Decree of the president of Kyrgyzstan published last week proclaims March 24 a day-off and a state celebration. Parades, concertos, fairs, and other suchlike actions are to be organized in Bishkek and other major cities that day. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev wants the matter of a recompense to victims of mass looting in Bishkek considered. These good intentions are unlikely to offer consolation to thousands of businessmen whose offices and stores were raided in the course of the Kyrgyz revolution. In the meantime, a great deal of citizens of Kyrgyzstan do not understand even now exactly what happened in the country on March 24, 2005.

Ferghana.Ru approached Oksana Malevanaya, Director of the first independent TV and radio broadcasting company NTS in Kyrgyzstan, for comments on what changed in the country with Askar Akayev's dethronement. Existing as just an idea in Akayev's era, NTS was issued the broadcasting license on March 24, 2005. "The state official whose signature was needed probably decided that day that he did not have anything to fear anymore," Malevanaya said.

NTS is broadcasting in two languages for six regions of the country nowadays. It is known as the fastest reporter of news. The post-revolutionary period in the life of the company was not exactly cloudless. On February 10, 2006, the Bishkek prosecutor issued a warning to the company in the wake of an anti-presidential report. As far as the authorities are concerned, NTS broke the law on the media and used in its news program "certain materials whose validity was not checked in advance and whose credibility was not substantiated."

Here is an interview with Oksana Malevanaya.

Ferghana.Ru: What did this episode with the warnings to some media outlets including NTS end in? The prosecutorial attack, what was it - a one-time action or a trend?

Oksana Malevanaya: Neither. Just a habit. The authorities have tried to put the media under their control these last fifteen years. Well, at least these last five years. They act sometimes delicately and sometimes roughly, and mostly roughly of late.

Ferghana.Ru: What about the "revolution" that was supposed to set new rules in the relations between the authorities and the media?

Oksana Malevanaya: If it is the revolution you would like to discuss, then I'm not the person you need. I have not perceived any revolutionary changes and therefore cannot call what happened that day a revolution.

Ferghana.Ru: But your channel was established on March 24, 2005. Does it mean you owe its existence to the revolution?

Oksana Malevanaya: What happened on March 24 happened because of the media by 99%. That includes even the outlets that sang the authorities hosannah. I took an active part in those processes myself but I'd like to withhold judgement all the same. I will call it a revolution only when I've seen documents proclaiming new constitutional principles, when I've seen a new tax policy published, a new transparent personnel policy in effect... When I've seen the authorities at least indicating their intention to do something about corruption.

Ferghana.Ru: How many people does the channel employ?

Oksana Malevanaya: Eighty, at this point.

Ferghana.Ru: Is there censorship in Kyrgyzstan?

Oksana Malevanaya: I'm fairly skeptical with regard to what they are calling "freedom of speech". What is this freedom for? What or who is it from? NTS is not a state-owned company, but we have our own founders we are responsible to. Of course, our founders' common sense enables us to broadcast fairly unbiased materials. Like any other independent media outlet, NTS should be attractive to the audience if we want to be worth it and survive. That is why we are trying to come up with the materials that differ from whatever is provided by state-owned media outlets. These latter can afford not to be thinking about their daily bread. They know that they will receive their chunk of the state budget in any case.

Censorship as such does not exist. But neither does the delicate and filigree cooperation with the authorities. We receive telephone calls from the government all too frequently when state officials ask us not to broadcast this or that material or even demand it from us in no uncertain terms. "You are probably mistaken," I tell them. "You apparently believe you are calling a state-owned channel." It happens. Even that, however, helps us remain in shape.

Ferghana.Ru: What is the channel's rating? And the coverage?

Oksana Malevanaya: I cannot say anything definite because nobody in this country really estimates ratings. What sociologists come up with does not have anything to do with the actual state of affairs. A certain deputy premier claims every now and then that "the state TV covers 5,000,000" meaning citizens of the country. In fact, that means all of the population. Well, I know better than make claims of this sort. These days, our broadcasts cover practically all of the territory of the republic, and that's where the problem is rooted. After all, we have a monopolist in the sphere of signal distribution in the country and it is from this outfit that we lease relay stations and so on. The state keeps us on a hook. It can always deprive us of this possibility and make the facilities available to the so called El TV or "the people's TV" established on the basis of Osh-3000 company. That's an attempt to set up a prototype of public TV. What its content and form will be like is anyone's guess at this point. Anyway, we already received several letters this year with the warning that we might find ourselves barred from relay stations one fine day. Should it come to that, we will be forced to switch over to satellite-relayed signal.

Ferghana.Ru: Is that possible?

Oksana Malevanaya: Nothing is impossible. It will boost expenses of course and narrow down the audience for the period of transition from analog to digital broadcasting. All the same, it will eventually enable us to reach every last village in the country.

Ferghana.Ru: What are the most popular NTS programs?

Oksana Malevanaya: News programs. Positioning ourselves as a sociopolitical broadcaster, we make an emphasis on live broadcasts. We have five news programs every twenty-four hours - two in Kyrgyz and three in Russian. Broadcasts in one language are not carbon copies of the ones in the other. News programs are supplementary which attracts additional audience. I'd say that this is great for a country like ours. We've been working in this manner since August, 2005. Our brand became prominent in November. Whenever there is something extraordinary to report, we interrupt our regular programs for a special news bulletin, and we always dispatch a camera team to the site.

Ferghana.Ru: Is there anything special about NTS style?

Oksana Malevanaya: We always try to bring different people with different opinions to the studio. One of our famous political scientists recently said that they could not "pigeonhole" us. He said that Pyramid channel for one was thoroughly anti-Bakiyev, and some other pro-Bakiyev, but NTS frustrated all attempts to classify it. I was very pleased and took it as a compliment. After all, it is an acknowledgement of our neutrality, of the fact that we remain above the struggle. We may be liked or disliked but that it is recognized is a fact.

Ferghana.Ru: A few words about your plans, please.

Oksana Malevanaya: We will launch two talk-shows a couple of weeks from now (Point Of View in the Russian and Kyrgyz languages). We hope that the audience will like it. There will be two guests (opponents) and the host.

We also intend to expand the coverage of the state of affairs in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, our neighbors. We also hope to establish the first talk-radio in Central Asia at some later date.