First ever Media Week closes in Astana
On the last day of the event, the participants, among whom were the Minister of Information and Communications, Dauren Abayev, his Deputy Alan Azhibayev, the head of RTRK Qazaqstan, Yerlan Karin, and the head of the Club of Chief Editors of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Bekkhozhin, discussed the most topical issues in the field of regional media.
Opening the Regional Media Forum, Minister Abayev noted that in the future Astana Media Week will be held on a regular basis and providing an important platform for discussion of pressing issues of the industry.
Among the range of issues discussed at the Forum, one of the main was the cooperation between national and regional mass media. According to Dauren Abayev, in the nearest future national TV channels and the Alliance of Regional Media will conclude a quadripartite agreement on cooperation, in accordance with which, for example, regional TV channels will be able to purchase Khabar and Qazaqstan's programs for a symbolic fee. Such a measure, said the Minister, shall become one of the first steps on the way to a closer interaction between the national and regional media in the country.
In his turn, Yerlan Karin, talking about Kazakhstani TV channels competing for the audience with Internet media, noted the huge popularity of the latter and urged TV channels to take active measures in order to attract more viewers.
The participants paid close attention to the issue increasing the professionalism of Kazakhstani journalists. Dauren Abayev reminded that in 2013 a media school was created at the capital's Media Center that offers courses on improving media skills. He stated that, over the four years of school's existence, more than 2,500 people have completed their training there. The Minister also urged the representatives of regional media to take an active part in this process and promised that the Ministry will provide them every possible support.
The Regional Media Forum in Astana also discussed ways to improve the quality and readability of content. As, according to the chief editor of Bolashak Zhasar newspaper, Dauren Babamuratov, some media outlets tend to turn a blind eye on it, focusing more on ratings and trying to generate views at any cost.
As one of the ways to solve this problem, the head of the Club of Chief Editors, Yerlan Bekkhozhin named reviving analytical journalism in Kazakhstan. According to him, this format is more readable and better written since analytical articles require more time to write, which ultimately contributes to greater objectivity. According to him, the analytical genre is the way save journalism in Kazakhstan.
The event ended with an awards ceremony for the best press services. The winners of the Best Press Service Award in different categories became the press services of the Ministry of Investments and Development, NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC, East Kazakhstan' regional administration's, CoES of Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Astana akimat.