Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASHGABAT876
2007-08-24 08:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

HARD-WON 2007 TV CO-OP ON ECOLOGICAL ISSUES A GOLDEN

Tags:  PGOV PREL PROP KPAO OPRC OIIP TX 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8946
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0876/01 2360858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240858Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9236
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2683
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0510
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0380
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-2/REA/NMJIC-J2//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/RUE//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000876 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/PPD, PA/OBS/BS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PROP KPAO OPRC OIIP TX
SUBJECT: HARD-WON 2007 TV CO-OP ON ECOLOGICAL ISSUES A GOLDEN
OPPORTUNITY FOR TURKMEN JOURNALISTS


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000876

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/PPD, PA/OBS/BS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PROP KPAO OPRC OIIP TX
SUBJECT: HARD-WON 2007 TV CO-OP ON ECOLOGICAL ISSUES A GOLDEN
OPPORTUNITY FOR TURKMEN JOURNALISTS



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: In late June, a three-man crew of Turkmenistan
state television journalists completed a high-spirited and
enlightening TV CO-Operative Project focused on urban environmental
issues. Despite worse-than-usual bureaucratic hurdles prior to
departure, the crew's experience in the United States far exceeded
expectations. The crew traveled to Washington D.C., New York, Reno
and Los Angeles, conducted 18 interviews and shot 12 hours of
footage to develop a report for Turkmen state television. Post will
continue to support the TV-Coop alumni in their efforts to tailor
and place the footage shot on Turkmenistan state television.
Embassy's PAO recently reviewed the first 25-minute long documentary
for broadcast and found it to be acceptable and even mildly
pro-American. END SUMMARY.

MAKING IT HAPPEN: A CHALLENGE IN ITSELF


3. (SBU) In the three years since post's first TV CO-OP project,
state media has expressed eagerness to participate in such
opportunities while the Ministry of Culture (which oversees state
media) has dragged its feet on participants, funding, and other
crucial details. The host government delivered the names of this
year's team, journalist/editor Enebay Kakabayeva, cameraman Revshen
Hadjiyev and interpreter Shohrat Pirmuhammedov, only in the week
prior to departure, having shuffled out those with whom post had
been communicating for the past year. Nonetheless, the crew eagerly
picked up the project envisioned by the previous nominees to examine
the public, private, and nonprofit roles in developing environmental
policy and practice in U.S. cities. The topic is of particular
relevance to Turkmenistan, where urban development equals
beautification and environmental protection means planting thousands
of non-native trees around Ashgabat -- both policies determined by
diktat without a plan for sustainability.

WASHINGTON D.C.


4. (U) The crew began their project June 2 in Washington D.C. with
six interviews of representatives of the George C. Marshall
Institute, National Environmental Trust, Environmental Protection
Agency, Washington D.C. City Hall, and World Resources Institute.
The crew also interviewed civil rights activist and speaker Dr.
Elbert Ransom, who had visited Turkmenistan in early March as a
Black History Month speaker. (NOTE: Post wishes to reinforce such
connections whenever possible, as personal relationships are central
to Turkmen culture -- including political culture. END NOTE.) The
crew also visited the Foreign Press Center and U.S. Department of
State.

NEW YORK CITY


5. (U) Having traveled by train to New York City on June 6, the
crew conducted five interviews at a variety of places, including the
New York Council on the Environment, Natural Resources Defense
Council, Department of Environmental Science of Barnard College, and
Green Market Managers Stand. The crew also spent a day
sight-seeing.

NEVADA


6. (U) On June 10, the TV crew flew to Reno, Nevada -- which has a
sister state partnership with Turkmenistan spearheaded by the Nevada
National Guard. Here the crew felt most at home, where the weather
and small-town atmosphere are reminiscent of Turkmenistan. Reno's
rapid growth rate was another parallel, although the frank public
discussion of these issues is not. Nevada National Guard leadership
and staff gave two interviews and detailed the active 11-year sister
state partnership of which the journalists had previously been
unaware. (NOTE: Post tries to drum up state media interest in the
partnership activities on a case-by-case basis but the Reno visit
will encourage better Turkmen media coverage of such events. END
NOTE.) The crew reported they were touched by the Guard's personal
investment in the partnership and were surprised to see a Turkmen
corner at the NNG headquarters with souvenirs and photographs from
Turkmenistan. The crew later met with the Reno-Sparks Visitors and
Convention Bureau and visited Lake Tahoe, Lake Pyramid Indian
Reservation, Reno TV Station, and the Director of the Department of
Environmental Sciences at the University of Nevada for interviews

ASHGABAT 00000876 002 OF 003


focusing on the environment.


7. (U) In Virginia City, PA/OBS/BS Bill McGuire encouraged the crew
to take interviews on the street and in shops with local residents,
who spoke openly about the city's issues. Following lunch in Carson
City, at local watering hole "Hattie's," the crew decided to do a
feature on the restaurant where the manager and customers welcomed
them as visitors from Turkmenistan and gave their greetings for
eventual airing on Turkmenistan television. The crew also met with
local environmental activists and finished the day with a dinner and
home stay with two local musicians, who compose
"environmentally-friendly" music for hospitals. The crew noted the
warmth of their hosts and were surprised by the family's -- and
especially the children's -- high degree of engagement in their
community.

LOS ANGELES


8. (U) On June 13, the crew flew to Los Angeles and over three days
conducted five interviews at the Eaton Canyon Nature Preserve in
Pasadena, Environmental Information Center of Los Angeles, Tree
People in Beverly Hills and at public television station KCET of Los
Angeles. Among the interviewees was Dr. Gregory Payne, who visited
Turkmenistan in early March as a communication and media speaker.


9. (U) The crew returned to Washington D.C. on June 16 and departed
the United States June 19.

CREW IMPRESSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS


10. (U) Upon their return to Turkmenistan, the crew gave Public
Affairs Staff an ecstatic review of their trip. They were impressed
by the U.S. government's commitment to environmental issues and
surprised at the level of non-state engagement in policy issues
there. The home-stay and personal connections they made with
interviewees and people on the street enriched the program and broke
up a busy schedule of interviews and travel. The crew regretted
that they lacked the time to record additional places and themes
they know would have appealed to their viewers, but acknowledged
that greater pre-program planning would have mitigated this issue.
The crew showered praise on McGuire, whose professionalism and
flexibility ensured the program's success under difficult
circumstances. The crew urged additional such projects for state
media journalists to improve their professional skills and broaden
their creative horizons.

FOLLOW-UP


11. (U) The Ministry of Culture also appears to be supporting the
journalists' efforts to produce a follow-up report for state
television -- a very good sign in an environment where exchange
alumni have been ostracized by or even fired by their state
employers. In mid-August, the crew provided a required transcript
and recording of their first installment of two planned reports on
environmental issues. The narration of the report is itself a
positive sign because it calls on the viewers to draw their own
conclusions about environmental issues. After balanced discussion
of major U.S. environmental problems, the report ends with a
positive message about the concerns and efforts of Americans in
protecting the environment. The crew also plans to do a longer,
general "Americana"-themed piece featuring the interviewed Americans
who had visited Turkmenistan and their small town restaurant
coverage in Carson City, Nevada.


12. (SBU) COMMENT: The TV CO-OP program and other hands-on exchange
and training opportunities are critical for posts such as
Turkmenistan. Here, political isolation has given state media more
than usual power to craft the public's perceptions of the outside
world. Although the host government just reopened a faculty of
journalism at a major state university and has stated support for
exchange programs, state journalists lack opportunities for
professional development, Internet is severely limited, and their
work is heavily monitored and censored. The Ministry of Culture's
acceptance of and support for this program, and the journalists'
positive experiences, will encourage further progress in the media
sector. Our special thanks go to PA/OBS/BS George Santulli and Bill
McGuire without whose efforts and commitment this project would not
have been possible to implement. END COMMENT.

ASHGABAT 00000876 003 OF 003



HOAGLAND