CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Duishebaeva, Aijamal Jenishbekovna |
|---|---|
| Title | EFFECTIVE DONOR STRATEGIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO A FREE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT IN SEMI-AUTHORITARIAN KAZAKHSTAN |
| Summary | This study raises the issues of international media assistance in semi-authoritarian countries by investigating Kazakhstan as a case study. Semi-authoritarian countries are difficult to democratize as they pretend to be willing to democratize the country, and use implicit ways to oppress civil and political freedoms and alternative views. Media interventions that work for democratizing, or post-conflict countries will not necessarily work under semi-authoritarian conditions. At the end of 1990s Kazakhstan transitioned from a democratizing country to a semi-authoritarian one, which brought new challenges to the international media donor community. These challenges include a less and less enabling political environment, policy change issues, increasing government control, drawbacks in donors operations, increasing demand for accountability, and ineffective programming. To address these challenges and improve donors strategies, this study provides several strategic and tactical recommendations including: regular analysis of the political environment; engaging non-western countries in media reforming; attracting outside political support; greater donor coordination and more transparency; and improved dialogue and consultations among civil society and media professionals. Programming-wise, it is recommended to concentrate on Internet-based media support, continue with the professionalization of journalists and prioritization of long-term projects, while striking a balance between projects of current needs and long-term institutional capacity building; and gaining public support through media literacy, raising public awareness on media related issues and engaging the wider public in advocacy for freedom of expression. |
| Supervisor | Irion Kristina |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/duishebaeva_aijamal.pdf |
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