The press conference of the head of the recently established State Committee of Information and Press of South Ossetia Vyacheslav Gobozov has been held today in Tskhinval. He told reporters about his vision of the internal and external information policy of the Republic and outlined the main priorities of the State Committee for future work.
First of all, Gobozov noted that the president's proposal to head the Committee was rather unexpected for him. On the other hand, he had been working for a long time in the information sphere and was familiar with its specifics.
"The current situation in the field of information is somewhat different than in the years of direct confrontation with Georgia. New time poses new challenges to which we must respond, "- said Gobozov.
According to him, today the main priorities of the state information policy in South Ossetia are: to establish a modern, more efficient information system and improvement of the material-technical basis of the state media. He stressed the important role of the external information policy of the Republic, first of all, creating a positive image of South Ossetia.
"It's no secret that we are seriously losing in this regard, as the information warfare is conducted against us. South Ossetia should adopt an active stand in the media space of Russia and the entire world, "- he stressed.
He has added, the young Republic, which has yet to seek further recognition of its sovereignty, should be widely and objectively telling the international community about the events in the Republic, thus making up the information vacuum.
"The lack of reliable information creates the ground for fabrications, which, in turn, build the negative image of the Republic, not meeting the real state of affairs," - said the head of the State Committee.
Another priority, according to Gobozov, is the development and implementation of the national information policy.
"The concept is designed to work on strengthening the authority of the government institution, its maximum openness to the people and to strengthen the position of our country in the international community" - said Gobozov.
Gobozov named the key condition for building a democratic state- the openness of the authorities to the public and objective coverage of the events taking place in the Republic.
"Freedom of speech is of the absolute value for me," - he emphasized.
However, he has noted that any criticism should be constructive and should keep on the razor-edge, when the criticism of any official becomes the criticism of a whole country, to the detriment of its image.
The Head of the State Committee has also expressed the need for a new law on mass media, as the existing law is outdated in many respects and does not meet modern requirements.
"Besides, the new rules will be developed for media registration and accreditation of local and foreign journalists. We are ready to work with all media, regardless of their orientation, provided that they comply with the provisions of this law. If a foreign media refuses to apply properly for accreditation to the country, where its correspondent intends to work, referring to the fact that this state is not recognized, the application will be rejected, "- said Gobozov, noting that in this matter the number should not prevail over quality.
"To release this or that article or transmission, simply because it is in Ossetian, means that we do not respect our own language. We all need to think about how to improve the overall quality of our journalism, including the Ossetian segment, "- he said.
According to the head of the information agency, he received full support of his plans from President Leonid Tibilov and the leadership in general.
He has noted he intends to introduce the practice of holding press conferences to be invited by the heads of the various ministries and agencies, and to talk about their work.
"Unfortunately, we still have a category of officials who are trying to fence themselves off the media or, even worse, to reprove them. This is unacceptable - the officials should be open at most, "- stressed Gobozov.
Strong government, he added, should not be afraid of freedom of speech.
It should be reminded that on March 15, in accordance with the Decree of the President of South Ossetia, the State Committee of Information, Communication and Mass Media was divided in the Committee of Communications and Mass Media, headed by Inal Tibilov, and the State Committee for Information and Press, headed by Vyacheslav Gobozov.
