The mass media in Turkmenistan are among the world's most tightly controlled. The press is controlled by the government, which funds nearly all newspapers, criticism of the president is forbidden, and state licensing policy effectively eliminates all outlets not reflecting official views. To avoid reprisal, domestic and foreign journalists engage in self-censorship.
Broadcasting is under the full control of the Turkmenistan Television Broadcasting Center, which operates seven national television channels. Little recent information on radio stations is available.[2]
Reporters Without Borders' 2022 Press Freedom Index ranked Turkmenistan 177th out of 180 countries surveyed, ahead of Iran, Eritrea, and North Korea.[3] It has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of most measures of press freedom since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Twenty-two newspapers (2 privately owned) and 14 magazines (none privately owned) are published in Turkmenistan. Content of the state-owned newspapers differs little to not at all, consisting of republishing of copy from the state-owned news agency. They are very expensive by Turkmen standards, with the most expensive newspaper costing $0.50. A one-year subscription equals one month minimum wage.[4] Some domestic online newspapers have been founded, notably Turkmenportal and Orient.[5][6] Russian magazines and Uzbek newspapers are sold in some kiosks.
Neytralny Turkmenistan (Russian: Neutral Turkmenistan – published six days per week in Russian, the main Russian-medium newspaper of Turkmenistan. Founded in 1924, during the Soviet period called Turkmenskaya Iskra (Russian: Turkmen Spark)
Turkmenistan – the main Turkmen-medium newspaper of Turkmenistan, published in Turkmen six times per week since 1920.
Watan (Turkmen: Homeland) – Published three times per week, during the Soviet period called Yash Kommunistler (Turkmen: Young Communists).
Türkmen Sporty (Turkmen: Turkmen Sports) – Owned and published weekly by the State Sports and Youth Committee of Turkmenistan.
Nebit-Gaz (Turkmen: Oil and Gas) – Owned and published by Türkmengaz state concern, now an electronic newspaper. Previously published, starting in 2011, by the now-defunct Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Habarlar (Turkmen: News) – Owned and published by the Economic Editorial Association three times per week, mainly economic and commercial news, classified advertising, since 1975.
Zaman Turkmenistan – Owned and published by Turkish newspaper Zaman. It was published weekly in Turkmen. It was closed by the government after a coup attempt in Turkey.
Edebiyat we Sungat (Turkmen: Literature and Art) – Owned and published weekly since 1958 by the Ministry of Culture.
Возрождение (Vozrozhdeniye, Renaissance in Russian) – Owned and published monthly by the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. Published since 1937, previously by the Turkmen Communist Party.
Turkmenistan broadcasts 8 public television channels (7 of them on the territory of the whole country, and 1 only in Ashgabat). All broadcast in the Turkmen language with the exception of the Turkmenistan news channel, which broadcasts in 7 languages. They do not differ from each other in news content. These sources of information are an ideological mouthpiece of the ruling regime in the country. Any opinion or idea that differs from that of the President of Turkmenistan cannot be broadcast, nor can criticism of the country (except if the criticism is made by the president himself). The chennels also present informative and entertaining domestic programs and movies, as well as sports events in which Turkmen athletes participate. Sometimes Altyn Asyr broadcasts popular movies dubbed in Turkmen in the evenings. Turkmenistan Sport regularly broadcasts Formula 1,[11] football matches of Serie A, La Liga,[12]Bundesliga and other sports thanks to an agreement with the Irish company Setanta Sports.[13] Only state companies and institutions advertise on Turkmen television.
AŞTU (Aşgabat şäher telefon ulgamy, English: Ashgabat City Telephone System) – the company announced that it had 104,062 subscribers in 2018.[19] Viewers have access to 136 local and foreign TV channels, including those in HD quality.[20]
TR1 broadcasts on longwave, medium wave, OIRT FM, and CCIR FM; TR2 and TR3 broadcast on medium wave and OIRT & CCIR FM; and TR4 broadcasts on CCIR FM. All four stations also broadcast on DAB+ in Ashgabat and can be heard online globally via Radio Garden.[24][25][26] There are no local or regional radio stations in the country.
