Comments on the Rules of accreditation of journalists

Dear representatives of the media community and all interested persons, we inform you about the state registration of the Order of the Minister of Information and Public Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments to the Order of the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 21, 2013 No. 138"On Approval of the Rules for Accreditation of Journalists".
For a long time, the Ministry of Information and Public Development, with the direct participation of public figures, has carried out significant work on the development of Rules for the Accreditation of Journalists (hereinafter referred to as the Rules).
​A huge number of ideas were proposed at the stage of developing the Rules, and we believe that we were able to take most of them into account in the new Rules.
​A brief overview of the main provisions allows you to notice the following novels:
1) the accreditation procedure is divided into permanent
(1 year) and temporary (one-time);
​2) a single period of accreditation of journalists for all state bodies and organizations (annually no later than December 1);
​3) reduced the package of documents from 4 to 2 (application and identity document);
​4) the deadline for reviewing the application and making a decision on it has been reduced from 7 working days to 3 working days;
5) the accreditation organization maintains a register of accredited journalists on its Internet resource;​

6) the accreditation organization is obliged to notify the journalist:
for planned events-no later than two working days in advance;
for unscheduled events – within two hours of the decision to hold them, etc.
It should be noted that the Rules have passed all the necessary procedures and expertise required by law when developing and coordinating with state authorities.
Moreover, for the purpose of comprehensive review and discussion, the Rules were posted twice on the Open NPA portal, despite the absence of a requirement for re-posting.
Thus, the Ministry sought maximum coverage and objectivity in the process of developing the Rules.
Separately, I would like to focus on the provisions that caused a resonance among the public.
First. On the issue of the moderator's activity, taking into account the opinion of the public, the Rules were finalized and the new version states that ensuring that the participants of the event comply with the subject (content) of the temporary regulations, as well as public order, is the responsibility of the moderator.
The introduction of the concept of presenter is not intended to restrict the rights of journalists. The rules are aimed at providing access to information to the largest number of participants of the event, thereby achieving significant coverage of the population on the most important issues.
The concept of "lead and the scope of his responsibility" is necessary only to maintain a business atmosphere and a constructive dialogue between the parties.
​Second. On the issue of clarifying the grounds for revoking accreditation for spreading false information about the accreditation organization.
​Given that the grounds for revocation of accreditation are provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 22 of the Law
"On Mass Media", the Ministry decided to provide only a reference to the norm of the Law on this issue, without additional grounds.
​In general, the provisions of the Rules correspond to modern trends and are aimed at mutually beneficial cooperation between accreditation organizations and accredited journalists.