RFE/RL's KYRGYZ SERVICE

In Brief

• Language: Kyrgyz
• Coverage: Five hours a day, plus two weekly television programs on UTRK (Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Corporation)
• Frequency: FM, MW, UKV, and satellite
• Internet: www.azattyk.kg, www.azattyk.org, and www.azattykplus.kg

History

• RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service (Radio Azattyk) has provided valuable Kyrgyz-language programming since 1953, when it was launched as part of Radio Liberty broadcasting to the Soviet Union.
• Radio Azattyk focuses on professional and balanced reporting to reflect a rapidly changing society and heightened political debate, while expanding to include television and increased Internet visibility.
• In 2005, Radio Azattyk entered television broadcasting and has continued to offer topical, in-depth viewing that mirrors Kyrgyzstan's dynamic cultural, political, and social scenes.
• Radio Azattyk's Bishkek bureau was officially registered with the Kyrgyz Justice Ministry as the Azattyk Media Institution in April 2005, with multimedia opportunities to deliver information inside Kyrgyzstan.

Highlights

• Radio Azattyk is the country's most popular international broadcaster in the Kyrgyz language.
• Shortly after the May 2005 launch of Radio Azattyk's "Inconvenient Questions" television program, the independent magazine "Zamandash" honored it as Kyrgyzstan's "best TV show of 2005"; it was followed up with a youth-oriented weekly television program called "Azattyk Plus" in early 2006.
• With growing public participation in a fledgling civil society, Radio Azattyk offers a variety of views from knowledgeable and influential experts on cultural, political, social, and economic issues of the day.
• Radio Azattyk's extensive network of far-flung correspondents and journalists offers indispensable coverage from all over the country.
• Radio Azattyk helps set the nation's news agenda through flagship radio and television programs to morning and evening audiences.
• Radio Azattyk  has dramatically increased its live broadcasting from the capital, Bishkek, enhancing traditionally strong spot-news coverage with added live reports from major local events and live roundtables and interviews on hot topics of the day with both opposition and government participants.
• Radio Azattyk's activities have been highlighted and praised in the "Post-Soviet Kyrgyz Encyclopedia" and Kyrgyz history books. Museums and libraries in Kyrgyzstan have devoted installations to Radio Azzatyk and its veterans.