Can you tell me about yourself? (Where you live, who' s in your family, what school you go to, where you have lived)

 

I'm Nuriya Sherzodova from Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It's me , my older brother and mom and dad in my family. I've been exchange student in Vermont, Saint Albans, and I studied in Bellows free Academy High School. Currently I am on my forth semester in Eastern Mediterranean University, which is In Famagusta, Cyprus. I study Public Relations and Advertising, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies.

 

What forms of media do you look at most often and what do you think other people in Tajikistan look at? (Social media, government-run news, television, independent news)

 

Honestly, after forth semester in faculty of Communication and Media Studies, and being aware of how media is persuasive, controlled, influential I am very careful and critical  about Media and  the information I've been exposed to through Media. I pay more attention to Independent  News.

 

Tajikistan is one of the post Soviet  Union Countries as you might already know, right after collapse of Soviet Union we had Civil War in 1992 The same year we had presidential elections. People mostly prefer television where what they see is actually government- run news.

 

Are there any large companies in Tajikistan that control a lot of the media people see? Would you consider the government as controlling a lot of the media?

 

I'm not sure if it is Government or Companies which control Media, but MEDIA IS CONTROLLED in Tajikistan, mostly because of Political Issues. For example,  if we have any problems related to politics and government in the country people start questioning and criticizing the situation  through Social Networks ( Facebook, YouTube etc )  IMMEDIATELY Social Networks get blocked in the whole country for a long time.

 

Does the media you see come from Tajikistan or other countries? (news, movies, TV shows) What other countries?

 

Actually, we see different Media from different countries. Mostly when it comes to news we have  Russian government channels. ( Russian is our second language) We watch American Movies with Russian Translation

 

What are some popular songs and movies in Tajikistan now?

 

We are basically aware of  different  new popular music/films in America or Russia. People do listen to Rihanna Work now actually) in Tajikistan.

P.S we are aware of it mostly because we watch Russian channels , rather than Tajikistan.

 

In school, do kids learn a lot about the media? And in what way? Are they taught how to use computers and technology? Are they taught to be critical of the media they do see?

 

Our High School System is very different from the one which  is America or European countries. It is more like "Old School" not in terms of using technology or learning how to use computers, but in terms of being critical and developing own opinion about Media and it's influence. But  we learn how to use computer\technology  from our 3rd Grade.

 

We were not learning about the influence or social media, technology. We just learned how to use it.

 

Does media affect family life in any way? Do people communicate with family members on Facebook or does a whole family meet at night to watch TV together?

 

The whole family meet at night to watch TV together. Mostly young generation use social network, like Facebook, older generation prefer government channels.

 

Are people you know generally supportive of the government? Why or why not?

 

As I mentioned before,  in 1992 we had Presidential elections and STILL we have the same President, although Tajikistan is Democratic country and every seven year we have elections. From here you go...People I know are not quite supportive of the government. There are not many chances for youth to move in to politics , to make change.

 

Do you think these answers would be different if you lived in a different part of Tajikistan?

 

I think the answers more depend on age\generation of  interviewee, rather than  the part of Tajikistan, where he is from.