Media of Kazakhstan

The mass media in Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстанның республикасы бұқаралық ақпарат құралдары, ''Qazaqstannyń respýblıkasy buqaralyq aqparat quraldary'') refers to mass media outlets based in The Republic of Kazakhstan. Media of Kazakhstan are a set of public information transfer agencies in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Constitution of Kazakhstan guarantees freedom of press, but privately owned and opposition media have been subject of censorship. In 2004 the International Federation of Journalists identified a "growing pattern" of intimidation of the media, and in 2012 several opposition media outlets were ordered to be shut down on charges of promoting "extremism".

All media must register with the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports, with the exception of websites.

Newspapers

A wide range of publications, mostly supportive of the government, are available. The authorities operates national language (Kazakh) newspapers and the only regular national Russian (the international language of Turkic peoples of the Soviet area) language newspaper. There were 990 privately owned newspapers and 418 privately owned magazines. Those supportive of the opposition face harassment and lawsuits.

Online news websites include:
* Nursultan News
* Aikyn
* Liter (newspaper)
* Kapital (website)
* Tengri News (Kazakh news)
* Young Alash
* Business.kz
* Kazakhstan Trust
Nur.kz

Intimidation and government-ordered closures

'' Respublika'' is possibly the main opposition publication. A number of its issues were printed as ''Golos Respubliki''.

Increasingly, owners of printing presses refused to print the publication after a failed attempt by a government representative to buy a controlling stake in ''Respublika'' in November 2001.Wines 2012
/ref> (One owner found a human skull placed on his doorstep.)

A mid-March 2002 court order to stop printing for three months, was evaded by printing under other titles, such as ''Not That Respublika''.

On another occasion, a decapitated dog was hung from ''Respublika'' building with a screwdriver sticking into its side and a note reading "there will be no next time" the dog's head was left outside Irina Petrushova's home. Three days later, the newspaper's offices were firebombed and burned to the ground. In July, Petrushova was given an eighteen-month jail sentence on tax charges, but served no time after a judge ruled that the case fell under an amnesty. (Petrushova eventually left the country for Russia, where she continued to publish via the Internet, living apart from her family for their safety. In recognition of her work, she was awarded a 2002 International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based NGO.)

In May 2005 the Kazakh Information Ministry ordered the paper to be closed, accusing it of inciting ethnic hatred by publishing an interview with a Russian politician who made derogatory remarks about ethnic Kazakhstanis. The paper's deputy editor Galina Dyrdina claimed the closure was politically motivated, and vowed to appeal. The paper continued to be published under a variety of titles.

In November 2012, before the anniversary of the Mangystau riots, Kazakh authorities raided and searched Respublika's office and again suspended its publication while a verdict on criminal charges was still pending. On 21 November, Prosecutors moved to ban Respublika including eight newspapers and 23 Internet sites under its umbrella, along with the Vzglyad newspaper and its Internet sites for "propagating extremism". Reporters Without Borders described this as a "pretext" and said it would be the end of pluralism in Kazakhstan. A month later, the ban was ordered.

A magazine and two other newspapers

Other media experienced difficulties during the November 2012 case against media sources in Kazakhstan; ''Altyn Tamyr'', ''Tortinshi Bilik'' and '' DAT'' (with its website—dat.kz—inaccessible as of December 2012).

International reaction to assaults on journalists

In 2012 the International Press Institute called for the government to investigate an assault on Ularbek Baitailaq—a contributor to opposition media '' DAT'' and ''Tortinshi Bilik'', and archivist of the Kazakh National Archive). The Committee to Protect Journalists called for investigations into the assault of both Maksim Kartashov and Baitailaq.

Television

Qazaqstan is the State Television Channel of Kazakhstan. Other country-wide television stations are Khabar and Yel Arna.

Gakku TV and Toi Duman are music channels dedicated solely to only airing music produced in Kazakhstan.

There are 116 private channels, including Channel 31, KTK and Perviy Kanal Evraziya.

Radio

The state-owned Kazakh Radio broadcasts in official and Russian languages. A wide number of private radio stations are also available including Europa Plus, (Russian Radio), Hit FM, Radio Azattyq and Radio Karavan.

Media websites

The country had 5.4 million internet users in 2011—upKazakhstan country profile
/ref> from 2010. "Twitter, Facebook and YouTube audience share is less than 0.4%", according to BBC
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