KAZAKHSTAN: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION AT EDITOR'S CLUB

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000134

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI KPAO KDEM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION AT EDITOR'S CLUB


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


2. (U) SUMMARY: On January 21, the Ambassador attended a meeting
of the Astana Editors-in-Chief Club. Though this organization has
been in existence for some time, it has recently risen in profile
through increased government ties and impressive leadership. The
government-approved Editors' Club combines both opposition and
pro-government journalists. The Ambassador was the first foreign
diplomat ever invited to attend one of its sessions. Drawing on his
background in journalism and public affairs, he spurred a lively,
two-and-a-half-hour discussion about the media situation in
Kazakhstan, and answered - and corrected - many misperceptions about
U.S. policy. The Club freely discussed the recent amendments to the
media law that were proposed pursuant to Kazakhstan's Madrid
commitments, as well as the libel law and other media topics. After
the session, the Club leadership asked the Ambassador to provide an
American journalist to teach master classes. This Club is a
government-approved public association, and, as such, is emblematic
of the interesting proto-democracy the government of Kazakhstan has
the self-confidence to encourage. END SUMMARY.


3. (U) The Astana Editors-In-Chief club has 56 members, led by
former owner and general director of the Astana television channel
"ERA," Mirbulat Kunbayev. Kunbayev is well-respected in media
circles, being seen as an honest facilitator among pro-government,
independent, and opposition voices. His leadership of the club has
coincided with its rise to prominence, an ascension marked by a
visit late last year by Minister of Culture and Information, Mukhtar
Kul-Mukhamed, who called the club "a reliable partner of the
Ministry." The Club worked with the government to draft the media
amendments proposed to address the commitments made by Kazakhstan at
the 2007 OSCE ministerial in Madrid where it was awarded the 2010
chairmanship of the organization. Kunbayev firmly defended the
Media Law amendments but also acknowledged they do not meet highest
expectations. He suggested they should be seen as steps forward in
a continuing process.

CLUB ENCOURAGES SPIRITED DEBATE


4. (U) Despite his association with the government, Kunbayev has
not excluded independent and opposition voices from the Club's
membership. This became clear from the first exchange of the
afternoon, just after the Ambassador delivered his opening remarks.
The first questioner, from centrist "Channel 31 Television,"
disagreed with Kunbayev about the Media Law amendments, saying they
address only the most "stupid" restrictions and don't positively
affect the way journalists do their jobs. Later, a reporter from
oppositionist "Svoboda Slova," dismissed the amendments as
"cosmetic, not substantive," and asserted they are simply a way to
ease Kazakhstan into the OSCE chair. (COMMENT: That Kunbayev
promotes open debate is a credit both to his leadership and to the
government's commitment to multiple voices in public debate. END
COMMENT.)

JOURNALISTIC RESPONSIBILITY


5. (U) The afternoon's major debate focused spiritedly on the media
amendments, journalistic responsibility, and libel. Some maintained
the amendments absolve journalistic defendants from the burden of
proof in libel cases, which they had previously borne, and make
plaintiffs and defendants equal in the eyes of the law. However, in
Kazakhstan truth still does not serve as a defense in defamation
cases, and this law has been used often to close newspapers and
punish inquisitive journalists, some of the most out-spoken
journalists maintained. Kunbayev questioned whether journalistic
errors should not be punished by law, since "the first and foremost
duty of reportorial responsibility is to bring truthful information
to readers. Otherwise reporters will feel free to provide any false
and fabricated information using this protection in the law, and
that will not provide a good service to our society." The
Ambassador disagreed and explained the U.S. standards of press
freedom, journalistic responsibility, and libel and how they have
historically evolved. (COMMENT: The subsequent RFE/RL report of
this exchange lost all nuance and portrayed the Ambassador as a
black-and-white critic of the government on this issue. END

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COMMENT.)


6. (U) The Ambassador posed the question, "How do you as
journalists prevent wrong information, or how do you prevent
negative propaganda?" He gave as an example the recent false
reports in the Kazakhstani press that American soldiers had been
spotted at the Almaty Airport taking measurements for a future
military base. This sparked a debate with the representative from
pro-government "Megapolis," who underlined a more typical
Kazakhstani approach to journalistic responsibility. She insisted
that "each media outlet has is own opinion and the right to express
it," completely missing the Ambassador's distinction between opinion
pieces and straight news. The Ambassador responded that
professional journalists have the responsibility to base their
opinions on objective reality, not fantasy suppositions or, even
worse, black propaganda that might be fed to them. The journalist
riposted the Embassy has the responsibility to contact the editorial
board of an offending press report to set the record straight. The
Ambassador responded, "That's an excellent suggestion - thank you!"

OFF-THE-WALL PUBLIC OPINION


7. (U) It would not be an encounter with Kazakhstani journalists
without a bizarre question or two. One reporter insisted that
Kazakhstanis are more European than the other peoples of the region,
in part because "our women marry Europeans," and asked for the
Ambassador's opinion. The editor of "Capital Morning" insisted that
President Obama had promised to provoke "war and crisis" in the next
few years, and stated that because the United States was currently
engaged in military conflicts and Kazakhstan was not, democracies
are more likely to cause wars. (NOTE: However, after her
aggressive questioning, the editor asked the Embassy's public
affairs staff for closer cooperation on her paper's nascent
English-language page. END NOTE.) Another journalist asserted that
the world economic crisis was the result of the U.S. dollar not
being backed by gold and asked if the Ambassador agreed that a new
"world currency" would emerge after the crisis.


8. (SBU) A self-declared "opposition journalist" charged that the
United States has stopped paying attention to democracy in
Kazakhstan during the past few years and is "cozying up to the
regime" because of Kazakhstan's oil. He asked the Ambassador why
the United States doesn't "break relations with Kazakhstan to teach
it a lesson and force it to become a democracy." (COMMENT: We have
heard this simplistic analysis from leaders of some of the so-called
opposition parties. We say "so-called," because these parties have
no substantial influence in Kazakhstan's political debate. Rather
than build real grass-roots constituencies, they tend to think that
"Uncle Sam's approval and support" will lift them to power. END
COMMENT.)

CLUB REQUESTS MASTER CLASSES BY A U.S. JOURNALIST


9. (U) The Club leadership was clearly delighted to have the
Ambassador as a guest, emphasizing that he was the first foreign
diplomat ever to have appeared at a Club meeting. The event was
covered extensively by the Kazakhstani mass media, including all the
major television stations. Kunbayev is also seeking closer
cooperation between the Editors-in-Chief Club and the Embassy. He
suggested that the Embassy bring an American reporter to Astana to
teach master classes for his Kazakhstani colleagues. Ambassador
Hoagland heartily endorsed the idea and committed to find a way to
make this happen.


10. (SBU) COMMENT: Some stereotype the Kazakhstani media as either
supine, government-controlled toadies (television and the majority
of newspapers) or irresponsible, bomb-throwing oppositionists (a
minority of Almaty-based publications). However, the Astana
Editors-in-Chief Club represents serious journalists interested in
improving their level of professionalism, even while they debate
what that entails. This meeting opened a door for the Embassy to a
corps of influential journalists who are likely to shape the future
of the media in Kazakhstan, especially Mirbulat Kunbayev, whose
rising profile and balanced facility with the whole spectrum of
Kazakhstani journalists marks him as someone to watch on the media

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scene.


11. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Some critics in the West tend to
dismiss Kazakhstan's government-approved "public associations" like
the Editors-in-Chief Club, primarily because of their government
imprimatur and, perhaps, because we do not perceive them as
Western-style, wholly independent NGOs. In our experience,
Kazakhstan's public associations are indeed a valuable element of
democratic institution-building, because those like the
Editors-in-Chief Club are inclusive of a broad range of opinion,
including opposition voices. We suggest our goals -- and ideals --
would be better served to recognize the valuable contribution to
democracy-building these public associations are making in a very
complicated and conflicted part of the world where Russia's views
tend to dominate news and information. A good number of
Kazakhstanis want to work with us, but within their own system. We
should both respect and carefully, wisely take advantage of that.
END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND