OSCE supports conference on modernizing media industry on the occasion of Information and Press Day in Kyrgyzstan

Some 230 representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, press services of government bodies, independent media, academia, and international organizations took part in the second Annual Partnership Media Conference on 31 October 2019 in Bishkek.

The event marked Information and Press Day in Kyrgyzstan and was jointly organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek in co-operation with Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism. The attendees discussed mechanisms of modernizing the media industry as well as creating state-of-the-art multimedia centres in Kyrgyzstan. Media participation in elections, information security and countering cyber threat were also debated at the conference. The discussion is especially relevant in light of the implementation of the 2019 Decree of the Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Zheenbekov on “Digitalization of the Country and Regional Development”.

Azamat Kasybekov, Chairperson of the Independent Union of Journalists of Kyrgyzstan, noted: “This media conference has become a traditional platform that unites journalists to address challenges arising due to modernization of technologies and changing trends in the consumption of information. Therefore, it is of high importance to have such dialogue between the government, the media, and civil society to address these issues".

Kyrgyzstan has celebrated Information and Press Day since the publication of its first national newspaper “Erkin Too” on 7 November in 1924.