"Since independence in 1991, the Central Asian republics to varying degrees have given lip service to democratization and the recognition of free press and political rights. However, the reality has been dramatically different under all five authoritarian regimes. That reality includes limits or ban
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s on opposition parties, as well as elections that are neither fair nor free. Most mass media entities remain state-owned or tightly controlled, and there is pervasive censorship, self-censorship, harassment, and intimidation of individual journalists and their media organizations. One result is inadequate, shallow reporting about political, press, and speech rights and controversies. Western-based Web news sites provide alternative venues for some. Central Asian journalists to independently cover such issues. This study analyzes the coverage of political, press, and speech rights news on three such sites: Eurasianet, IRIN News, and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. It examines the topics covered, the degree to which these stories use unnamed and named sources, and the proportion of journalists writing under pseudonyms. It concludes that even journalists reporting on these issues for Western-based media operate under tight constraints, including the risk of official retaliation." (Abstract)
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"Uzbekistan faces severe ecological problems including the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea, desertification, residues of biochemical weapons, and environmentally related respiratory disease. Even so, the country’s print and broadcast media do little in-depth or analytical reporting on environmental iss
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ues, nor are journalists trained to cover such topics. In Spring 2002, a U.S. Fulbright lecturer at the Uzbek State World Languages University and his Uzbek colleague developed the first envirojournalism course at any university in Uzbekistan. The pilot course faced administrative and operational obstacles. It was also hindered by students’ inadequate scientific backgrounds and their limited access to information and resources." (Abstract)
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"Uzbekistan is the most populous and economically significant of the five Central Asian republics of the former USSR. Although authoritarian, its government appears to recognize the need to train journalists in Western journalistic theory and practice. The observations and experiences of the authors
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, as recent Fulbright-sponsored journalism scholars in Central Asia, are combined with limited sources on mass media in the region, to discuss the most effective journalism education under current conditions in Central Asia." (Abstract)
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