Not long after Kazakhstan gained
independence, the day celebrating the press called the "Journalism Day" was
moved from May 5th to June 28th. This was purely a symbolic gesture
to break with the Soviet tradition. But in the Northern Kazakhstan region the numerous
Russian-speaking journalists did not enthusiastically welcomed this change. They continue
to mark the holiday according to the Soviet calendar. The present state of things gives
little cause to celebrate. Some of the provisions of the original 1991 law regarding the
press and other media were altered in 1997, when the current media law was drafted to
provide for more openness and to increase the interaction between governmental
organizations and the media. The actual reality is that in some areas of the country,
including Northern Kazakhstan, journalists have very limited access to information
sources.
Article One of the media law prohibits any kind of censorship except in cases of
pornography, propagation of war, racial hatred, religious and clan superiority, violence,
and disclosing of state secrets. Beyond that the law prohibits the barring of journalists
from official sessions or denying them information that may involve judicial
responsibility. For many journalists, particularity those from the non-governmental media,
free access to impartial information stills remains wishful thinking. In practice, the
interaction between a regional governor and journalists is strictly regulated by loyal
government press secretaries who are now found in nearly every public organization,
enterprise, bank, or private company. More often only a small group of handpicked reliable
reporters, mostly from the government controlled media, are selected to cover official
events or sessions which may provoke public outcry.
Most of the region’s papers are desperate to survive under the current severe
financial constraints. Paradoxically, the state-sponsored media is the worst hit by the
current financial problems. In the course of six years the regional television and radio
company reduced its staff by 50%. The circulation of the official and most widely read
newspaper, "Severnyi Kazakhstan," has dropped from 111,000 copies in 1990, to a
catastrophic low of 5,583 in the 2000, despite constant injections from the local budget.
Many of the skilled reporters of "Severnyi Kazakhstan" have gone over to the
newly founded independent paper "Va Banque," which is supported by flourishing
industrial companies.
The outlook is rather grim for the only Kazakh-language newspaper "Soltustik
Kazakhstan." For decades this state-owned regional paper received lavish state aid
until the paper started to face tough competition from the non-government press. Regional
papers can hardly afford correspondents in remote districts. After many long years of ups
and downs, the non-governmental press in Northern Kazakhstan is gaining ground. In
Petropavlosk alone there are currently eight papers being published, but for them freedom
of expression is a double-edged sword which needs to be handled with extreme care. Writing
a revealing article takes a lot of courage in Northern Kazakhstan. Nothing is easier for a
lampooned official then to raise a libel charge and initiate filing a lawsuit against a
reporter.
Marat Yermukanov