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A field blog entry from Turkmenistan, a difficult-to-access country, reveals both a general hunger for objective news and skepticism about outsiders' ability to portray the country in an accurate light. The loss of Russian and other international broadcasting content on terrestrial television has narrowed information options in a country with little internet penetration. Could Azerbaijanis be looking to Iran for news instead? The government in Kazakhstan is tightening its grip on the media, through censorship and through ownership, fueling debate in the country about media freedom. InterMedia surveys show a base of support for less government control. As in many other former Soviet republics, use of the web is still at modest levels on a national scale despite notable growth in 2006 and 2007. But regular internet users lead the region in connection speeds. Social networking sites are a big draw for Russia's young media elites-those with at least some university education and who log on the to the web frequently. Find out more about their online and offline media habits in this article. Growth in internet use in Kazakhstan is poised to accelerate as growing competition leads to faster connection speeds. But an InterMedia focus group points to concerns among users about sharing personal information online. InterMedia's latest surveys in Central Asia point to an interesting paradox: though Kazakhstan is the economic giant of the Central Asian republics, that country's citizens are least satisfied with their own standard of living-and even less so over time. Print media has the modest ranking as the fourth most popular source for news and information after TV, friends and family, and radio. Still, the Ukrainian print market is rapidly developing and attracting interest from investors who see profit potential. About two-thirds of the population say they have access to a cellular phone, a marked rise from 51 percent in 2006 and 39 percent in 2005. As political turmoil continues to swirl in Kyiv, few Ukrainians believe the country has achieved genuine democracy. Skepticism about democratic development also probably reflects that average Ukrainians have seen very little improvement in their own economic conditions since the Orange revolution of 2004. As Ukraine's politicians cautiously consider membership in NATO, public support for such a move has been eroding steadily. But the prospect of joining the EU gets higher marks from the general public. |
Regional Overview
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For more information on InterMedia's research in the MENA region, contact: |
The Russian government's tightening grip on news and information sets the tone for media markets in much of the region within the former Soviet Union's borders. After imposing tough restrictions on broadcasting and print outlets, Moscow is now targeting internet content providers through a recently-reorganized media watchdog agency.
Internet use in Russia, particularly in the big cities, is growing rapidly, with 56% of survey respondents in Moscow and 46 percent in St. Petersburg saying they log on to the web at least once a week. Nearly a third of regular users in such cities have high-speed access. The government will have a hard time controlling content through filtering mechanisms, since there are numerous internet gateways connecting the country to the rest of the world. In Belarus, where political oppression and censorship are particularly stringent, the web allows many citizens to get alternative points of view, even though the government blocks internet access at sensitive times. Slow dial-up connections also hamper internet users. In Ukraine, nearly half of regular web users have high-speed connections and the government places no restrictions on access. Overall, Ukraine's media market is open and free.
Countries in central Asia--with the exception of Kyrgyzstan--are heavily controlled media markets, with most national broadcast monopolies in the hands of relatives of national rulers. Overt pressure on journalists is common and criticizing the president is a criminal offense in several countries. The media situation largely reflects a more general backpedaling in regional political reform efforts over the last few years. There are independent media outlets in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but they operate under the cloud of official reprisal. Central asians get the bulk of their information from television, which dwarfs radio in the region. In Kazakhstan, for example, 83 percent of respondents to an InterMedia survey profess to watching TV daily, versus 26 percent who listen to radio as often. Internet access is effectively limited to large cities, with general use levels very low: the highest is Kyrgyzstan, where 8% of respondents say they go online at least weekly.
TV also rules the media roost in the Caucuses countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where radio listening has actually dropped over the past several years. News content focuses on the longstanding conflicts in the South Caucuses--in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh. InterMedia has seen a rapid rise in cell phone use in the region, thanks in part to lower prices brought by increased competition among service providers.