Global Journalist

20 Years Later: Kazakhstan

By Karla Jamankulova Posted Apr 13 2010

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Kazakhstan, current chairman of OSCE, is a second-largest country after Russia in the former Soviet bloc. Along with building a flourishing oil-based economy, the state lives in peace despite the multi-ethnic complexity of its nation. The freedom of press, however, remains unsettled.

Despite Kazakhstan demonstrating the highest level of democratization among Central Asian countries, local media have never been called “free.” According to the Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, Kazakhstan ranked 142 out of 175 countries around the globe in 2009.
Out of the 2,700 media outlets registered in Kazakhstan, more than 90 percent of them are privately owned, according to data from the Ministry of Information. However, experts believe that the number of independent news organizations is exaggerated. In reality, independent journalist Andrey Sviridov says there are only 10 to 15 independent news organizations.

This lack of freedom in journalism was created during the rule of the Soviet Union, where the role of the media was to promote government support. “The inherited attitude from the Soviet Union is to view mass media not as a business but a propaganda tool,” says Dosym Satpayev, director of the Risk Assessment Group.

Experts say 1996 is the starting point for the tight control and monopolization of the news market. “Today there is no TV channel that is not related or controlled by the government,” Sviridov says.

When it comes to today’s financial concerns, high printing costs and a low population density in a country roughly four times larger than Texas leads to little profit and a reliance on external funds. Satpayev says they receive needed financial support from the government, large corporations and the opposition.

Big city dwellers with access to high-speed Internet, cable or satellite television enjoy a “democracy of remote control,” or the right to choose what they watch. The situation is worse in rural areas where villagers have nothing except for a few TV channels and a couple official newspapers.

The Internet has become a very popular source of information during the past couple of years. In 2009, more than 27 percent of the population had access to the Internet, according to data from Internet provider Profit-online. Despite the Internet’s growing popularity, one of the two added amendments enacted a few months before Kazakhstan gained the OSCE chairmanship endanger the growth of online media.

According to the law, the Internet counts as a form of mass media, so all restrictions on print and broadcast news outlets now also apply to Web sites. Although it’s yet unknown how the law will be implemented, it might spark a new wave of self-censorship among online media owners, says Tamara Kaleyeva, director of International Foundation for Freedom of Speech, Adyl Soz.

To make matters worse, the second added amendment strictly holds journalists responsible for the information they uncover about the private lives of public figures, making investigative pieces difficult.

“We should say goodbye to investigative journalism in Kazakhstan because now to avoid lawsuits or even imprisonment, editors and journalists won’t cover topics like the corruption of government officials,” Kaleyeva says.

Last year, Kazakhstan received recommendations from Miklos Haraszti, former OSCE representative on press freedom. He suggested to distribute the news market and remove amendments to the media law, but sufficient action has not been taken yet.

Despite Kazakhstan’s new OSCE position, there haven’t been many changes. “One year of chairmanship in OSCE has no big influence on political processes,” Satpayev says. “It is just another opportunity for international advertising.”

Sviridov is not sure about the future of Kazakhstan’s press freedom. “It’s a clear fact that we have a status quo,” he says, “The situation won't get worse or better before the end of our chairmanship.”

As journalism in Kazakhstan continues to fluctuate over the years, the independent newspaper DAT is one representative of the country’s persistent struggle for press freedom. “It was closed by court eight times but revived again as a phoenix,” Kaleyeva says. “Democracy is still inevitable.”