Media of Kazakhstan

• Kazakhstani Media are relatively free by Central Asian

standards. However, despite press freedom being
enshrined in Kazakhstan's constitution, monitors report
that privately owned and opposition media are routinely
harassed and censored. In 2004 the International
Federation of Journalists identified a "growing pattern" of
intimidation of the media. Reporters Without Borders in
its annual report of the same year said that "such
independence remains largely theoretical because most
of the media is controlled by associates of President
Nursultan Nazarbayev, notably his daughter,
Dariga Nazarbayev".
• All media are required to register with the
Ministry of Culture, Information and
Sports, with the exception of websites. In
practice, media outlets known to be
associated with opposition political parties
or movements are frequently refused
registration.
• Contents
• [hide]
• 1 Television
• 2 Movies
• 3 Radio
• 4 Newspapers
• 5 Other media
• 6 External links
• Television
• Kazakhstan I is the state television channel of
Kazakhstan. Other country-wide television
stations are Khabar and Yel Arna. Khabar is
owned by the President's daughter and therefore
rarely broadcasts criticism of his policy.
According to government statistics there are 116
private channels, including Kanal 31 and KTK,
with varying coverage across the nation.
American shows are also popular in Kazakhstan.
• Movies
• A historical epic NOMAD set in 18th-century Kazakhstan, where a young
man is destined to unite the country's three warring tribes:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374089/
• Borat, a 2006 production by British comic Sacha Baron Cohen about a
fictional character who claims to come from Kazakhstan. The movie has
name of Kazakhstan in its title and movie goers could thus be forgiven for
thinking that it is about the country while in fact nothing in the film or its
script, filming, location, characters, language or plot has any resemblance to
real Kazakhstan. Characters in the movie curse in "Armenian", while flags
and pictures shown at the end are from Azerbaijan, to give some examples
of its alienation from reality. The filming was done in Romania and Cohen
himself never visited Kazakhstan. The release of the film caused much
heartache with Kazakhs and the Kazakhstani government for its
provocatively negative use of country's name. The film was banned in
Russia and while it was successful in the US and Britain many countries did
not permit its screening for fears that it is offensive to Kazakh sensibilities.
• Radio
• The state-owned Kazakh Radio broadcasts in
both official languages. A wide number of private
radio stations are also available including
Europa Plus, Russkoye Radio, Hit FM,
Radio Azattyq and Radio Karavan. Similarly to
the television market, the President's daughter
and her husband, Rakhat Aliyev, control the
majority of the sector.
• Newspapers
• A wide range of publications, mostly supportive of the government, are available. The
authorities operates one of the two national Russian-language newspapers and the
only regular national Kazakh language newspaper. According to government
statistics, there were 990 privately owned newspapers and 418 privately owned
magazines. Those supportive of the opposition face harassment and lawsuits.
• In May 2005 the Kazakh Information Ministry ordered one of the few opposition
newspapers to close. The ministry accused Respublika of inciting ethnic hatred by
publishing an interview with a Russian politician who made derogatory remarks about
ethnic Kazakhstani's. Its editor, Irina Petrushova, fled to Russia in 2002 after
intimidation and the firebombing of the paper's offices. The paper's deputy editor
Galina Dyrdina called the closure politically-motivated, and vowed to appeal.
• A selection of websites from Kazakhstani newspapers are given below:
• Kazpravda
• Aykin
• Liter
• Delovaya Nedeliya (Business Week)
• Novaya Pokolenie
• Vremya
• Other media
• The internet faces severe pressure from the government. The
censorship of online publications has become routine and arbitrary.
In 2003 the state telecom firm Kazakhtelekom was ordered to block
access to a dozen websites it said were 'destructive'. The pages
either supported the opposition or provided neutral news coverage.
• On 13 June 2005 a court in Almaty ordered former Information
Minister Altynbek Sarsenbaev (the opposition leader assassinated
in January 2006) to pay 1 million tenges ($7,500) in damages for
'defaming' Khabar news agency. Sarsenbaev was also ordered to
publicly retract comments he made in an interview with the
opposition newspaper Respublika. He had alleged that Khabar was
part of a monopolistic media holding controlled by Dariga
Nazarbayev. The case is believed to be in response to his
resignation after the 2004 elections. At the time he stated "The
election was not fair, honest, or transparent; the authorities showed
that from the beginning they didn't want honest elections."
• External links
• Reporters Without Borders Report, 2004
• IFEX: Monitoring Media Freedom
Violations in Kazakhstan
• KAZINFORM National Information Agency