INDEPENDENT MEDIA
Media
for Transparent Governance
CONCLUSION/CONSTRAINTS
1. In general the
project was well and positively accepted by media and
civil society communities
2. During the meetings the project staff realized that
understanding of corruption is too general in Mongolia
and mostly it is accepted as bribery and the public
and media professionals are not fully aware of other
types of corruption, so public education is very important
to raise awareness of the general public and politicians,
officials and legislators, and media 's role in it very
high. We have agreed that it is much better and efficient
if media focus on the public education despite investigative
materials developed and reached the public
3. Mongolian media have experiences charging payments
for running media campaigns on particular social issues
such as violence, human rights and etc. including corruption
as well. They see the campaigns as possibilities of
generating income. This approach was showed by the most
of editors at the first meeting. Some of editors have
refused cooperating after introduction. During the several
discussions we have agreed to call contest on the best
media campaign that focus on public education on corruption
issues since the project does not much budget for the
direct payments. According to the contest guidelines
the media outlets involved to campaign will publish
investigative materials and broadcast radio and TV spots
free of charges. Contest budget is 3,000 USD out of
planned 6,000 USD. The rest of money will be used for
production of 9 radio and TV spots and its consequent
expenses.
4. There are several constraints, which may cause to
the successes of the project.
-The most of discussions during the events devoted to
complaints of journalists that referring to unfavorable
legal and political environment of independent media
in Mongolia
- Access to information is the most problematic and
crucial issue in exercising investigative reporting
and journalists are not much experienced in using many
sources and prove them
- Protection of
information sources is not guaranteed in Mongolia so
people are afraid from disclosure information hold by
them
- Investigative reporting is expensive and the most
of media outlets are not able to cover costs, even the
most of newspaper editorials have investigative division
interrelating with newsrooms. Usually these unites are
not capable financially and institutionally
-Issues of journalism ethics are critical and media
self-regulation is not developed in Mongolia
5. There is a failure
of media integrity system in Mongolia, which is the
biggest barrier in development of investigative journalism.
- If we refer to
the international standards of media integrity indicators,
the results are very bad and negative.
At country
level:
| International indicators |
Mongolian practice |
| 1. Does the country have freedom of information
law? |
No, we do not have |
2. Does the country have state secrecy law and
could
it be used as censorship? |
Yes. We have strict State Secrecy Laws that is
used as censorship. |
3. Is strict defamatory legislation being used
against journalists in dissemination information
about public figures? |
Yes. it is normal in our country. We have 2 journalists
arrested and detained for 3- 6 months |
4. Is it necessary to get permission
or license required
for journalists? |
Yes. Media must be registered and publisher must
have professional journalism diploma. |
5. Is editorial independence guaranteed
at state-owned
media? |
No. |
6. Does the state- owned media publish
or broadcast
critical materials about authorities
(opposition critics addressed to the ruling party)? |
No |
| |
|
| Regarding investigative
journalism: |
- Is salary of investigative reporters
sufficient for
their life? |
No. Journalism is one of the less paid jobs in
Mongolia |
- Is life of investigative reporters
safety that
they are able to disclose corruption of powerful
leaders? |
No, so self-censorship is very high |
| - Are libel cases normal or rare? |
It is normal |
- Do mass media regularly publish
or broadcast
investigative materials? |
No, real investigative materials
are very rare |
- Are there ay journalism schools?
And teach
investigative reporting? |
There are 22 journalism schools but not all of
them teach investigative reporting, no quality curriculum
and teachers are not trained. |
6.
Content analysis could not include all the newspapers
in Mongolia since there are many of them so all the
national dailies and 2 tabloids, which mainly publish
critical materials have been selected. As regards broadcast
media, all Ulaanbaatar –based stations will be involved
to the analysis.
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