Every time I read articles or books about the role of the media in civil society, I come across the image of the watchdog. Journalists are supposed to be watchdogs, so they say, but what exactly does that mean in the context of the current situation of the media and civil society in Kyrgyzstan?

First of all, what are the responsibilities of a watchdog? A watchdog has to protect his owner, give him security and react to possible outside interference with the rights of his owner. Therefore, the watchdog has to know his loyalties. If we now take the Kyrgyz journalists as watchdogs, who do they have to be loyal to? They have to be loyal to society, to the people living in the Kyrgyz Republic. They are the watchdogs of society and not the watchdogs of the government, so any attempt to make them the latter are against their nature. Everybody who threatens democracy, freedom of speech, the basic rights of the Kyrgyz people, should be in one way or another attacked by the watchdogs. And this also includes the government in case the leaders of the country try to restrict the citizens’ rights.

Our aim as an international NGO working with the independent media here in Kyrgyzstan is to make sure the watchdogs can provide that security to the people. Now, what does a watchdog need, what are the basic elements of a watchdog’s life? A watchdog needs food, and a watchdog needs training. We give the watchdogs of Kyrgyzstan their food in terms of equipment. We support radio and TV stations with microphones, computers, cameras, etc. to make sure they can grow and live up to their expectations. People in the government could help here, too, if they lowered the taxes for media outlets or if they decided on a complete tax-exemption for the first five years of a station’s existence, a policy followed by various governments in the NIS. The taxes we have right now are limiting the food for the watchdogs. Their growth is restricted and they are being kept like little puppies because they don’t have the means to get more food for themselves.

What a good watchdog also needs is training; training to make him more professional in protecting his owner. We offer training for the Kyrgyz watchdogs by means of seminars, contests and residencies. It makes them aware of their role and gives them the background knowledge they need in order to find out how to react in different situations. They also learn their loyalties in these training sessions, meet with other watchdogs and find out all they have to know for their role as the watchdogs of society.

Mr. Farid Niyazov, Head of the Information Department of President Akaev’s Administration, said in an earlier speech that there is no censorship in the Kyrgyz media. Dear Mr. Niyazov, I disagree with you on this point. There is censorship in the media, and there is also a very high degree of self-censorship. Censorship works like a muzzle on the watchdogs’ faces. The dog cannot bark and it cannot bite anymore. What we should be interested in here in Kyrgyzstan is to take the muzzle of censorship off, so the watchdogs can start barking at the people who try to restrict the citizens’ rights. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily want the dogs to bite anybody, but they have to be able to bark, and actually they should be able to bark very loud.

This leads me to the recommendations for the media that have come up during the last few months among NGOs and other organizations here in Bishkek, including UNDP, the Eurasia Foundation, Internews and others:

1. We have to take journalism to the regions. It does not make sense to have a watchdog protecting your front door while you have thieves breaking into your backyard or your garage. We have to have well-fed and well-equipped watchdogs everywhere in Kyrgyzstan which is not the case right now. The strongest dogs sit in Bishkek while the regions are neglected and left in a state of insecurity.
2. An independent center for journalists, a meeting point for the watchdogs is needed in Kyrgyzstan. This can be one of the already existing places that needs to be revived or it could also be a whole new project. The main goal is that the watchdogs find a common place where they can bark together to make their voices louder. The watchdogs need a common home where they feel free to voice their opinions and share them with other watchdogs so they can combine forces in the protection of their owners. They have to coordinate their actions, so they don’t all guard the same corner of their owner’s property but all different areas of it. This goes along with the strengthening of the Association of Journalists, an organization that is not yet strong enough for the time being. Dogs come in packs and they usually have a leader, someone who is respected by all of them and who leads the way. That is also what we need in Kyrgyzstan, a strong leadership among the watchdogs. At the same time, of course, the leader has to be sure that he has enough supportive watchdogs backing him up in case he gets in trouble with people who try to harm his owner.
3. Professionalism and ethics in the media are still weak and need to be improved. This is a call for training for the watchdogs. They need to learn who to be loyal to and how to protect their owners efficiently. If a watchdog bites, he will be punished, especially when he bites the wrong people. If he barks, he raises the same attention and usually does not get punished for it. The fine line between criticism on the one side and slander and libel on the other side is similar to the difference between barking and biting. Criticism is okay, slander and libel are not. But the watchdogs have to know that and they have to be told where their borders are. They do not always have the instinct naturally, in most cases it is a matter of the right training and the right education. So what we have to do is to educate and train the Kyrgyz watchdogs to give them the background knowledge that is crucial for their daily lives.

 

4. The last recommendation for the media in Kyrgyzstan that was raised in a lot of meetings of NGOs lately is the need for an independent printing plant. Mr. Niyazov also earlier said that 80% of the paper for the Kyrgyz newspapers are independently produced. Of course, this is true, but blank paper does not get us anywhere. There have to be articles on the paper, paper alone does not help us at all. Paper without letters is like a vacuum which has to be filled with content. Just like a dog cannot bite without teeth in his mouth, the watchdogs here, the journalists, need the necessary tools for their work. The fact that we only have one big governmental printing plant means that only some dogs have the ability to bite and others are left without teeth. I think that it is very important that all watchdogs have the same means and that they all are well-equipped with adequate tools. Only then they will be able to provide protection to society and react to all different sources of threats.