An independent network of journalists in four Central Asian countries has launched an innovative, web-based news analysis service – News Briefing Central Asia.
A project of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), an international media assistance group based in London, News Briefing Central Asia (NBCentralAsia) offers a new concept in regional reporting, providing analysis and context for news events and current affairs. The service is in Russian and English, and covers Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Drawing on an extensive network of more than 100 analysts and commentators throughout the region, NBCentralAsia will report on regional politics, economics and social trends, offering original perspectives and context often hidden by the headlines.
"NBCentralAsia goes beyond the news – allowing readers to comprehend regional developments from an independent perspective and in a broader social and political context," said NBCentralAsia Executive Editor Kumar Bekbolotov.
The agency used a pilot phase begun in August to build up a strong team of journalists and editors across the region, with headquarters in Bishkek and a regional office in Dushanbe. The analysis cited in their reports synthesises the views of a range of political, economic, and energy experts, and other commentators.
The reports are available for syndication to local and international media outlets free of charge, with attribution to NBCentralAsia. Articles can be acessed at www.NBCentralAsia.net or www.iwpr.net. Reports are also available via email subscription and RSS feeds (details on site). As it enters its fully-operational phase, the agency will seek to extend its coverage and to include Uzbekistan in its reporting.
The initiative, supported by the US Department of State's Department for Human Rights and Labour, seeks to provide independent regional perspectives to strengthen local print and electronic media throughout Central Asia. IWPR continues to produce its long-standing regional flagship, Reporting Central Asia, providing in-depth reporting and human rights coverage, and its Turkmen radio programme, Inside View.
IWPR attempts to build peace and democracy through free and fair media. A leading international media-development not-for-profit group, IWPR works in more than two dozen countries and territories in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, establishing local institutions, building local professional skills, and supporting local media production.
In 2004, IWPR launched the first independent national news agency in Afghanistan, and has worked in Central Asia since 1999. IWPR is renowned for its award-winning website, www.iwpr.net, recent winner of a OneWorld Broadcasting Trust Award for contributions to international understanding and an Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Reporting.
