Uzbekistan plans to create Media Ombudsman Institute

In Uzbekistan, it is planned to establish a media ombudsman institute, which will work to strengthen the guarantees for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of the media, preventing ungrounded interference of government bodies in their activities, and resolving disputes between the media and government bodies, individuals, and legal entities, the Agency of Information and Mass Communications reported.

“The media ombudsman will be responsible for providing legal support to the media in cases of violation of their rights, and at the same time will monitor the compliance of the media with the current legislation of the republic, including in the information sphere. In this regard, he will work with complaints from readers, viewers and legal entities on any controversial media materials,” the agency said.

The initiators of the proposal expect that the ombudsman will act as a kind of mediator for resolving disputes and solve the pre-trial problems between the media and government agencies, individuals, and legal entities.

“We believe that the establishment of the Institute of Media Ombudsman, which has access to both readers and the media, will significantly strengthen the legal and ethical culture of our journalists,” the report says.