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208 NAVBAHOR IMAMOVA Most respondents considered RFE/RL an open platform for the Uzbek political opposition, saying the station brought to mind “a very emotional and angry man”; the tone, some said, reflected the mood of some exiled activists. That was seen as the main reason why the station was regarded as less objective and balanced than BBC and VOA. While BBC’s Web site was praised as the most informative and appealing and RFE/RL was lauded for its coverage of internal affairs, most respondents believed that all three stations reflected the policies of their funding countries in some way. ■ I think that they present news based from their governments’ point of view. (Zulfiya, manager, 23) ■ I think that in spite of their openness and objectivity, these services are trying to present and reflect the policies of the country they are located in. (Olimjon, journalist, 24) The second study, carried out from 6 through 13 September 2005, consisted of monitoring one week’s worth of broadcasts of Uzbek-language programming from BBC, RFE/RL, and VOA. The author categorized stories based on whether they were international, regional, or local (see table 3). The study showed that, unsurprisingly, VOA—which has the shortest broadcast—delivered the fewest stories during that period, while RFE/RL, with the longest airtime daily, provided the most coverage. During the study period, VOA aired five stories about media freedom, human rights, and political opposition; RFE/RL aired twenty-three stories focusing on those topics; and BBC aired five. The most popular story on all the stations was about a court-ordered shutdown of Internews Network’s operations in Uzbekistan TABLE 3. CONTENT COVERAGE OF BBC, RFE/RL, AND VOA UZBEK FOR SEPT. 6SEPT. 13, 2005 STORY CONTENT BBC UZBEK RFE/RL UZBEK VOA UZBEK 1 HR. DAILY 4 HRS. DAILY ½ HR. DAILY International 12 32 9 Regional 18 27 5 Local 9 91 7 total 39 150 21 note: International: stories not directly related to Central Asia; regional: Central Asia stories; local: stories specific to the Uzbekistan, including about the opposition in exile, even if stories originated from outside the region. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING TO UZBEKISTAN 209 a er ten years of working there to improve the capacity of local media. Another dominant story during the survey week was about the refugee situation resulting from the Andijan uprising in the Ferghana Valley. The most widely covered international story was about Hurricane Katrina in the United States. For many of its listeners, RFE/RL best fills the gap created by the absence of strong local media outlets that fail to provide local news in a fair, balanced, and timely manner. In this fashion it is also fulfilling its mandate as a surrogate broadcaster. RFE/RL and VOA listeners had specific expectations from these two stations in addition to critical reports. They also wanted to hear more on health and science. Although some of the interviewees think that BBC should localize its presentation style, they commend it for its “so ” features and human interest stories. For many, VOA represented “an old voice from Washington” and was “an outdated as well as unintelligible voice that had to be replaced by native speakers ,” said a longtime listener from Tashkent. Research by InterMedia Survey Inc. in 2004 found that a majority of respondents regarded program content as too political, too foreign, and too irrelevant to their lives. Even some avid consumers of world news complained that VOA Uzbek focused too heavily on U.S. interests; they said they were bored by the reports about Saddam Hussein, the war in Iraq, conflict in the Middle East, and the daily activities of President Bush. Just as in any other media market in the world, many in the region look for good language use supported by a solid broadcast voice and authoritative style on international radio. Young professionals and sophisticated news consumers express deep yet equal interest in both serious and entertainment news. As the research indicates, an average international radio listener in Central Asia prefers more domestic than international news. The majority of people lack access to the Internet, with a penetration rate of only 16.8 percent (Internet World Stats 2010). There are mixed feelings about Russian media among people who struggle to find alternative sources of getting news. Many loyal RFE/RL and VOA listeners perceive Russian-language media with a great degree of suspicion although it is accessible in Uzbekistan...

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