Central Asia has struggled with press freedom. The five states composing the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – are former Soviet republics that recently had or still have authoritarian regimes in power. Corruption, censorship and limited freedom of speech are widespread to a different extent across the five countries. Despite that, solutions journalism has found a foothold in Central Asia.

This approach to reporting focuses on solutions to social problems, rather than just highlighting the issues. Through rigorous reporting and storytelling, solutions journalism in Central Asia sheds light on challenges in addressing social problems in the region.

Due to the high involvement of civil society in the political agenda in most of the Central Asian countries, it is interesting to observe how journalism is tied to civic activism, becoming a characteristic trait of the region. And how it feels to be a “one player in the field” where journalism is under threat, left alone with unresolved social problems.

Kloop – investigative reporting and explainers on how political decisions impact everyday life

One of the prominent media outlets in Kyrgyzstan, Kloop, is famous for its investigations. As part of the network of investigative journalists and media, Kloop has covered major stories. Jointly with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Radio Azattyk, Kloop conducted a high-profile investigation into the Matraimov family, which was accused of running a corrupt network responsible for syphoning hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds outside of the country.

This investigation sparked widespread protests against corruption in Kyrgyzstan and went on to receive the Tom Renner Award for best crime reporting in 2019. Kloop’s investigation on domestic violence was awarded the Sigma Award for exceptional data journalism in 2021.

In February 2023 Kyrgyz authorities demanded Kloop take down an article, or the website would be blocked for two months. This attempt to censor the media outlet is not the only one that has happened recently in the country. In light of attacks on free media, it has become far more difficult to do that kind of journalism.

“Safety of the journalists now is one of the main focuses and differences from working as we used to work [before February 2023]”, says Anna Kapushenko editor-in-chief of Kloop Media.

Kloop’s rigorous data reports were at the forefront of the newsroom’s agenda. In spite of political tension, it’s become harder to get access to data from government institutions.

“Everything is changing, there is less and less data that we can get, professional data specialists are rare and expensive. So we’re trying to apply for international grants to support independent investigation and data reports”, Kapushenko added.

Revenue-wise, Kloop is on the way to expanding its network of donor organisations that can support them. Commercial contracts are limited due to the state censor’s influence of not supporting independent media outlets in the country. Crowdfunding on Patreon covers a part of the newsroom’s spending.

Solutions journalism always involves joint efforts. “Reports highlight problems that should lead to decisions. A chain of actions, including political will and audience support, is crucial; otherwise, it’s like fighting with our own shadow”, Kapushenko says.

Explanation of the laws and recent provisions, aftermaths of political decisions, including through personal stories of those who were influenced by it directly, are some of the examples of Kloop’s day-to-day solution journalism practices.

*Kloop’s recent longread that focuses on the pension reform and how it will affect pensioners in Kyrgyzstan*

“We are always in contact with our lawyers and we try not to succumb to self-censorship since it’s become unsafe to publish our materials. In any case, we will continue doing what we’re doing. Otherwise, what’s the point of our existence?,” Kapushenko says.

Sarpa – solutions journalism for young people in Uzbekistan

“Micro media for free-thinking young people in Uzbekistan” is the self-description of Sarpa Media from Uzbekistan. “Sarpa” means dowry in Uzbek. “Usually it is something material: dishes, bed linen or furniture. Our dowry to young people is knowledge and critical thinking, without which there is nothing left for you in Uzbekistan”, Sarpa Media positions itself.

Born from activist events, Sarpa Media was founded by Vera Sukhina, who is now editor-in-chief. “We write about the interaction of people and the state around rights and obligations. Making civic engagement interesting. We’ve had a dictatorship for a long time, and people and media are still self-censored. We want to show how things can be changed,” Sukhina says.

Covering different issues in publications, Sarpa uses explanations and deconstruction of “traditional interpretation”. “From time to time, we publish content that we know in advance won’t get a big hit or reach, but we do it anyway. For example, ‘how to use a specific portal’ or ‘how to create a petition,’ because these topics should be raised in the public space”, Sukhina explains.

With the joint efforts of the “Ne Molchi” project against domestic abuse in Uzbekistan, Sarpa published content about the new law on violence against women and the importance of leaving comments on a state platform where the law was being discussed. However, there were more reactions and reposts of the content itself rather than comments on the state platform. “That law wasn’t accepted, and there is still a lack of credibility in such initiatives and [a lack of] belief that one can change something in the country,” Sukhina adds.

*Sarpa’s publication on Instagram dedicated to the need to criminalise domestic violence in Uzbekistan*

Sarpa’s recent publications analysed Constitution amends and what is wrong with them, deconstructing how propaganda videos were made to promote the changes, as well as offered instructions on how to achieve the installation of a ramp for people with disabilities in one’s building.

Freedom of expression in Uzbekistan remains fragile. The new draft law and its vague definitions of provisions would make the existence of media in the country even more difficult, Human Rights Watch researchers warn.

There were already attacks on Sarpa’s Instagram page as well as on other media outlets. “It’s hard to keep working when [government] institutions remain detached without engaging fully in [solving social problems]”, Sukhina says.

Being supported by international donor organisations, Sarpa has a small team consisting of individual contributors, a designer, and photographers. Some of the offline events that Sarpa conducted also were supported by international organisations, like the feminist organisation Frida.

“Deconstruction of the mentality” is part of the outlet’s description on its Instagram page. “Mentality serves as a base point in everything in our traditional society, but what does it actually mean? People often justify something with their ‘mentality’ without truly understanding what it means. We want to understand the Uzbekistan we’re living in now and what brought us here. Who are we in this country, and what can we change and influence? We are all about changing Uzbekistan”, Sukhina says.

Source of the cover photo: courtesy of Kloop. On the photo Kloop team is receiving the award in annual national competition in the field of professional journalism “Stremlenie” (Striving) by Internews in Kyrgyzstan.

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Solutions journalism in Central Asia: surviving censorship and limited freedom of speech