Last week I attended a big conference that OSCE annually stages in Central Asia. These conferences mainly deal with the state of mass media in respective countries. No doubt, that freedom of the press is among the major issues of concern for OSCE, especially when it comes to the blacklisted countries where journalism appears to be one of the most dangerous endeavors.

It is hard not to admire the consistency of the organization that keeps being more or less optimistic about the future of independent mass media in the region. Even in spite of the fact that it already became clear, that the regimes on the ground are less than interested in letting independent publications function. It should also be noted that nowadays the confrontation between the proponents of the free press and those, unwilling to get journalism unleashed, is becoming more sophisticated.

One of the testimonies for that is the level of discussions at the events, staged by international organizations, aiming to protect independent mass media in the region and even to boost their development. In this light, I recall several mass media conferences organized by OSCE in the past several years. Before we used to be very straightforward in our discussion: we talked about the freedom of speech and the necessity to fight oppressive governments. It turned out that such discussions hardly bore fruit or really contributed to mass media democratization in given conditions. Though as time’s passed we got more sophisticated in an effort to bring more freedom into the press’ practices in former USSR republics of Central Asia. As a matter of fact, we stopped being pathetic and start being more or less practical in the common search for the ways to liberalize mass media.

Thus, the latest OSCE even that was organized in collaboration with Eurasia Foundation in Central Asia was entitled “Mass Media as Business”. The main idea of the gathering, which was, by the way, attended by the Special OSCE Representative on the Freedom of Mass Media Miklos Harasti, was to discuss real mechanisms of liberalizing mass media through turning them into profitable businesses.

In his opening remarks the head of the OSCE center in Bishkek Markus Muller pointed at the very law independence of regional mass media from political forces that “don’t hesitate to manipulate the press”. He also emphasized in his speech: “mass media should be society owned, society ruled and society operated”. Surprisingly enough, the only official representative of the Kyrgyz government at the conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alykbek Djekshenkulov, didn’t oppose this idea. Djekshenkulov in his address was more than liberal: he mentioned about the state support of mass media in Kyrgyzstan and about the decree of the prime minister aiming to curb any restrictions of journalistic freedoms. I, personally, was weeping with emotions when I heard these revelations from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Too bad he is not on the position of making any waves when it comes to mass media.

Several quotes from other participants of the conference:

Miklos Harasti : “Privatization has to go hand in hand with multiplication of ownership in mass media. ”

Ioanna Avadani (Executive director, Center of Independent Journalism, Romania): “Media is and should remain the only business enjoying special constitutional protection. ”

Evhen Hlebovozky (Independent PR consultant, Ukraine): “Earning money doesn’t guarantee 100% independence of mass media, but nowadays it still seems to be the most efficient way to ensure your independence ”

Overall there were lots of recommendations spelled out during the conference. Driven by their best intentions, international experts were advocating profit-oriented approach as one of the means that can help sustaining mass media independence in the region. “Aboriginal” participants of the forum were nodding in agreement and making notes. Some of them- just out of politeness. As one of the participants commented after the event: “We appreciate their experience but don’t see any real mechanisms for the implementation of everything that has been said. It is great when you can be a successful businessman in the sphere of mass media but the trick is that even your profits will not necessarily ensure your independence. In our countries official (or semi official, for that matter) power controls every enterprise and no one cares about the legality and the transperancy of the process.”