Kabardino-Balkaria Press

Regional Rossiya television channel announced layoff

18.01.2005 Editor

KABARDINO-BALKARIA, January 18, Caucasus Times – Managers of the regional branch of Rossia TV, a state-run television channel have announced recently a dismissal of at least eighty journalists and workers, Caucasus Times correspondent reports citing a source in the television company. The layoff was due to the budget cuts by Rossia TV company and the local authorities, though the republic’s government had to invest six million rubles in October, 2004 for the national television station after public protests in Kabardino-Balkaria. Scorse of public organizations had protested a reduction of broadcasting in national languages of the republic.

Meanwhile, according to the journalists, they do not know what the money has been spent for. Still, not a single show, or program have been presented on the television channel since January 1, let alone daily news broadcasted only in Russian, the journalists were quoted as saying. Ruslan Zhanimov, the chairman of the republic’s TV and Radio broadcasting company declined to comment on the situation.

Caucasus Times

Editor

The “Free Eurasia” project is an independent media platform based in Prague, with an ambitious mission to provide the regions of Central Asia and the Caucasus with high-quality, objective and timely information in their national languages. We unite the expertise of editors and journalists working in Tajik, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Circassian, Avar and Russian to break the monopoly of state-run Russian-language media and amplify the voices of local communities. Direction Our work focuses on comprehensive coverage of social, political, economic and cultural developments in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as the issues facing diasporas in Russia, Turkey, China and other countries. We produce news, analytical articles, video reports, podcasts, interviews and journalistic investigations. Special attention is paid to topics rarely addressed by state media: human rights violations, corruption, ethnic and cultural identity, migration and international relations. We strive to engage audiences of all ages, with a particular emphasis on young people and residents of remote regions, offering them digital content in their native languages. Goal Our main goal is to promote the development and sustainability of independent media in Central Asia and the Caucasus. We aim to strengthen the region’s informational sovereignty by expanding access to truthful sources and raising media literacy. At the same time, we support the development of national languages as key elements of identity and cultural heritage, encouraging public discussion and engagement. The project seeks to become a catalyst for building a strong civil society and defending democratic values, helping to train new professional journalists and fostering international cooperation.

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