DUSHANBE, December 14, 2014, Asia-Plus – An annual reporting back meeting of the Media Council of Tajikistan took place in Dushanbe on December 12.

Head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), Nouriddin Qarshiboyev, was elected new head of the Media Council of Tajikistan.

The meeting also discussed issues related to shortage of skilled personnel in Tajikistan’s journalism, dispute between journalist Orzou Isoyev and Qnet’s Office in Tajikistan and problems of regionalism in private media sources.   

The Tajik Media Council was founded in October 2009.  About 60 media representatives attended the founding session of the Tajik Media Council on October 30, 2009.  Each of them could propose one person as a candidate for the Council.  Twenty candidates were nominated, and out of these, nine were elected as councilors.  With OSCE Office support to its first year of formal operation, the Tajik Media Council has been provided with expertise and training opportunities that have enabled it to promote professional ethics in Tajik journalism.  In 2010, additional 15 media outlets signed up to the mechanism and agreed to its code of ethics.