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INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2181
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2191
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2150
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1997
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 1236
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1469
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2440

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TI
SUBJECT: NEW TV STATION AIRS AS MEDIA ENVIRONMENT CONTINUES TO 
DETERIORATE 
 
DUSHANBE 00001051  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Tajikistan's new "Simoi Mustaqili Tojikiston" or 
"Independent Television of Tajikistan" is a mysterious private 
television company which started broadcasting in June 2007.  The 
station reportedly broadcasts to Dushanbe and surrounding areas 
daily for two hours in the morning and for six hours in the 
evening, but most Embassy contacts report that they have not 
managed to catch any programs since it went on the air.  Voris 
Nazar, Deputy Director of Independent Television of Tajikistan 
explained to PolOff June 22 that the station's programming will 
consist of documentaries as well as news and cultural shows. 
 
¶2.  (U)  The station's director is Zinatullo Ismoilov, the 
former assistant to the chairman of the Committee on Television 
and Radio.  Independent Television of Tajikistan managed to 
obtain a broadcasting license on September 20, 2006.  Other 
non-state radio and television stations have a difficult time 
obtaining broadcasting licenses and the committee usually 
explains that it will not issue any new licenses until a new law 
governing broadcasting regulations is passed.  (Note: The 
U.S.-funded Internews community radio stations have faced this 
kind bureaucratic stonewalling over the last 12 months. End 
Note.)  Nazar refused to explain who founded and funds 
Independent Television of Tajikistan and how the station managed 
to receive a broadcasting license. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  In a series of meetings with PolOff July 2-5, local 
journalists and media representatives were skeptical that the 
new station could be characterized as truly "independent." 
Although none could definitively identify the station's 
financier or supporter, two names surfaced frequently:  Hasan 
Sadulloev, Chairman of Orionbank, and Murodali Alimardanov, 
Chairman of the National Bank.  Both men are well connected and 
influential enough to pull strings at the Committee on 
Television and Radio.  Both also have sufficient wealth to fund 
the station's start-up costs. 
 
THE POWER OF TELEVISION 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Why would Sadulloev or Alimardanov want to start his 
own television company?  Saodat Anvarova, Country Director of 
the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, explained that 
television advertising revenue is profitable.  Another embassy 
source hypothesizes that the financier is actually putting 
himself in a strategic position to run for political office in 
the future.  Television is able to reach a wider audience than 
print media.  However, most Tajiks spend little time watching 
the state-owned television programming which is inundated with 
news and video clips of President Rahmon.  Because of this, 
local viewers turn to more entertaining satellite television, 
mostly from Russia.  Tajik towns bordering Uzbekistan receive 
Uzbek television feeds.  Anvarova recounted a media report of a 
little boy in Turson-zade, a Tajik town near the Uzbek border, 
who when asked who his president is, replied "Karimov" -- the 
Uzbek president. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Sources point out that regardless of who is the 
founder of Independent Television of Tajikistan, it enjoys the 
government's blessing.  Some suggest the station itself may have 
been created by the government in order to give the appearance 
that media freedom is improving. 
 
THE DECLINE OF PRINT MEDIA 
 
¶6.  (U)  Print media is unfortunately not as profitable as 
television, and since the fall of the Soviet Union, newspaper 
circulation has dropped precipitously.  Language barriers and 
illiteracy, together with the end of mandatory student 
subscriptions and subsidized printing and transportation, have 
contributed to the decline of print media.  Small papers that 
report on politics, such as Nigoh, have problems attracting 
advertisers.  Nigoh's Editor-in-Chief, Nurali Davlatov, 
estimates that in order for the paper to be profitable it needs 
to distribute more than 10,000 copies.  Distribution, in turn, 
presents its own problems.  Tajikistan's mountains and poor 
transportation infrastructure prohibit widespread distribution 
of any one national paper.  Khurshed Atoulloev of Faraj 
newspaper estimates that 60 percent of the rural population only 
speaks Tajiki, and the larger newspapers such as Asia-Plus or 
Avesta's Fakti i Kommentarii are published in Russian.  He says 
that television appeals to people more because "they just have 
to sit and watch it." 
 
DUSHANBE 00001051  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U)  Davlatov said that the quality of journalism overall 
has declined.  The new generation of journalists trained after 
the fall of the Soviet Union are inadequately skilled at 
reporting and investigative journalism.  After independence and 
especially after the start of the civil war, the education 
system in Tajikistan suffered when Russian professionals 
including teachers left the country en masse, resulting in a 
poorly-educated young population.  Davlatov sighed when he noted 
that Tajiks no longer consider journalism a prestigious 
profession.  Tajik journalists also practice self-censorship, 
and many are not fully aware of Tajik laws ensuring limited 
freedom of expression.  This means that law enforcement will 
often take advantage of the general lack of knowledge about 
press freedom and punish journalists who push the envelope. 
 
MEDIA FREEDOM CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Journalists and media professionals say media freedom 
has deteriorated since the November 2006 presidential election. 
In addition to censoring themselves, many journalists respect 
the unwritten rules such as not criticizing government policy or 
the president's inner circle.  (Note: Tajikistan's criminal code 
article 137 forbids offending or slandering the president.  End 
Note.) City officials use excuses to threaten media 
organizations such as accusing them of not paying taxes or the 
electricity bill.  Immediately prior to the presidential 
election, some "opposition" and information internet websites 
were blocked.  Nuriddin Qarshiboev of the National Association 
of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan reported that in late 
June parliament passed eight amendments restricting internet 
freedom.  Parliament sources have confirmed this, and post is 
attempting to find copies of the passed legislation. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Based on our recent discussions, most Tajik 
journalists agree that the following changes are needed to 
foster a freer media environment and increase public access to 
independent news sources: 
 
-- An independent printing press.  The largest publishing house 
in Tajikistan is state-run and other smaller private printing 
presses simply will not print controversial material. 
-- A private distribution company to reliably distribute and 
sell the newspapers instead of relying on individual street 
vendors.  Newspaper owners say that the Tajik postal system is 
too expensive and unreliable. 
-- Increased transparency of the Committee on Television and 
Radio, and particularly the Commission on Broadcasting and 
Licensing within the committee.  Media sources say the committee 
is considering changing the regulations to categorize frequency 
waves as state secrets which would make it more difficult for 
media organizations to apply for frequency waves to broadcast. 
-- A government strategy for developing the mass media industry 
in Tajikistan.  The current technique of imposing legislation in 
an attempt to regulate the industry ends up restricting media 
freedom. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Two other large-scale improvements to support media 
freedom include: 
 
-- Improved infrastructure links to enable news to reach remote 
regions; and 
-- Constant electricity to allow people to watch television or 
access internet more often. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Independent Television of Tajikistan may 
not be completely independent, but it is a privately run 
station.  If the station succeeds commercially, it may spur 
other investors to consider opening media outlets to create a 
stronger industry that can stand up to government pressure. 
However, the government's watchful eye and heavy hand on the 
media even after the presidential election is concerning.  Short 
of a reversal of the government's heavy -handed policies to keep 
journalists scared and timid, Tajikistan's electronic media will 
likely not become a source of independent news or open debate. 
Similarly, in an age of declining literacy rates and increased 
government scrutiny, it is unlikely Tajikistan's print media 
will flourish.  END COMMENT. 
JACOBSON