tajikistan bosnia & herzegovina bulgaria uzbekistan albania croatia romania azerbaijan russia kyrgyzstan turkmenistan montenegro kazakhstan serbia kosovo macedonia ukraine belarus moldova georgia armenia DEVELOPMENT MEDIA OF SUSTAINABLE SUSTAINABILITY INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN INDEX EUROPE AND EURASIA 2013 MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2013 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2013 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia www.irex.org/msi Copyright © 2013 by IREX IREX 1275 K Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (202) 628-8188 Fax: (202) 628-8189 www.irex.org Managing editor: Leon Morse Project manager: Myles G. Smith IREX project and editorial support: Robert Zabel Editorial support: Donna Brutkowski, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Rick Spencer Copyeditors: Carolyn Feola de Rugamas, Carolyn.Ink; Kelly Kramer, WORDtoWORD Editorial Services Translation support: Ultra Translate, LLC 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 EUROPE & EURASIA MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2013 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 worl • 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/ Mediacentar Sarajevo http://www.media.ba BTC ProMedia (Bulgaria) http://www.btcpromedia.org Radio.net d.o.o. (Croatia) 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 E&E& EURASIA Introduction ..................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary .......................................................................................... ix Methodology ..................................................................................................xvii Southeast Europe TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE Albania ............................................................................................................... 3 Bosnia & Herzegovina ..................................................................................... 17 Bulgaria ............................................................................................................ 37 Croatia ............................................................................................................. 53 Kosovo ............................................................................................................. 69 Macedonia ....................................................................................................... 79 Montenegro .................................................................................................... 91 Romania ......................................................................................................... 101 Serbia ............................................................................................................. 115 Caucasus Armenia ......................................................................................................... 133 Azerbaijan ..................................................................................................... 147 Georgia .......................................................................................................... 161 Russia and Western Eurasia Belarus ........................................................................................................... 177 Moldova ......................................................................................................... 195 Russia ............................................................................................................. 209 Ukraine .......................................................................................................... 223 Central Asia Kazakhstan .................................................................................................... 243 Kyrgyzstan ..................................................................................................... 259 Tajikistan ........................................................................................................ 273 Turkmenistan ................................................................................................. 293 Uzbekistan ..................................................................................................... 305 introduction In somewhat freer societies, the competition from this torrent of new media players has fed deteriorations in professionalism, balance, and ownership transparency in the media as a whole. vi EUROPE & EURASIA MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2013 introduction INTRODUCTION I am pleased to introduce the latest annual Media Sustainability Index (MSI) study for Europe and Eurasia. The MSI, now in its 12th year, is one of the world’s most in-depth recurring studies of media health in the world. IREX Ideveloped the MSI to fill provide a complete picture of the development of sustainable, independent media. Looking beyond issues of free speech, the MSI aims to understand the degree to which the journalist corps is emerging as objective professionals, whether media firms can sustain robust news operations, and whether civil society supports the fourth estate. This year, we saw again how changes in government in this region, such as those in Georgia and Russia, can create profound impacts on business, civil society, and ultimately, the media itself. Our analysis is available in the Executive Summary that follows. How does the MSI make a difference in the lives of citizens in each country? The MSI measures a number of contributing factors of a well-functioning media system and considers both traditional media types and new media platforms. This level of investigation allows policymakers and implementers to analyze the diverse aspects of media systems and determine the areas in which media development assistance can improve citizens’ access to news and information. Armed with this essential knowledge, citizens can help improve the quality of governance through participatory and democratic mechanisms, and help government and civil society actors devise solutions to pervasive issues such as poverty, healthcare, conflict, and education. How does the MSI aid journalists and independent media supporters realize the improvements they seek? The MSI provides important—and useable—information for the media and media advocates in each country