The Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan issued a warning to the author of El Bilsin YouTube channel Ali Ergeshov.
The ministry reported that a report entitled «Was violence really committed against a nine-year-old girl?» was posted on September 16.
The Ministry of Culture believes that the author violated the requirements of the laws regulating journalistic activity in the story.
According to officials, the author of the video first shows a video, in which the girl’s mother tells about the happened, then gives the opinions of four people, who speak positively about the suspects.
«This is an attempt by the author to refute the claim of the affected party. The laudatory words said can make the viewer a victim of manipulation. When preparing the material, the author repeatedly imposed his opinion on the audience. He concludes that «a girl who had been subjected to violence would have cried, run away, and made noise.» He does not provide the opinion of specialists, experts, or representatives of official bodies. This circumstance casts doubt on the neutrality of the story presented. The material is one-sided,» the Ministry of Culture explains.
Officials call for compliance with the norms of the Children Code, as well as the Ethical Code of Journalists, which regulates that special care must be taken when covering issues concerning children.
The Ministry of Culture demands to remove the video and asks for a copy of the certificate of state registration (re-registration) of the media outlet.
