Merkhat Sharipzhan, Director of “Azattyq”, the Kazakh service of RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), says only 3% of the population in Kazakhstan listen to his station. Few people today make efforts to get objective news on shortwave and in Kazakh; besides, it is difficult to compete with entertainment radio stations. The interesting thing, says Sharipzhan, is that website statistics shows that people from outside visit the site five times more than those in Kazakhstan! The solution, in his view, is to create new platforms - a television studio, an Internet-portal, and possibly increase broadcasting time.
Merkhat Sharipzhan was interviewed by Adam Kesher on Russian-language neweurasia Kazakhstan.
Read a translation of the full interview
