Although the Tajik Press Day is marked on March 11, it has been decided to hold all the main events dedicated to the Tajik Press Day in Dushanbe today.

Thus, a ceremonial meeting is taking place at the Tajik Academic Drama Theater named after Abulqasem Lohouti in Dushanbe today afternoon and the award ceremony for the winners of the Abulqasem Lohouti Award is being held on the sidelines of the meeting. 

Established in 1967, the Abulqasem Lohouti Award is given for significant contributions in the area of journalism.

Recall, by president’s decree the Tajik Press Day has been marked on March 11 since 1993.  The Tajik Press Day is marked on March 11 in honor of the first Tajik-language newspaper, Bukhoroi Sharif (The Glorious Bukhara), the first edition of which was issued on March 11, 1912.

Meanwhile, some media outlets reported in late February that the state budget for 2017 envisions a 20 percent cut in expenses for state-run media.  According to them, journalists can now expect to continue getting their salaries paid by the state, the expense of per-story fees have to be met by the outlet itself. 

Tajik Minister of Culture Shamsiddin Orumbekov has denied the report that the government reduced financing of state-run media.  He said the financing of state-run media has remained at the same volume but it’s time for them to stop being dependents and seek new sources of financing.  

According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, official state media was allocated around 100 million somoni in 2016.  Of that total, seven-tenths went to TV and radio, with the remainder going to print outlets.  Around 10 TV stations, seven radio stations, 110 print publications and the Khovar national news agency are funded with that money.