tajikistan bosnia & herzegovina bulgaria uzbekistan albania croatia romania azerbaijan russia kyrgyzstan turkmenistan montenegro kazakhstan kosovo serbia macedonia ukraine belarus moldova georgia armenia MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN EUROPE AND EURASIA 2012
MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2012 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia
MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2012 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia www.irex.org/msi Copyright 2012 by IREX IREX 2121 K Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20037 E-mail: msi@irex.org Phone: (202) 628-8188 Fax: (202) 628-8189 www.irex.org Project manager: Leon Morse Assistant editor: Dayna Kerecman Myers IREX project and editorial support: Robert Zabel Copyeditors: Carolyn Feola de Rugamas, Carolyn.Ink; Kelly Kramer, WORDtoWORD Editorial Services Design and layout: OmniStudio Printer: Westland Enterprises, Inc. Notice of Rights: Permission is granted to display, copy, and distribute the MSI in whole or in part, provided that: (a) the materials are used with the acknowledgement The Media Sustainability Index (MSI) is a product of IREX with funding from USAID. ; (b) the MSI is used solely for personal, noncommercial, or informational use; and (c) no modifications of the MSI are made. Acknowledgment: This publication was made possible through support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. DGS-A- 00-99-00015-00. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are those of the panelists and other project researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or IREX. ISSN 1546-0878 ii
USAID USAID is the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America s interests while improving lives in the developing world. The Agency carries out U.S. foreign policy by promoting broad-scale human progress at the same time it expands stable, free societies, creates markets and trade partners for the United States, and fosters good will abroad. Spending less than one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget, USAID works in over 100 countries to: promote broadly shared economic prosperity; strengthen democracy and good governance; improve global health, food security, environmental sustainability and education; help societies prevent and recover from conflicts; and provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., USAID s strength is its field offices around the world where it works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, the private sector, international agencies, other governments, and other U.S. Government agencies. USAID provides assistance in five regions of the world: Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean; Europe and Eurasia; and The Middle East. IREX IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally. We enable local individuals and institutions to build key elements of a vibrant society: quality education, independent media, and strong communities. To strengthen these sectors, our program activities also include conflict resolution, technology for development, gender, and youth. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $60 million and a staff of over 500 professionals worldwide. IREX employs field-tested methods and innovative uses of technologies to develop practical and locally-driven solutions with our partners in more than 100 countries. Implementing Partners IREX wishes to thank the following organizations that coordinated the fieldwork for and authored a number of the studies herein: Women s Media Watch Azerbaijan http://www.wmw-az.org/ Innovative Solutions Inc. (Kyrgyzstan) Mediacentar Sarajevo http://www.media.ba BTC ProMedia (Bulgaria) http://www.btcpromedia.org Institute for Advanced Studies GAP (Kosovo) http://www.gapinstitute.org/ Media Development Center (Macedonia) Independent Journalism Center (Moldova) http://ijc.md/eng/ Media LTD (Montenegro) http://www.media.cg.yu/index.htm Center for Independent Journalism (Romania) http://www.cji.ro/ iii
EUROPE & EURASIA
Introduction... vii Executive Summary... ix Methodology...xvii Southeast Europe Albania... 3 Bosnia & Herzegovina... 19 Bulgaria... 39 Croatia... 55 Kosovo... 75 Macedonia... 87 Montenegro... 97 Romania... 111 Serbia... 129 Caucasus Armenia... 147 Azerbaijan... 161 Georgia... 175 Russia and Western Eurasia Belarus... 191 Moldova... 209 Russia... 227 Ukraine... 241 Central Asia Kazakhstan... 267 Kyrgyzstan... 289 TABLE OF CONTENTS Tajikistan... 315 Turkmenistan... 337 Uzbekistan... 349 v