OSCE media freedom conference brings together participants from all five Central Asian countries

BISHKEK, 16 October 2009 - Journalists and education experts from all Central Asian states - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - discussed challenges to journalism in the region and issued recommendations on journalism education at the 11th OSCE Central Asia Media Conference, which ended in Bishkek today.

"I am pleased that Turkmenistan, absent for many years from our discussions, sent representatives of their budding journalism education system, helping our Central Asian conference achieve its full potential," Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said.

"Media freedom and pluralism should be the core values of the ongoing reforms of academic and on-job training across the region."

The event was organized by the office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media, hosted by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and supported by four other OSCE field offices in the region.

"The challenge of preserving and indeed improving standards of accurate and ethical journalism looms large as journalism increasingly shifts from using traditional media forms to attracting audiences through the Internet, blogging, Facebook and Twitter," said Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere, Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. "This makes the theme of this conference, journalism education, all the more pertinent - as much for the public and media watchdogs as for journalists."

Conference participants issued a declaration on journalism education in Central Asia, which will be available soon in English and Russian at www.osce.org/fom.

During his visit, Haraszti met Ruslan Kazakbaev, Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister; Tamara Obozova, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information; Oksana Malevanaya, the Head of the President's Secretariat; and former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva, a current Member of Parliament. The discussions focused on media legislation and security of journalists.