President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the press and media workers on professional holiday, which was marked on June 27.
Citing brief statistics on the number of media outlets and publishers in the country (more than 1500 media, of which nearly 400 websites, 118 publishing houses and 1,760 printing enterprises), he underscored that it is time "the quantity transitions into quality".
At present, when dialogue with the people, constant attention to the problems and needs of ordinary people has become the priority of the national policies, the transformation of every media outlet into a real platform for dialogue and free expression will help us achieve our goals, the President stressed.
Unfortunately, the media are not yet fully mirroring the problems in our life, not contributing to strengthening of "the spirit of criticism and self-criticism in our society", not addressing the pressing issues with which citizens are still applying to the Virtual Reception, he added.
Today the world is changing rapidly, the life itself is requiring all of us to take decisive actions, be pro-active, honest and fair to our cause in any field. Our staunch, patient, hardworking and noble people are waiting for concrete results from reforms, Shavkat Mirziyoyev continued.
He noted that he considers as true journalists "those who bravely address obstacles to the progress, especially such negative things as bureaucracy, indifference, extortion, corruption, those for whom the duty and meaning of life is in the formation of public opinion and who are irreconcilable to such vices. "
To do this, the media professionals need not only professional skills, experience, sense of responsibility, but at the same time - a strong civic position and courage. Therefore, we must create for the media even broader opportunities in terms of legislation, material, technical, educational and methodological support, he said.
Today Uzbekistan is at crossroads and I am convinced that the media will continue to direct their efforts towards addressing important and urgent issues, further maintaining peace in the country, the atmosphere of mutual understanding and harmony in the society, assisting to ensuring the rule of law and justice, holding the government bodies accountable, in short, they will become the true defenders of interests of the ordinary people.
