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FeatureObstacles in Central Asia to much-needed environmental reportingBy ERIC FREEDMANPHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC FREEDMANKyrgyzstan and Kazakhstanconfront seriousenvironmental problems, yetin-depth environmental journalismis scarce. Problems inthese two Central Asian countriesinclude inadequate waterfor irrigation; soil erosion,degradation and contamination;toxic dumpsites holdingmining and radioactivewastes; disruption of fragileecosystems; deforestation;unsustainable agriculturalpractices; conflicts betweenbiodiversity protection andlocal interests; and inadequatemonitoring of environmentalimpacts on public health.Lakes Issyk-Kul and Balkhashand the Aral and Caspian seasare in jeopardy from suchthings as pesticide runoff, oildrilling and overfishing.Interviews with journalists and press experts, environmentalNGO activists and policy analysts in both countries show:environmental topics are not a top priority among media managersand owners; journalists receive little training and journalismstudents receive no coursework on how to fairly and accuratelyreport on such issues; and stories that do appear usually lack depth,insight, context and analysis.Press rights are restricted, and both authoritarian governmentsare frequently criticized for strict constraints on the media.Dramatically underscoring the precarious situation is the 2007unsolved murder in Kyrgyzstan of journalist Alisher Saipov, whohad reported courageously about human rights issues. InKazakhstan, the disappearance of investigative journalistOralgaisha Omarshanova in 2007 has been attributed to heranti-corruption articles for the independent weekly Zakoni Pravosudiye (Law and Justice). Both crimes remain unsolved.Ecological problems have created economic, political,diplomatic, security and health threats for both countries and theirneighbors. Yet if an independent press cannot or doesn’t reportabout such issues, the public can’t pressure government, whichthen feels less impetus to respond. Also, to report with fairness,balance and accuracy, journalists must obtain information frommultiple, diverse sources in the environmental movement and fromindependent experts, not merely rely on government officials. ThusDespite many newspapers and magazines available at this kiosk in Almaty, they have little or no environmental coverage.24 SEJournal Spring 2009it is meaningful to examine how journalists cover theenvironment and how environmental groups attempt to influenceor shape that coverage.With grants from the National Council for Eurasian andEastern European Research and Michigan State University’sMuslim Studies Program, I conducted 31 interviews in Bishkek,Karakol, Naryn and Almaty—the two national capitals and twooblast (regional) capitals. Interviewed were journalists fordomestic and international media organizations; environmental andcivil society NGO leaders; press experts; and policy analysts.Here’s what I found:Environmental problems receive inadequate press coverage,both in the number and frequency of stories and in their depth.Journalists who cover the environment full-time are nonexistentin Kyrgyzstan and virtually nonexistent in Kazakhstan. AtKyrgyzstan’s largest newspaper, the reporter who writes mostabout environment covers other issues as well. Most coverage isepisodic, driven by events—disasters, crises or sensationalism—with little context or analysis. Journalists lack the time, resourcesand editors’ interest to do follow-up reporting with deeperperspective. A multinational NGO executive in Almaty complainedabout “the lack of analytical information,” saying the pressprovides “just an emotional description of what was happening,and didn’t ask experts and scientists.” The coordinator of an