(NGOs, Foreign Ministry and OSCE Center come together for the endeavour)
A group of Kazakh and international nongovernmental organizations, supported by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OSCE Center in Astana, announced March 1 a competition for journalistic coverage of Kazakhstan’s 2010 chairmanship in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Representatives from the MEDIALIFE Public Fund, the TANAT Capital Club for Journalists, the OSCE Center and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s representative office in Kazakhstan gathered together at the Foreign Ministry in Astana to announce the competition at a press conference.
“On January 1, 2010, the Republic of Kazakhstan became the first post-Soviet state to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the twentieth Chair-in-Office since the establishment of this position in 1991. Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship of this authoritative international organization is of great importance and is a crucial event both for our state and for the Organization itself,” the organizers of the competition said in a joint press release.
“It is difficult to overestimate the role of the news media today, especially in countries building democracy, such as Kazakhstan. This importance also increases during Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in the OSCE. Qualitative professional approach by the news media is needed to promote wide coverage, objective supply of information to local and international communities concerning the processes in Kazakhstan and the OSCE area,” they said.
The competition aims at informing the public about the role and principles of the OSCE, its priorities in the sphere of ensuring stability and security in the world; increasing the motivation of Kazakhstan’s news media to highlight the processes at the national and international levels; and identifying professional journalists and promoting their intentions to cooperate actively with the civil society, highlighting the important aspects of society and state, as well as the activities within the framework of Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship.
The competition is for both Kazakh and Russian language reporting in Kazakhstan.
The competition will also include trainings for journalists (“International and national experience in light of the democratic processes”) with the participation of representatives of the international expert community and foreign media are planned to be held during the period of competition. As a result of a competitive selection, the jury, which includes officials from the five organizations, will determine the best publications and plots in the following categories:
1) Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2010 - the Beginning of the Way and the Results;
2) OSCE Area during the Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in 2010 - Reality and Prospects;
3) Strengthening the Cooperation between the States - Key to Stability and Security in the World;
4) Democratization - the Way to Development and Prosperity.
Reporters and foreign diplomats who gathered for the launch of the competition peppered officials with questions ranging from criteria for selections and prizes for winners, to fundamental questions about the media freedom.
“The key criteria for the winning works will be the professionalism of the reporters,” Olga Volkova, president of MEDIALIFE said at the press conference.
MEDIALIFE will collect the submissions before December 5, 2010. After 10 days, on December 15, the organizers are planning to jointly announce the winners who will be awarded diplomas and recognition.
The participants to the competition should send an original/copy of its work (publication or video in Kazakh/Russian languages, date of creation of which should be the period from January 1 to December 5, 2010) to MEDIALIFE’s address is Kazakhstan, 100008, Karaganda city, 49 Bukhar-Zhyrau Avenue, Room 303.
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