tajik officials at home or abroad.
Asked why the directive was necessary, a presidential adviser told RFE/RL”s Tajik Service that it is intended only to help the state-run news agency grow.
Still, the directive is likely to strengthen the government”s control over the news agenda in Tajikistan by providing a check on officials” statements before they reach the public, with the state news agency able to decide what to highlight and possibly even what to leave out.
That, in turn, could diminish independent journalists” chances of directly raising social issues with officials or obtaining candid responses.
Tajikistan already consistently ranks near the bottom of international ratings for press freedom. It is ranked 116th among 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index for 2015.
