Kloop Media Foundation

CITIZEN JOURNALISM FOR KYRGYZSTANI YOUTH

They are still young people, the reporters and bloggers of the Kloop website. But in just two years, co-founder and director Bektour Iskender, only 22 himself, has created one of the most popular websites for bloggers in Kyrgyzstan. Together with his colleagues, he sets out daily to make reports about the news in this Central Asian country. In the meantime, hundreds of bloggers have already registered with the website.

Kloop is not only a website for young up and coming talent in journalism and photography, but for every Kyrgyzstani who likes to blog. In a region like Central Asia, where the old state media still dominates the media landscape, Kloop offers a portal for so-called citizen journalists to give their own view of the country and society. ‘It is great that thanks to blogging, everyone can be a journalist,’ says Iskender. ‘The state media news is often single-sided and tends towards propaganda. Our bloggers offer the visitor a different view of the news.’

Hivos has supported Kloop since its foundation in the summer of 2006 through its ICT & Media programme. Hivos holds the opinion that ICT should be freely accessible and that this tool contributes to the development of people and the freedom of expression in societies. Kloop is a prime example of this. For instance, in addition to a platform for bloggers, Iskender and his colleagues of Kloop Media Foundation also offer workshops and training courses in order to professionalise journalism in their country.

In addition to Kloop, Hivos has other partners who are active in the field of media and civil journalism, such as Transitions Online and Global Voices Online.

Photo by lokaalmondiaal

Take a look at the clip of blogger Bektour Iskender.

Type of organisation

Service organization /non-profit

Sector

ICT & Media

Country

Kyrgyzstan

Founded

2006

Hivos partner since

2007

Website

www.kloop.kg

More information

» | About this partner (in English)

» | About this partner's projects (in English)

CONTACT

Kloop Media Foundation

LINKS

» | http://www.kloop.kg

Youth Webportal Kloop
DAC-sectors	Adult/Youth education (BSS) Human rights Strengthening civil society Culture
Location	Bishkek, Kyrgystan
Beneficiary	indigenous peoples, ethnic/religious/cultural minorities
activity	Building and maintening a news portal for young people (15-25 yr)
Direct outreach	800 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	2000 - Intermediary level
Contract total	49.982
Contractperiod	01-03-2007 until 01-03-2009

Description

The Kyrgyz Republic has 5,2 inhabitants. Of its population - which is relatively young with a median age of 23 years - about 280.000 use the internet on a frequent base.
The Kloop project has two main goals. The first one is to raise awareness of young people in social, political and economical processes in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The second goal is to give young journalists and other representatives of the civil society the opportunity to express their views and opinions on social, political and economical processes, via the Kloop website.

The Kloop project will support young journalists with learning and working in online journalism.
The website will involve readers in debates about social, political and economical issues. These discussions are planned to be held through readers' comments, forum messages and contributions from citizen journalists.

In order to attract a wider audience, the web portal will offer services interesting for young people like forums, sms, e-mail, mms - based games related to news coverage, online and offline blogs.
Furthermore Kloop will organize meetings of the members of the Kloop-community in real life.

Hivos supports this start up of Kloop because this digital media project will strengthen the media diversity in Kyrgystan. It will enhance the debate and also will built capacity of CS activists and organisations to use media tools to exchange information and enhance expression.

Youth Webportal Kloop (2)
DAC-sectors	Strengthening civil society Adult/Youth education (BSS) Human rights
Location	Bishkek
Beneficiary
activity	Imrpoving blogging platform Kloop (more blogs and special blogs)
Direct outreach	1000 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	10000 - Policy level/ public opinion
Contract total	75.000
Contractperiod	01-11-2009 until 31-12-2011

Description

The Kyrgyz Republic has more than 5 million inhabitants. Its population is relatively young with a median age of 25 years. According to the OpenNet Initiatives website, Kyrgyzstan has got the highest Internet penetration rates in Central Asia, with a number of users that varies from 5 to 15 percent of the country population.
The Kloop project has two main goals. The first one is to raise awareness of young people in social, political and economical processes in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The second goal is to give young journalists and other representatives of the civil society the opportunity to express their views and opinions on social, political and economical processes, via the Kloop website.

The Kloop project will support young journalists with learning and working in online journalism. The website will involve readers in debates about social, political and economical issues. These discussions are planned to be held through readers' comments, forum messages and contributions from citizen journalists.

In order to attract a wider audience, the web portal will offer services interesting for young people like forums, sms, e-mail, podcasts, video and offers a blogservice in the Kyrgyz language.

Furthermore Kloop will organize meetings of the members of the Kloop-community in real life aomgst others during yearly barcamps.

Hivos supports Kloop as the digital media project will strengthen the media diversity in Kyrgystan. It will enhance the debate and also will built capacity of CS activists and organisations to use media tools to exchange information and enhance expression.