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Country Reports
Armenia
Albania
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Georgia
Kyrgyzstan
Kazakstan
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Yugoslavia
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Measured by the yardstick of the Soviet era, media in the region now operate with considerable freedom. And measured against the dozens of journalists killed or kidnapped in the mid-1990s, this year's record is a significant improvement: two journalists killed in Russia, one in Georgia, and no new kidnappings in the secessionist region of Chechnya, where 21 journalists were captured in 1997.
But press freedom suffers when journalists are forced to avoid a story of the magnitude of the Russian-Chechen conflict because it is simply too dangerous to go to Chechnya anymore. And it is now apparent that gauging press freedom in the former Soviet republics' so-called "emerging democracies" by contrasting them to the totalitarian extreme produced some overly sanguine assessments of how much progress they had made.
By the standards of established democracies, only a handful of these countries, most notably the Czech Republic and Hungary, offer meaningful protection for their vibrant independent media. Elsewhere, journalists still face a variety of repressions. Some operate in countries that have not moved far from the old Soviet-era model. In Azerbaijan, for example, President Heydar Aliyev dropped formal censorship in August, but officials have increased the use of criminal libel statutes to suppress critical reporting about the president. The government of Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko banned distribution of official documents to independent media and forbade state agencies from advertising in non-state media. Tajikistan and the other former Soviet republics in central Asia are ruled by men who show little interest in democratic principles or free press guarantees. Even Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev--viewed by Western leaders as progressive in the Soviet era--has turned on the country's independent media, apparently fearing that vigorous public scrutiny would jeopardize his re-election.
In Russia, the regional giant, the early promise of democratic reform remains unfulfilled for the press as for other sectors of society. Though the press is diverse, irreverent, and lively, media are controlled by moguls who use these holdings to leverage political power. The result is a pattern of self-censorship among the editors of newspapers and broadcast outlets: Stories that might challenge the owner's goals often go unreported.
Scrutinizing the powerful remains a dangerous business in Russia: The two Russian journalists assassinated this year were both outspoken editors known for their investigative coverage of local officials. As with the other 14 murders of journalists in Russia documented by CPJ since 1994, no one has been convicted of these crimes.
Independent media throughout the region receive vital support from foreign donors, who consider a thriving, open press essential for strengthening fledgling democracies. Training programs, financial support, legal assistance and fellowships have helped independent publishers and broadcasters to survive in such hostile climates as Belarus, Croatia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
But international support has not inoculated the region's independent media against the conditions that make their environment precarious. One of the most virulent threats this year came from Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic as he negotiated with the West to end his assault on the rebellious province of Kosovo. Milosevic had used the threat of NATO air strikes as a pretext to launch a crackdown on journalists who dared question his nationalist policies. But when the NATO threat was resolved, Milosevic's campaign of repression continued. By year's end, Yugoslav authorities had closed three newspapers and two radio stations, and the government threatened criminal charges against more media outlets. Serb journalists said they had learned a bitter lesson: Foreign aid would not ensure their survival unless Western donors were willing to make the safety of independent media a non-negotiable condition of peace in the region.
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Chrystyna Lapychak is program coordinator for Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics.
Paul LeGendre is research assistant for the program. He did extensive research for this section and wrote the analyses of Azerbaijan, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Irina Kuldjieva-Faion, former research assistant for the program, did extensive research for this section and wrote the analyses of Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia.
Ann Cooper, CPJ's executive director, wrote the overview of the region, and the analyses of Belarus and Yugoslavia.
Nicholas Daniloff, director of the journalism program at Northeastern University, wrote the analyses of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Anne Garrels, special correspondent for National Public Radio, wrote the analysis of Russia.
Elizabeth Gillette, a communications consultant based in Munich, wrote the analysis of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ronald Koven, European representative of the World Press Freedom Committee, wrote the analysis of Armenia.
James Ross, associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University and the author of two non-fictional books, Escape to Shanghai and Caught in a Tornado, wrote the analysis of Ukraine.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided vital support for CPJ's efforts to foster press freedom in Russia.
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