The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia announces an annual competition among students from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, studying journalism and mass communication, law, cultural studies and anthropology, to participate in research and media monitoring projects.

Over the past six years, about 80 students have completed research internships.

This internship is scheduled for the period from December 15, 2023 to January 25,

2024.

In some cases, a student can start an internship earlier.

The internship will be carried out in a distance format or offline.

The selected interns will be trained in new analytical tools, will have access to databases

and, together with the team, will conduct a few studies.

Participation in the project is a good practice, upon completion of which an internship

confirmation letter will be issued. An important criterion for selecting interns is language proficiency, perseverance, attentiveness, a clear application of methodology and indicators in practice, a desire to work with large amounts of information.

Topics for research this year:

Freedom of expression in the conflict time

Media хenophobia and hate speech (focused on local countries context)

Media and conflict

Information wars and geopolitics

A motivation letter and a CV including the contacts of at least two referees should be sent to peacemakingandmediaca@gmail.com until 18:00 Bishkek time, December 6, 2023 marked "For internship".

Applications sent after this deadline will not be considered. The team does not comment on

the selection methods and does not respond to letters of inquiry after the end

of the call.

About the organization:The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia is a media

development, peace communications and freedom of expression organization focused on countering hate speech, discrimination in the media, on the Internet and public discourse.

Our vision statement aims at encouraging diversity, human rights, peace fair journalism access to information and citizens making informed opinions as a means of promoting a tolerant society.

Since 2011, the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia has implemented nearly 20 programs focused on these activities.

 

 

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How to counter aggressive communications on the Internet and what is the difference between cyberbullying and other forms of online aggression? Judges of the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan in Astana were trained in new tools developed by the School of Peacekeeping and Media Technology.

Inga Sikorskayia, media trainer and head of the School of Peacemaking, conducted several practical sessions in which 30 judges and court workers took part offline in the Supreme Court and 250 participants from regional Kazakhstan courts online.

The participants were learned effective strategies and gained valuable knowledge and skills that will help them communicate effectively. While working in teams, those present used real cases and, based on tools, were trained to manage aggressive communication.

The training was organized by the judicial administration together with the Legal Media Center with the support of the OSCE Program Office in Astana.

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The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology participated in a mid-term briefing on the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Kyrgyzstan.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls on all UN member states to undergo an expert assessment of their human rights situation every four and a half years.

The event was organized by the Bir Duino Human Rights Movement - Kyrgyzstan with the support of the Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for Central Asia. Representatives of international organizations, development agencies and the diplomatic corps took part in the mid-term briefing.

The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology (SPMT) has been participating in the review of the recommendation’s implementation in the field of freedom of expression and safety of journalists in Kyrgyzstan for the past three years.

Inga Sikorskaia, SPMT’s director, presented at the panel discussion an analysis of the implementation. 13 countries made 15 recommendations to Kyrgyzstan on freedom of expression issues.

" 10% have been fully implemented, 30% has been partially implemented, and 60% of the comments have not yet been implemented”,- pointed Sikorskaia. She also explained what the authorities should do to improve the situation as quickly as possible. For example, repeal legislative initiatives restricting freedom of expression, ensure consultation with civil society and media professionals on any future legislative initiatives, and refrain from adopting any restrictions that are inconsistent with the requirements of necessity and proportionality in Article 19(3) of the ICCPR.

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Authorities and society should make efforts to keep independent media existing in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, any attempts to toughen control over media and censor content should be abandoned in the first place.

The trends demonstrate that the freedom of speech gets worse in the last five years

Experts of the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology emphasise that dynamics of risks of journalist activity has changed considerably in five years. 17 incidents against media workers were reported in 2018, 49 incidents in 2019, 102 incidents in 2020. Their number declined to 44 in 2021, and the number of attacks increased significantly in 2022.

 

According to analysis and documentation of attacks/threats against media workers in Kyrgyzstan, 130 incidents were reported in 2022[1], which is three times more than last year.

 

Chart 1. Dynamics of reported attacks and threats from 2018 to 2022

Legal mechanisms are used as the key method of pressure on journalists, bloggers and media workers.

 

In 2022, the number of detentions, arrests, questionings increased as a result of publications in the media, as well as the number of calls of journalists and bloggers for interviews as witnesses.

 

Threats and online attacks like trolling, bullying, cyber-attacks, including during live broadcasting on social media, are the risks for media workers.

 

Professional activity and safety of investigative journalists, who shed light on corruption, cover other sensitive topics and demonstrate opposing views in their reports, are at serious risk.

 

The criminal case against investigative journalist Bolot Temirov and his deportation from Kyrgyzstan last year, arrest and criminal case against blogger Yrys Zhekshenaliev and similar cases confirm these concerns.

 

Chart 2. Number of incidents reported in 2022 by categories Blocking of websites of Azattyk Media, ResPublica, attempted blocking of the website of the news agency 24.kg in 2022 on formal grounds, based on the law "On fake (false) information” is the result of the legislation expanding the powers of authorities to have control over the media landscape.

 

The new draft law "On mass media” brought up for public discussion contains such risks. It requires re-registration of all media outlets, imposes restrictions on funding from abroad, and provides for sanctions for unclear "abuse of freedom of speech.”

 

On the World Press Freedom Day, we demand that the authorities encourage independent journalism, pluralism, diversity of media and abandon pressure on this fundamental human right.

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Opponents of Kyrgyz independent media must stop speaking because local audience prefer objective and diverse information, while media outlets serve public interests.

It’s due to independent media and journalists that Kyrgyzstan is still on best positions in international rankings[1], leaving all Central Asian states and many other states in the ex-Soviet area behind.

Attempts made by some groups who organised the protest in Bishkek demanding to close independent media outlets are against the constitution.  

They breach article 10 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, in particular regarding the statement that "media outlets are free and carry out their operations according to the law.”

The protest was held on October 13, 2022 in front of the Radio Azattyk office in Bishkek[2].

Moreover, the protest was organised amid consideration of the regular report by Kyrgyzstan on observation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee, which takes place this day.

An underhand initiative of deputies on countering independent media outlets and their demands of their closure are nothing else but attempts to escalate the situation in society.

Parliamentarian Dastan Bekeshev confirmed the fact of collection of signatures for closure of independent media outlets in his Telegram channel.

The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in CA expresses its utmost concern about the fact that such actions intend to distract people’s attention from the current socio-political agenda and serious issues in Kyrgyzstan.

Use of the long-time leverage against independent media, setting them against society can have negative consequences.

We urge legislators, the government and organisers of similar actions to stop manipulating by independent media and to immediately respond to the threats voiced against media groups.

Attacks on the media and media workers increase every year in Kyrgyzstan.

According to the annual report of the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in CA and the Justice for Journalists Foundation, the number of incidents against media has increased almost three times in the last five years in the country.

 

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The media of Central Asia, who informed about last week’s armed clashes and cross-border violence between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan must use peace journalism tools, according to the message of the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia.

 

Analysis of the media space showed that the armed clashes narratives dominated in daily news.

The audience received information on battles, victims, violence and military actions.

However, the media content was more war-oriented.

The media outlets published no materials focused on decisions offering and analysing various options of peaceful initiatives.

The School of Peacemaking encourages journalists and content creators to use peace journalism approaches. This approach helps editors and reporters to choose what and how to report on the events to consider non-violent response to the conflict.

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The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia is announcing the call for participation in the "Reporting on minority and marginalised groups issues’ workshop” to be held in late October thru early November 2022 in Bishkek.

The working languages of the event are Russian, Kyrgyz.

Journalists and editors from Kyrgyzstan are invited to participate in the training. All costs will be covered by organisers.

To take part in the call, you have to submit a filled application form, a CV of a potential participant, a scanned copy of a passport, as well as a motivation letter for participation to the e-mail peacemakingandmediaca@gmail.com marked as "For training”.

The main criteria of selection will be their current activities in the sphere, understanding of importance of human rights and promotion of minority and vulnerable group issues in the media.

The deadline for applications is 5.00 pm Bishkek time, October 5, 2022.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. The team does not comment its selection methods and does not reply to requests after the competition is over.

The event will be held under the Peacemaking School’s programme on the promotion of media freedom and diversity, supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

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"The bill to further undermine the independence of the OTRK, independent journalism, and freedom of expression more broadly, in Kyrgyzstan,- pointed out Inga Sikorskaia, director of the Peacemaking and Media Technology School, a journalist who spent 10 years working as an editor in the Public Broadcasting Corporation at the beginning of her media career.
Further,  the legislation would contradict recommendations supported by Kyrgyzstan during its 3rd cycle of Universal Periodic Review aimed at strengthening democratic institutions by protecting freedom of expression and media freedom.

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