Media


The Media section lists media sources covering developments in each country in the local languages, English, and Russian, with brief descriptions. For each country, we also offer Recommended Sources, compiled on the basis of media credibility surveys conducted with selected country experts. 

The media landscape in Central Asia and South Caucasus is diverse. According to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index our eight countries range from relatively free to very bad.  Georgia and Armenia have press environments that are relatively free but problematic at ranks 60 and 61 out of 180 countries. Kyrgyzstan’s press environment is problematic at rank 82, while Uzbekistan’s and Kazakhstan’s are considered bad at ranks 156 and 157. Finally, Azerbaijan’s, Tajikistan’s, and Turkmenistan’s press environments are considered very bad at ranks 161, 168, and 179 respectively. To obtain information about developments in the countries with most repressive regimes, we refer you to media sources published outside of the country.  

Given the restrictions on media, discussions of issues of public interest and importance take place on social media. There are bloggers and individuals influencing public opinion on par with formal media outlets. While we do not list links to blogs, individual pages, accounts and channels, we encourage you to explore the social media realm.