JMC Director, Jeff Fruit, has returned from a two-week trip to Kyrgyzstan to assist with a State Department-funded project trying to establish an independent press.

The project was managed through the non-governmental organization, Freedom House. U.S. Sen. John McCain is chairman of the commission overseeing the project.

The goal was to stimulate democracy and independent mass media throughout Central Asia by installing a printing press in Bishkek, capital of the Kgrgyz Republic. The press will have a large capacity and will be able to provide services to a large number of clients.

One of the conditions of the project is to turn the press into a commercially viable business. As the press capability exceeds that of current Kyrgyz media, project managers will seek business outside of Kyrgyzstan -- in other Central Asian countries, Russia, and possibly even in Eastern Europe.

Fruit worked on gaining a better understanding of the reading public, their news and information needs and current media consumption. He said he expects to help conduct a nationwide survey of Kyrgyz citizens to gauge reading habits.

"I have been told that Kyrgyz editors and publishers at this time do not have a reader-centered approach to either marketing or news," Fruit said. "They need to develop content that better suits their readership as a first step to becoming profitable businesses, and to better foster the free flow of information to citizens that is so critical to a democratic

system. Assisting in that development is a key goal of the project."

A second goal of his visit was to present funding sources a different view of the kinds of grants that might better reach the goals they seek. For example, much past funding has been spent on training reporters. Some experts on the scene believe funds might better be spent first on gaining a better understanding of audiences and how media might better meet their needs.

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