Autumn is the time of harvest, weddings and preparation for winter. But from year to year October becomes the time of additional troubles and hassles for the leaders of enterprises and organizations. Today a letter from a local Hukumat concerned with organization of subscription to newspapers and magazines is sure to lie on their tables. Each of them, just as we, MM workers, are conscious of the necessity to know about state legislation, solutions of the government, events taking place in the country, viloyat, district. Beyond doubts that many of them consider it necessary to have governmental editions for their staff in time. One of the employees of "Pochtai Tojikiston" Sughd department who preferred to remain unknown told that people of different professions often address them with requests - to find this or that newspaper with a publication of a fiat signed by the head of the state, edict, announcement about auction or tender… So a chief tries to find a complementary debit item in the estimate, in his search he may run into a clause titled "contingencies". But what should that same chief do when the Hukumat obliges him to subscribe to state-owned editions? Herewith the editions "Adabiyot va San'at" (literature and art), "Omuzgor" (teacher) and "Akhbori Majlisi Oli" (parliamentary news) - 14 denominations all in all. In a concrete case they preordain to subscribe to 8 editions. How can a common worker with his meager salary subscribe to the monthly herald of Majlisi Oli costing 143 somoni or to "Sadoi Mardum" (voice of the people) costing 39 somoni? Why feminine, youth, teachers' and even literature newspapers were included into compulsory subscription? And how will you make your subordinate to subscribe to a newspaper he doesn't want to read? These ideas trouble not only leaders of enterprises but school administration as well. For example, a pedagogue with an imposing service record confesses sadly that collecting per a somoni from pupils feels himself/herself in the role of a cadger.
Meanwhile, the subscription campaign is in full swing. According to the data of "Pochtai Tojikiston" if for 2003 people subscribed to more than 37600 copies of republican, viloyat and district editions for October 1 the subscription is equal to 13043 copies of republican and 15470 copies of viloyat and district printed MM. In addition to it, 545 Russian newspapers have been subscribed too. It's no bad indicator, people began reading more. Let us remember the 80-ies when post women brought up to 10 denominations of different newspapers and magazines to every house. But at that time urban newspapers cost 2 kopecks and the price of bread was 10 kopecks. And subsidies existed not only for MM, but for children's clothes and school belongings either. Today next to kiosks where newspapers are sold per 30-50 dirams, flat cakes cost per 60 dirams.
Here the question arises relating to a different type of arithmetic - if there is no state subsidy for foodstuffs why does it continue to exist for MM under market conditions? But resources from the budget (being small without it) are meted out for the maintenance of a significant number of monotonous, laudatory, boring editions. They are published for the money of tax-payers who in their turn are demanded to tip off for the acquisition of the commodity they don't want to have. The anecdote from the 70-ies occurs to memory on this occasion. Brezhnev appears on TV. The family of a party employee switches over to another channel, then to the third one. But the general secretary is everywhere with his report. On the last channel there appears KGB general and demands strictly: "Switch on the previous channel immediately!"
Beyond doubts, our state has achieved progress in democratization of society, especially in word and press freedom some countries, especially their journalist, may be even envious. The fact was mentioned also at the V-th Central Asian conference "Mass Media in Polycultural and Multilingual Societies" in Bishkek. And still, as the chairman of "Journalists" Social amalgamation board Kuban Mambetaliyev considers, in this plane "one ought to start the process of dispossession of state in regard to printed and electronic MM enabling them to evolve under market conditions. Let them themselves form and gain an environment of readers or spectators. And it's of no importance if the results are different in different places, the situation will be developing not by injunctions from above, but by spontaneity of supply and demand. Any resident is interested, first of all, in what takes place in the vicinities of his whereabouts. So the circulation of MM will depend on a quantum of inhabitants and a quality of work done by executors. MM should be independent, liberated from local authorities - this is the law of the entire civilized world". Of course, local authorities would implant their own ideology and do their best to propagandize their own progresses. Whether a reader, i.e. a tax-payer, is interested in a given newspaper, for whose money it is published, if there is a need in an abundance of local information - all these questions are taken out of account. The holders of this type of editions don't care for the reasons of non-competitiveness of governmental MM production. The main thing for them is: a needed circulation may be ensured at the cost of the ordinance - "to organize individual subscription in the term of compulsoriness".