edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Part II Kyrgyzstan: Advancements in a Media-Friendly Environmentetc. The courses have to be paid for but Kloop will help tofund them for aspiring professionals from poorer economicbackgrounds. This isn’t purely charity, as the majority of theyoung people taking the courses also work for Kloop, unpaid.All their articles are written by young journalists aged 15-25,and feedback indicates that this works. Everything is doneunder careful supervision and the Foundation is a well-respectedplatform.Because of the aforementioned hiatus between managementand staff, many of the younger workers at OTRK don’tstay for long. One interviewee informed us in late March 2014(not long after the research was conducted for this report)that he was looking for another job since his February salaryhad not been paid and further budget cuts were imminent.Pay in the sector in general is poor, however “researchersfound that OTRK salaries fall beneath average monthly wagesin Bishkek, which in 2012 was KGS 10,566 ($204), and are uncompetitivein the labor market.” 67On the other hand OTRK has, thanks to the reforms process,been able to keep some good staff and also to attract anumber of new, well qualified professionals from other mediaoutlets.Financing, Management and Newsroom StructuresThe question of finance and financial management is, manyfeel, the question of the hour in Kyrgyzstan. It is the frameworkwithout which any progress so far achieved may stand or fall,since it not only touches on the outlets’ independence but alsoon their sustainability. 68 Journalists in Kyrgyzstan earn belowpar. Research carried out by the Bishkek-based Public Associationof Journalists, with the support of IMS, in October 2013showed the average salary of a Kyrgyz journalist to be about7,500 soms (approx. 155 US dollars). Radio journalists receivesome of the highest salaries in the sector but still struggle tokeep up with the average monthly salary in the country as awhole, which in 2013 was thought to be about 13,500 soms. 69One of the more damaging consequences of this is the migrationof good journalists abroad, or into the private and PR sector,where they can expect far better pay. The “brain drain” isan increasing threat to the professionalization of the sector. 70Legal reforms since the events of 2010 have ensured manybasic media freedoms are protected in the constitution, asmentioned earlier. Like these, financial reforms are there, onpaper, but full legislation lags behind. Most media outlets arestill economically entirely dependent on their owners or, inthe case of state-owned or partially state-owned organizations,upon the state.So, notwithstanding the relative press and media freedomguaranteed in the constitution as of 2010, state bodies feelfully justified in interfering with editorial policy. This interferencemay be relatively limited and seldom amount to downrightcensorship, but it still gives rise to a certain amount ofself-censorship on the part of the media itself. And so “thestate-owned media and their directors never express dissatisfactionwith these dictates and do not even consider what theirbusinesses would be like as an independent media outlet.” 71As the main public service media, OTRK has three distinctstreams of income: primarily, of course, it is state-financed,via a budget which is still under the control of the Ministryof Finance – probably the primary reason why many observers,and some among its employees, regard its claims to independencewith skepticism. It also makes budget managementproblematic, as OTRK’s finance managers have no flexibility;they cannot vary reporting fees, for example, or address theissues of staff salaries. 72 One interviewee felt that too muchof it goes towards programming and not enough is put intounderfunded areas such as staff training and development orequipment maintenance. The channelling of state-budgetedfunds is circuitous and slow, in part because every transactionalso has to go through a review by the Supervisory Board. 73According to the latest figures, the larger part of the nationalmedia budget is split between OTRK and ElTR. OTRK receivesjust over US$8 million per year, with another US$10 million inspending planned for the transition to digital broadcasting, ontop of around US$2 million already spent out of the 2013 transitionbudget. 7454External Analyst, Policy OfficerOSCE.55Meerim Asanaly, Head of InternationalRelations and ProtocolDepartment, OTRK.56Employee, International RelationsDepartment, OTRK.57Yelena Baranouski, Joint MediaCommittee ( founding member),Bishkek.58IREX 2013, 264.59Marina Kydyralieva, Joint MediaCommittee ( founding member),advisor to Director General ElTR.60Employee, International RelationsDepartment, OTRK.61IREX 2013, 264.62Yelena Baranouski, Joint MediaCommittee ( founding member),Bishkek.63IREX 2013, 271.64IREX 2014, 258.65Employee, International RelationsDepartment, OTRK; informationprovided via email, March 4, 2014.66Meerim Asanaly, Head of InternationalRelations and ProtocolDepartment, OTRK.67“Today, the average salary ofan OTRK employee isKGS 7,908 ($153) for creativeand production personnel.”See IREX 2014, 257f.68Yelena Baranouski, Joint MediaCommittee ( founding member),Bishkek69International Media Support,November 27, 2013.70External Analyst, Policy Officer,OSCE.71IREX 2013, 268.72Corina Cepoi, Project Director,Internews Bishkek.73External Analyst, Policy Officer,OSCE.74$8,165,000 – or nearlyKGS 400 million;see IREX 2014, 263.Edition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 59