Mass media in Turkmenistan

The mass media in Turkmenistan are among the world's most tightly controlled. The press is controlled by the government, which funds nearly all newspapers, criticism of the president is forbidden, and state licensing policy effectively eliminates all outlets not reflecting official views. To avoid reprisal, domestic and foreign journalists engage in self-censorship.

The only domestic news agency is the State News Agency of Turkmenistan. The Anadolu Agency of Turkey maintains an office in Ashgabat, and TRT has a representative there. Agence France Press, Associated Press, Reuters, and ITAR-TASS receive reports from stringers. 57 correspondents of foreign media, accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.^[1]

Broadcasting is under the full control of the Turkmenistan Television Broadcasting Center, which operates seven national television channels. Little recent information on radio stations is available.^[2]

Reporters Without Borders' 2022 Press Freedom Index ranked Turkmenistan 177th out of 180 countries surveyed, ahead of Iran, Eritrea, and North Korea.^[3] It has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of most measures of press freedom since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

^ СПИСОК корреспондентов зарубежных СМИ, аккредитованных при МИД Туркменистана
^ Turkmenistan country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (February 2007). Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ World Press Freedom Index 2022, Reporters Without Borders.

[1] СПИСОК корреспондентов зарубежных СМИ, аккредитованных при МИД Туркменистана

[cp-2] Turkmenistan country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (February 2007). Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[3] World Press Freedom Index 2022, Reporters Without Borders.

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