Abstract
Uzbekistan has always been ranked ‘not free’ in terms of media freedom. However, this summary judgement masks substantial developments in the Central Asian state. This article draws on nine interviews with journalists and editors in Uzbekistan and on the first wide-ranging survey of nearly 500 Uzbek journalists for the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS3) project. The interviews were undertaken to assess how Uzbek journalists and editors saw the role of journalism in their country, and how critically they were prepared to engage with its present state. Based on the interviews and the WJS data, the article attempts to elucidate the situation of journalists working in an authoritarian state which is gradually, although not consistently, loosening the autocratic restrictions that existed until 2016 under Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov. The reforms initiated by his successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, have prompted hope for wider ranging freedom. Yet the results of the interviews and the WJS3 study show that the legacy of having long worked in highly restrictive environments, where the press was purely a propaganda instrument, is not easily undone. We use the level of critique offered in the interviews as an indication of some shift towards greater freedom of speech but conclude from the interviews and the WJS3 results on editorial autonomy, that the openness shown in the interviews does not yet translate into media freedom.