Kyrgyz journalism has gone through a rather fruitful, yet at the same time, a thorny path from the day the first printed publications were established in Kyrgyzstan to the present day. This was related to the contradictory and complex nature of the very era in which it existed and functioned.
The Russian, and later the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and its local units, including the Kyrgyz regional party organization, later the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan, always viewed the party and Soviet press of the country and republic as the most reliable ideological weapon in solving various and complex tasks of socialist construction. Party organizations showed great concern for the development of mass media, but they were also constantly kept in check to ensure they operated in the desired direction. Therefore, all activities of the Soviet press were determined, directed, and controlled by party decisions and documents. This must always be kept in mind when studying the history of Kyrgyz journalism during the Soviet period.
Thus, from the very first days of its formation, with the release of the first issue of the first national newspaper "Erkin-Tö" on November 7, 1924, Kyrgyz journalism closely linked its activities with the tasks that the leading bodies and the entire working population were living for and fighting to accomplish.
The first Soviet publications in Kyrgyzstan: the newspapers "Erkin-Tö", "Batratskaya Pravda", "Leninchil Zhas", the magazines "Kommunist", "Dehkanin", "Zhanı Madaniyat Jolu" and others did much to establish and strengthen Soviet power; the foundations of socialism in the mountainous region, the process of settling the Kyrgyz, in the fight against the remnants of the past in people's consciousness, for the elimination of illiteracy among the population, and for the propaganda and implementation of new ways of thinking, actions, and traditions into the lives of the people.
It should be particularly emphasized that, guided by Lenin's teaching on the mass nature of the press, party and Soviet bodies, as well as the editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, constantly paid attention to the formation and development of the movement of worker and rural correspondents, creating a network of rabselkors' posts as a powerful support for newspapers and magazines in the field. With the help of worker and rural correspondents and their posts, the editorial offices of print publications widely and successfully conducted various propaganda, agitation, and organizational activities at enterprises and construction sites, in farms, and in remote regions of the republic, various raids, inspections, and checks on the fulfillment of plans and socialist obligations, organized subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, and held competitions for the best journalistic works of various genres.
Journalists of print publications and Kyrgyz radio, established in 1931, together with their voluntary assistants - worker and rural correspondents - actively participated in the socialist industrialization, collectivization of agriculture, and cultural revolution in the republic during the 1920s and 1930s. During these years, the ranks of newspapers and magazines in Kyrgyzstan were replenished with new publications. These were discussed in detail in the relevant sections of this textbook. The forms and methods of journalistic work that were applied by the staff of the print and radio editorial offices of that time were also described in detail.
During the Great Patriotic War, republican, regional, and district newspapers, public and artistic magazines, and Kyrgyz radio turned into a truly fighting weapon, and with their fiery and mobilizing words, they made a huge contribution to the defense of the honor and dignity of the Motherland and to victory over the enemy. The patriotic traditions of the Soviet press, born during the bloody battles against fascism, served Kyrgyz journalists for many years in their further propaganda, agitation, and organizational work for constructive and educational purposes.
The textbook also analyzes in detail the activities of the media in Kyrgyzstan during the post-war period. Their diverse work in restoring the national economy of the republic, which was devastated by the war, is particularly significant. In Kyrgyzstan, as in the entire country, much was done in the post-war period to resume the publication of suspended print editions, to increase the volume, frequency, and circulation of republican, regional, and district newspapers, and to expand their departments and staff units. With the construction of the television center in the capital of the republic and the start of operations of Kyrgyz television in December 1958, the activities of the media in Kyrgyzstan reached a new height.
By fulfilling the directive instructions of the party and the government of the country and the republic, the mass media of Kyrgyzstan in the 1960s to the first half of the 1980s contributed to the successful implementation of national economic plans and increased obligations, educating people, especially the youth, in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism. Later, from 1985 to 1991, they carried out extensive propaganda and explanatory work in the spirit of the ideas and plans of perestroika.
In this textbook, along with positive aspects, serious shortcomings in the activities of Soviet, including Kyrgyz, mass media during the functioning of the one-party, command-administrative system in the Soviet Union are also noted. Since almost from the first days of the birth of Soviet, including Kyrgyz, journalism, the strictest party control was established over the activities of all mass media, they could not write and speak in a timely manner about the negative consequences of shortcomings and mistakes in the party and state leadership of the country, its national economy, and public life. Undoubtedly, the objective living conditions of the country did not allow journalists to speak openly about them, but there were also such masters of the pen during the Soviet era as V. Ovechkin, A. Agranovsky, and Ch. Aitmatov, who managed to raise urgent, pressing issues of the development of the national economy, political and social life of the country and the republic in sharp critical problem-analytical articles and books in the 1950s and 1960s, which were taken into account in the preparation and adoption of various relevant resolutions and other directive documents by union and local party and state leaders. Special decisions were made based on individual media statements.
Over the years of sovereignty and democratic transformations, significant and important changes have occurred in the media system of the Kyrgyz Republic. In Kyrgyzstan, state and independent, including opposition and private, mass media have formed and developed. A sufficiently reliable legislative framework has been created in the country to ensure the normal operation and sustainable existence of all media.
This textbook provides a detailed analysis of the activities of various types of mass media in the Kyrgyz Republic, draws certain conclusions, and offers critical remarks and recommendations for improving the propaganda, agitation, and organizational work of creative teams and journalists, as well as for improving media legislation. For example, it identifies the need to adopt laws on state support for the media and social protection for journalists.
This manual particularly emphasizes that with the emergence and development of the Internet in the Kyrgyz Republic, the opportunities for the media to strengthen ties with their audience have significantly expanded, allowing them to convey their materials to readers, listeners, and viewers, as many of them have their own websites, regularly publish their articles and broadcasts, and the Kyrgyz news agency "Kabar" disseminates its information worldwide in English, Russian, and Kyrgyz.
New significant democratic transformations have taken place in the country's media system after the March revolution of 2005. As is known, with the arrival of the new government at various levels, much was said about reforming state media, about the denationalization of the National Television and Radio Corporation, government newspapers, etc. A special commission was created to develop specific proposals on this matter.
As a result, taking into account the opinions of the members of this commission as well as the broad public of the republic, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic K. Bakiev issued a number of decrees on further democratization of the country's media system. These include the decrees of the President "On the Reform of Certain State Mass Media" and "On the Establishment of the KR Broadcasting Company 'Public Television - ElTR'", adopted in December 2005. According to the first decree, the publishing houses (editorial offices) "Slovo Kyrgyzstana", "Kyrgyz Tuusu", as well as the editorial offices of regional newspapers established by state administrations, are subject to corporatization. According to the second decree, public television is created on the basis of the State Television and Radio Company "Osh-ZOOO". In addition, in January and November 2006, the President also signed decrees on the transformation of the National Television and Radio Corporation into the State Television and Radio Company and on the establishment of a Supervisory Board for the State Television and Radio Company.
All these decisions aim to transition state media to a corporate management method, involve the public in the management of state media, enhance their role in the public life of the country, ensure objective coverage of events in society, increase the role of public broadcasting, and more fully satisfy the production, political, cultural, educational, and social needs of readers, listeners, and viewers.
Of course, there are still many unresolved problems in Kyrgyz journalism. Among them, the most important and pressing issue is the future of district newspapers and the numerous teams of Kyrgyz journalists working in their editorial offices. There is still no clarity on this matter. Many issues in the book publishing industry, which is currently uncontrolled, require state support and resolution. These and other problems of the media in Kyrgyzstan must be addressed in our country in the spirit of democracy, transparency, and freedom.
Life continues, and Kyrgyz journalism is developing step by step, faithfully and fruitfully serving its Motherland and native people for over eighty years.
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