Government Rules the Airwaves

Although the authorities in Tajikistan have registered nine new media outlets this year, four of them in the past few weeks, NBCentralAsia analysts agree this does not signal a change in the government’s policy of controlling the media in the run-up to the presidential election this autumn. The recent denial of a broadcast license to the BBC’s Dushanbe office suggests the government plans to continue jealously guarding access to the airwaves.



It has been a long time since the Tajik authorities registered any new media outlets. In 2004, a wave of criticism in the independent media prompted the government to cut off printing rights to several newspapers such as Nerui Sukhan, Ruzi Nav and Odamu Olam. The papers were later closed down. The authorities also revoked the broadcast license of the opposition television station Somonion.



Responsibility for media registration was transferred from the culture ministry to the justice ministry, after which registration and licensing were suspended.



Since the beginning of 2006, the justice ministry has resumed the process, granting registration documents to three newspapers, four radio stations and two television channels. Industry experts say this came in response to constant overtures from international organisations and media organisations about the need to liberalise Tajikistan’s media sector.



Nevertheless, analysts are convinced that the resumption of registration is not going to result in a weakening of state control or the emergence of independent media with alternative viewpoints. Those newspapers that have been registered tend towards the entertainment-tabloid variety. For electronic media, registration does not mean they have the right to broadcast – they also need a license. And that is unlikely to happen soon since the justice ministry has yet to approve a final draft of the licensing regulations.



On July 26, the BBC’s Tajikistan office was informed that it had been denied a broadcasting license. The BBC, which had been broadcasting in Persian from 2004 until January this year, was forced to suspend its programming when it lost its registration. After completing all the requirements, the BBC received its registration in June, only to be told that it must also have a license to resume broadcasting.



The official reason given for refusing the BBC a license was the lack of a broadcasting cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and Tajikistan. But analysts have little confidence in this version of events, saying that the government simply does not want the public to have access to BBC’s more open and objective reporting ahead of the election.



Scepticism about the authorities’ intentions is reinforced by the general political atmosphere in the run-up to the presidential election. Even after the ballot, analysts predict that there is little likelihood of a relaxation in policy concerning independent media. The way things panned out after the 2005 parliamentary election suggest that the government will continue to keep a close check on the media after the upcoming vote. Those media that it allows to operate will most likely be focused on entertainment.



The government has no interest in allowing politically-oriented media to exist, say the sceptics, and no matter how hard their owners try, they are unlikely to be able to gain official recognition.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)