- Convenors:
-
Eric McGlinchey
(George Mason University)
Alisher Khamidov
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- Discussants:
-
Bruce Pannier
(Freelance journalist)
Alisher Khamidov
Lola Islamova (Anhor.uz)
Navbahor Imamova
Sarah Xenia Aurélie Pavlis
- Format:
- Roundtable
- Mode:
- Online part of the conference
- Theme:
- Media Studies
- Sessions:
- Saturday 15 November, -
Time zone: America/New_York
Abstract
Our panel explores Washington's changing approach to international broadcasting. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and Voice of America--the U.S. government's leading information outlets in Eurasia for the past 75 years--have seen their operations markedly reduced. US government support for media outlets across Eurasia, moreover, has also diminished. Panel participants will address the logic and implications of the US government's changing policies toward the Eurasian information space. Round table questions for consideration include:
- What is the future of objective, fact-based reporting in Eurasia?
- What alternative funding sources are emerging to support objective journalism in Eurasia?
- How are state and non-state actors such as the European Union, Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, the Gulf States, the Aga Khan Development Network, the Eurasia Foundation, and independent financiers engaging media outlets in Eurasia?
- How might changing media funding streams influence Eurasian societies' perceptions of international relations?
- To what extent does external support for Eurasian media outlets create patterns of dependency?
- Might declining external support for Eurasian journalism open new space for locally-funded and locally-produced independent media?
Accepted contribution
Session 1 Saturday 15 November, 2025, -Abstract
This paper will explore the consequences of declining US support for independent journalism, with a focus on Kazakhstan, where press freedom is increasingly under threat. With US funding for international projects in retreat and the media landscape shifting, a pressing question emerges: who will fill the void?
Will state-aligned outlets like Sputnik and other regional media powers expand their influence, or could this shift allow for the emergence of new local, objective, types of media – such as donation-based journalism?
As EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas recently noted, media outlets like RFE/RL often operate in countries "that are very much dependent on news coming from outside.” The Kazakh case, however, raises the question of whether such dependency is inevitable – or whether the recent cuts in funding could prompt the rise of local, independent ventures. It also invites broader reflection on newly emerging funding sources and the growing involvement of a diverse range of state and non-state actors in shaping the region’s media landscape.
To explore these questions further, I will travel to Almaty and work with the local think tank CAPS Unlocked to directly assess the evolving media landscape on the ground. My fieldwork will include semi-structured interviews with independent journalists, editors of small outlets, and scholars working on media freedom, to better understand how they perceive the withdrawal of Western support, what risks and opportunities it presents, and how they are adapting to these changes.