Censorship

Even though the Uzbek Constitution and the Law on Mass Media forbids censorship, Uzbekistan, one of the countries of the former Soviet Union, still practices censorship. The Committee for the Protection of State Secrets at the State Print Committee acts as an unofficial censor and has the authority to approve drafts of newspapers before they go to the print house for publication. This office mostly practices censorship on newspapers and reports of wire services before they go to radio and TV stations as well. The committee is led by old, Soviet-type bureaucrats, who impose their own definitions of state secrecy while reviewing articles.

Radio and TV stations practice self-censorship fearing that the government may shut them down using the Law on Media, which excludes solving disputes in court and gives that right to the State Print Committee. Self-censorship mostly concerns editors and media bosses who are directly or indirectly subordinate to certain offices at the Presidential Office, the Cabinet of Ministers and some other government agencies. In the hope of safeguarding their positions, media bosses make certain types of programs off limits.

Newspapers

According to the committee, there are over 400 newspapers in Uzbekistan and some 20 are read nationwide. There are no regional newspapers because Uzbekistan is not split into regions. The government, state companies, political parties and some state organizations own newspapers. A few privately owned newspapers mostly have a business orientation. Almost all newspapers are published at the state print house, which makes them answerable to the censor's office.

Independent Uzbek-language "Hurriyat" (The Liberty) carries a lot of material critical of certain organizations, firms, and officials who misuse their authority, mostly on a local level. The government subsidizes a very limited number of newspapers. Others sustain themselves with the income from advertisement. Most state-run publications make no profit on advertising since there is no abundance of international companies due to the lack of currency convertibility. The subscription for state-run publications is mandatory which makes it second source of income for them.

State Television

According to U.S. non-government organization Internews, there are about 35 independent TV stations in Uzbekistan along with the State TV and Radio Company. The latter is not officially named "state" by a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers and should be fully financially independent from the government in the near future. However its size will not allow it to acquire financial independence so quickly.

State TV has four channels, each with a different range of coverage, language of broadcast and content. Channel 1 is considered to be the primary channel and bears a faint resemblance to C-SPAN. It is more government-oriented and has more programs on political and economic subjects. It is the most censored of all State TV channels and airs in Uzbek only, except for news in Russian. Channel 2 is also called the Youth Channel. It broadcasts to more than a half of the territory of Uzbekistan. It is considered to be an entertainment channel, although in recent months, it has also proved to be a good source of information with its own news service, special programs dedicated to political parties and upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, talk shows, business and analytical programs. This channel is in competition with Channel 1, although both are under one company. It has programs both in Uzbek and Russian. Channel 3 and Channel 4 have more entertainment, movie, and sports programs, although Channel 3, also known as TTV (Tashkent Television) created its own news program. All four channels re-transmit pirated Western and Russian movies and programs by downloading them off satellites and dubbing them into Uzbek and Russian. Copyrights violations are wide-spread in Uzbekistan despite the country's membership in the International Intellectual Property Organization.

Independent Television

Independent TV stations mostly broadcast to certain areas and provinces outside the capital. They are independent more in a financial sense, but practice censorship less than State TV. They are diverse. Some of them have fewer of their own programming and more re-transmissions of Russian Channels. Their equipment is usually outmoded. Independent stations cooperate with the American Internews NGO that supports them through training, equipment, and seminars. In addition, Internews puts together news reports contributed by these stations into a news program and distributes them back to the stations.

Of all independent TV stations, stations in Samarkand and Andijan are the most prosperous and promising. They have their own news programs on the local level, soap operas, talk shows, entertainment programs and own FM radio stations. Their future plan is to expand as a network. Channel 30 in Tashkent is the only independent station in the capital, but is mostly specialized in retransmission of foreign and Russian licensed programs.

Russian Channels and Cable Television

In recent years Uzbek State TV and the Ministry of Communications have reduced the transmission of broadcast hours of Russian Channels like ORT and RTR significantly on a national level replacing them with their own programs. This created a need for cable TV companies. Unlike those in the United States, cable TV in Uzbekistan consists of small stations that provide residents of a certain block or a street with Russian programs for monthly fees. The largest cable television station is Kamalak TV, an Uzbek-American joint venture that offers over 10 Russian and international channels such as CNN, BBC, Cartoon Network, TNT, ESPN.

Radio

There are both state and private radio stations in the country. There are seven FM radio stations in Tashkent and one independent station in the Ferghana valley that broadcasts to three provinces: Andijan, Ferghana and Namanghan. Five of the Tashkent FM stations are independent. Radio Grande was established three years ago with the support from the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the International Center for the Training of Journalists and is operating successfully. Radio Grande has music, local, national, and international news every hour, and airs in Russian, Uzbek and English (an hour per day). Another FM station in Tashkent is Radio Sezum, a product of the Uzbek-American joint venture Rubicon Telecommunications. There are also Radio Oriyat Dono, Radio Uzbegim Taronasi and Radio Hamroh.

The State Radio has a long history and has different divisions, including FM, medium wave and short wave transmission. On short wave, it broadcasts to dozens of countries in 12 languages. State Radio has four channels. Radio "Uzbekistan" is Channel 1 and carries programs with the same content as Uzbek TV 1. Radio "Mashal" is Channel 2 and has more entertainment, music programs and designed mostly for young people. Radio "Dostlik" is Channel 3 and broadcasts in languages spoken by various nationalities residing in Uzbekistan. Radio "Tashkent" is a foreign service and airs on short wave in twelve languages.

Foreign Media

Foreign media are represented mostly by local stringers in Uzbekistan. They are Reuters, BBC, Radio Liberty, VOA, AP, France-Presse, Russian news agencies and ORT news bureau, Chinese Economic Daily, Associated Press and UPI. No foreign radio stations are allowed to air on FM or AM. Previously BBC Uzbek service had MW programming.

News Agencies

There are three wire services in Uzbekistan: the National Information Agency UzA, "Jahon" news agency at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a non-government, newly-established "Turkiston-Press". "Jahon" prepares reports mostly on the Uzbek presence and activity overseas and promotes to the flow of information from Uzbekistan to outside. UzA is a conservative, government-oriented agency that screens all information and then distributes it to newspapers. "Turkiston-Press" is a new agency that united young and professional journalists and is determined to create a competition to UzA.

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