TAJIK SNAPSHOT OF THE UNITED STATES THROUGH THE LENS OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000524 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPAO TI SUBJECT: TAJIK SNAPSHOT OF THE UNITED STATES THROUGH THE LENS OF INDEPENDENT PRINT MEDIA REF: 06 DUSHANBE 447 DUSHANBE 00000524 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Reporting on the United States in the independent Tajik print media varies from week to week and issue to issue, but a definite pattern is discernable. The United States, along with Russia and Iran, are always featured prominently in the weekly independent print media. While each paper will typically publish two or more articles (from press release reprints to analytic editorials) that focus on Russia, the same publications will run at least one article on the United States and Iran respectively. In this week's snapshot, while every independent paper dutifully ran at least one article on the United States, one paper, "Vecherniy Dushanbe," ran three lengthy articles. ¶2. "Bisnis i Politika" and "Vecherniy Dushanbe" printed the Ambassador's reply to students of the Tajik Technological University who two weeks prior published an open letter attacking Post's Cultural Affairs Assistant for "slandering" Tajikistan. Post's Foreign Service National was indeed guilty of distributing the 2004 Human Rights Report, but the Ambassador took pains to explain that our employee was not responsible for any of the content of the report. Embassy representatives took part in a Human Rights Day discussion at their university in December (reftel). Rather than attack either the report or the Embassy officers, the students focused on the messenger, the local employee who simply handed out the report. Both papers gave the Ambassador's reply and a brief education on the Human Rights Report in general, equal placement compared with the students' letter - front-page mention and interior page full coverage. ¶3. COMMENT: Such print media volleys are now a regular part of Post's "black propaganda" deterrence strategy. Almost every month a venomous and factually impaired article appears in one of the independent, State-owned, or Internet-based news organizations. The Embassy, often under the Ambassador's signature, replies to the most egregious of these pieces with informed and balanced letters and articles written to counter the charges and educate the public further on U.S. goals and priorities. END COMMENT. ¶4. Most independent newspapers published Post's recent press releases on new border security projects for the U.S.-funded Tajik-Afghan bridge, and new law enforcement cooperation between the U.S. and Tajik governments. In addition, several papers published a variety of articles on U.S. issues sourced from Russian Internet news agencies and daily papers. Several publications ran short pieces on the Vice President's recent hunting accident, U.S. Middle East and global policy, and immigration issues. "Vecherniy Dushanbe" reprinted an interview with Bob Baer on U.S. interests in the region timed with the Russian release of the Baer-inspired movie, "Syriana" (originally published in Russia's "Novaya Gazeta"). ¶5. "Vecherniy Dushanbe" and "Kurier Tajikistana" also reprinted short blurbs from an Armenian-American Internet news source prematurely announcing the Ambassador's possible assignment to Armenia and the "recall" of the current U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. Tajikistan's Internet news agencies, "Avesto" and "Asia-Plus," reported this information earlier in the week. ¶6. COMMENT: Though the Tajik independent print media is by no means U.S.-centric, the coverage suggests a solid second ranking with Russia in terms of number of articles, with Iran creeping slowly up the interest ladder. The papers do publish slanderous articles that decent editors who actually checked their facts would steer clear of, but at least they likewise print our prompt responses. The media often track with Post on the issues DUSHANBE 00000524 002.2 OF 002 most relevant to the country: border security, corruption, Russia's interest in the region, "color revolutions," and economic and energy themes. In the end, although the Tajik independent print media tend to self-censor, they still provide a fairly lively discussion of issues. In their fairly extensive coverage of Russia, Iran, and the United States they try with varying degrees of success to mirror the government's open-door foreign policy. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND