Interview: Kazakh state media chief hails China's open, transparent media policy

Interview: Kazakh state media chief hails China's open,transparent media policy

ALMATY, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The president of Kazinform,Kazakhstan's state media, says China's open policies on newsreporting will help eliminate rumors and guesswork by others.

"I appreciate the Chinese government's open and transparentpolicies of providing complete information on hot events takingplace in China," Dauren Diyarov said in an interview with Xinhua before the World Media Summit (WMS) held in Beijing on Oct. 8-10.

"Unfortunately, some media from the western world displayedexcessive subjectiveness, one-sidedness and political inclinationwhen covering some international affairs," Diyarov said.

"For example, when reporting the military conflicts in SouthOssetia in August last year, most western media took a predominantlyanti-Russia stance, ignoring the true cause of the clash," he said.

Diyarov, citing the work of Danny Schechter, an American mediaexpert who wrote the book "Plunder: Investigating Our EconomicCalamity and the Subprime Scandal," said that for a long time, themainstream media in some western countries such as the United Statesand the United Kingdom barely gave voice to those trying to warn ofpotential problems in the global economy.

The world's media continues to advance, Diyarov said, with theInternet becoming the center of attention. More and more people areturning to the Internet rather than newspapers or TV as a way to getinformation and there now are an estimated 184 million personalblogs online.

"Blog, born simply as a tool for personal communication andexpression, has transformed into a means of interaction that couldaffect virtually every sphere of people's lives," Diyarov said.

Chinese media is developing rapidly, he said.

"Now, other countries not only wish to hear the voice from China,but also want to carry out cooperation that is more extensive andpractical with Chinese media," he said.

Diyarov also spoke highly of the cooperation between Chinese andKazakh media during their joint coverage of the 2008 BeijingOlympics torch relay in Almaty -- the first leg of the torch'soverseas tour. He said that effort brought the two nations'cooperation to a new high.

"Kazinform and Xinhua News Agency, both state media, haveincluded video services in their cooperation scope, besides textnews and photographs. And the prospect for such new collaboration ispromising," he said.

The theme of the Beijing WMS -- Cooperation, Action, Win-Win andDevelopment, Diyarov said, jibes with the development strategy ofKazakhstan.

Only through dialogue and partnership, mutual understanding andmutual respect can the world be further developed, he said.

"I hope, during the summit, all the participants can holdconstructive and fruitful discussions on how media should boost thedevelopment of the world and safeguard the peace of the human race,"Diyarov said.