Abstract
Kazakhstan is in the process of developing the legal foundations providing freedom of speech for the gathering, processing and spreading of information, as well as for the organization and activities of journalists and the mass media. There are a number of objective factors that are driving this process in Kazakhstan, including gradual democratization and modernization, entering the civilized international arena, ratification of commonly acknowledged and regional documents on human and civic freedoms and rights, transborder movement, information flow, etc. State authorities are gradually changing their attitude to the mass media; special departments dedicated to cooperation with journalists are being set up in state structures and official information is being spread by various means, including the Internet. The authorities are implementing a project providing governmental information electronically and the openness of judicial proceedings is developing in a similar manner.