Speaking to The Times of Central Asia, Asem Tokayeva, a seasoned journalist with years of experience at Radio Azattyq – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, offers a compelling critique of RFE/RL’s challenges, from internal corruption allegations to its declining relevance in Central Asia’s evolving media landscape.
Tokayeva started her career with Express K and other publications in Astana before joining Radio Azattyq as a freelancer in 2004 and contributing to the groundbreaking Russian-language program, Паровоз (“locomotive”). In 2008, she played a pivotal role in launching Radio Azattyq’s Russian-language website, a platform recognized for tackling sensitive issues and fostering free discussion. Her work contributed to the site’s recognition by the Online News Association in 2009 for “Protecting Citizens’ Rights to Information.”
After nearly 14 years at Azattyq, including over seven at its Prague office, Tokayeva left in late 2017 to further her academic pursuits, earning a Master’s degree from Charles University in Prague, where her dissertation focused on Media Framing: Transformation of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Image in the U.S. Media.
TCA: How do you feel about the funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees projects like RFE/RL and Voice of America?
I have always advocated for the reform of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and now the new U.S. administration has simply cut its funding in one fell swoop. However, I don’t see this as just Trump’s whim. The work of this media outlet had long been criticized in Washington, and not only during his tenure. During Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s presidencies, American media published investigations into abuses, including the infiltration of pro-Kremlin agents, within international broadcasting corporations funded through USAGM.
When Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, she called the entire U.S. international broadcasting structure, which includes Radio Azattyq, “practically defunct.” Even during Bill Clinton’s presidency, there were serious discussions in Washington about shutting down these radio stations, as they were considered outdated following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. By the 1990s, it was already difficult to claim that Radio Liberty was the sole source of alternative information. During the August 1991 coup in Moscow, other radio stations provided more timely and comprehensive field reports. For instance, Echo of Moscow became one of the most listened-to stations at the time.
Today’s media landscape has different challenges, such as media literacy and combating fake news, rather than a shortage of news organizations. While the mission and goals of Radio Liberty have renewed significance, given the persistence of authoritarianism in many former Soviet countries, the U.S. administration no longer sees value in its international broadcasting system. They simply decided to shut down another bloated bureaucratic structure, one that had also been plagued by corruption. For example, its parent agency had been overpaying exorbitant amounts for office space in downtown Washington D.C. for 15 years.
Radio Azattyq destroyed its uniqueness when it completely shut down shortwave broadcasting in 2012 at the insistence of its then-editor, Yedige Magauin. Yet, in 2011, during the protests in the oil town of Zhanaozen, Azattyq was one of the few alternative sources of information. However, if we analyze Azattyq’s content over the past decade, it’s ceased to be an important or exclusive source of information. [There are multiple examples of] topics, especially those sensitive to the Kazakh authorities, that have either been ignored by Azattyq or are covered in the same way as most other media outlets in Kazakhstan.
TCA: You have consistently criticized the management of RFE/RL, including Radio Azattyq, for nepotism, corruption, labor rights violations, and more. In your opinion, how have these issues affected the core mission of the organization?
Corruption, nepotism, and censorship within Azattyq have effectively destroyed its mission to provide independent and objective information to people in authoritarian countries. Journalism has turned into a mere imitation when top managers are more concerned with keeping their positions and inflating their salaries and benefits rather than ensuring the quality of their content.
In an attempt to regain its audience, Azattyq’s Kazakh-language website even published sexualized videos and fostered sexism and chauvinism under the guise of promoting aitys, a traditional Kazakh poetic duel. As for its supposed mission of promoting democratic values, the same website actively facilitated smear campaigns against opposition leaders and distorted reports on the deaths of civil activists.
As a result of these developments, RFE/RL’s Central Asian services have steadily lost the trust of their audience and have ultimately alienated their most loyal listeners and readers. Internal editorial problems played a major role in weakening the outlets’ influence and significance in the region.
Thus, the reduction of government grants was a consequence of a prolonged crisis in the management of USAGM and its affiliated media outlets. When an organization’s top management disregards its own mission to disseminate uncensored information in countries where the press is suppressed and instead becomes mired in corruption and nepotism, it’s hardly surprising that the U.S. administration not only questioned the rationale for continued funding but ultimately decided to terminate grants to this corporation, which has repeatedly been exposed for mismanagement, infiltration, spreading disinformation, and even promoting authoritarian propaganda.
TCA: How did U.S. legislative and executive officials react to your 2019 testimony about violations in the RFE’RL’s Central Asian services during the USAGM hearing in Washington?
Some participants expressed concern that the Central Asian services of RFE/RL were effectively operating in coordination with authoritarian regimes. I noticed how the top managers of USAGM and RFE/RL became visibly uneasy. Key figures like RFE/RL Vice President Nenad Pejic and Central Asia Regional Director Abbas Djavadi, both responsible for the crisis, were quietly forced into retirement or resigned. However, there was no real investigation, and they were given generous severance packages, which, incidentally, was one of the Trump administration’s criticisms of USAGM.
The organization has long had an opaque management system and a culture of mutual protection. Real control over the content and personnel decisions rests with mid-level managers, vice presidents, and regional directors, who actively resist reforms. The leadership shields its own from accountability, allowing the system to remain unchanged. As a result, their successors continued the same practices, particularly in Central Asian services, where nepotism, favoritism, and political bias thrive, a fact repeatedly pointed out by civil society representatives in these countries. It is therefore unsurprising that the directors of these services were caught hiring their wives, stepdaughters, or mistresses. The fact that nearly an entire newsroom could be staffed by people from just one region or a single Islamic community has become a routine occurrence.
TCA: Are you aware of the current situation at Radio Azattyq? What will happen to the editorial staff if the closure of the outlet is upheld? Will they receive compensation, and will they be protected from potential persecution by the authorities?
I sympathize with my colleagues, the ordinary journalists who worked honestly and professionally. They face losing not only their jobs but also, in many ways, their sense of purpose, their ideals, and their values. I cannot say what kind of compensation they could receive or whether they will receive any at all; much depends on USAGM’s decisions. However, given the stark inequalities within RFE/RL, it is likely that many rank-and-file employees, especially those outside the Prague office, will be left without protection or support.
The income gap and levels of job security at the outlets are enormous. The six-figure salaries of the president and other top executives have consistently increased year after year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that the leadership raised their salaries ahead of the upcoming layoffs. Washington has a well-developed accountability system that allows NGOs to track government spending with relative transparency. According to the nonprofit ProPublica, Jamie Fly’s salary as the head of RFE/RL rose from $141,722 in 2020 to $308,491 in 2023.
Meanwhile, freelancers risking their freedom in places like Iran or Afghanistan receive meager fees, with rates that have remained stagnant for years. When I started as a freelancer in Astana, the rate for reporting was $7.50 per minute. It has probably increased since then, but I doubt it has increased by much, considering how reluctant management is to raise salaries. And even when they do, they are selective — loyalists and sycophants receive annual raises and bonuses, while honest but inconvenient employees are kept in the doghouse and subjected to internal harassment.
TCA: Will the shutdown of RFE/RL projects in Central Asia affect freedom of speech in the region?
In my view, the loss of RFE/RL as an important source of information occurred long ago, when it voluntarily ceased broadcasting on shortwave, except in a few countries where the media situation is dire, such as Turkmenistan. The current content on the websites of the Central Asian services cannot compete with local media or even independent bloggers, who operate with far smaller budgets but are free from internal censorship and bureaucratic constraints. Under the leadership of Torokul Doorov, the RFE/RL Kazakh service has seen a decline in website traffic. That’s why I don’t think most news consumers will notice its absence. Had RFE/RL maintained high journalistic standards and true independence, its closure would have been a much bigger blow.
Clearly, a time of major change has arrived. This could open doors for new independent media initiatives. In the digital era, large traditional media organizations are no longer the sole providers of information. Perhaps the shutdown of RFE/RL in the region will push independent journalists and civil society to develop alternative platforms for delivering objective news.
Explore our Special Coverage section to dive deeper into the shifting priorities of U.S. funding for media in Central Asia.
