Fast Facts RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service is consistently rated as one of the most trusted sources of news and information in Kyrgyzstan. Language: Kyrgyz Established: 1953 Distribution: Radio (FM, SW, satellite), TV, Internet Coverage: Six hours radio daily, two weekly TV shows on the 1st TV channel/li> Local affiliates: 9 radio and 2 TV affiliates in various cities and towns across the country Locations: Prague, Bishkek Staff: 8 in Prague, 21 in Bishkek, 20 stringers in Kyrgyzstan and abroad

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2012: Not Free (155th/197)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2012: 108th/179
• The media in Kyrgyzstan have traditionally enjoyed greater editorial freedom than their regional counterparts, but political, religious, ethnic and regional tensions and disorder have undermined media freedom.

Highlights

• The Kyrgyz Service remains the leading source of independent news and information for elites and average citizens alike. A December 2010 survey conducted by the Kyrgyz State National University showed Kyrgyz residents consider Radio Azattyk the most reliable news source among Kyrgyz-language media.
• In December 2011, “Azattyk+” TV moderator Janarbek Akaev was awarded the Eurasian Golden Pen prize by the Kazakhstan-based Chief Editors' Club. Separately, Akaev was recognized for the second year in a row as “Kyrgyzstan’s Best Television Presenter” in a readers’ poll by the country’s most popular newspaper.
• Radio Azattyk’s year-long investigation of forced marriage or “bride kidnapping” resulted in the Kyrgyz parliament passing legislation in November 2011 to penalize imams or mullahs who bless such unions.
• In February 2011, after a Radio Azattyk investigation called attention to large-scale corruption in the organization of the annual Hajj pilgrimages, the parliament adopted amendments to the law regulating those trips.

updated: 2 Feb 2012

Population
5.5 million (World Bank estimate, 2011)

Most Common Languages:
Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Russian, Dungun

Press Freedom Index (Freedom House):
Not Free, ranked  out of 196 (2012)

Press Freedom Index (RSF):
109 out of 179 (2011/2012)

Corruption Index (Transparency Int.):
164 out of 183 (2011)

Human Rights Watch:
Report on Kyrgystan (2012)

Amnesty International:
Kyrgystan Report (2012)