Turkmenistan
Mass media

Newspapers and monthly magazines are published by state-controlled media outlets, primarily in Turkmen. The daily official newspaper is published in both Turkmen (Türkmenistan) and Russian (Нейтральный Туркменистан). Two online news portals repeat official content, Turkmenportal and Parahat.info, in addition to the official "Golden Age" (Turkmen: Altyn Asyr, Russian: Золотой век) news website, which is available in Turkmen, Russian, and English. Two Ashgabat-based private news organizations, Infoabad and Arzuw, offer online content.

Articles published by the state-controlled newspapers are heavily censored and written to glorify the state and its leader. Uncensored press coverage specific to Turkmenistan is provided only by news organizations located outside Turkmenistan: Azatlyk Radiosy, the Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague; Chronicles of Turkmenistan, the Vienna-based outlet of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights; Turkmen.news, previously known as Alternative News of Turkmenistan, based in the Netherlands; and Gündogar. In addition, Mediazona Central Asia, Eurasianet and Central Asia News provide some reporting on events in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan currently broadcasts eight national TV channels via satellite. They are Altyn Asyr, Ýaşlyk, Miras, Turkmenistan (in seven languages), Türkmen Owazy (music), Aşgabat, Turkmenistan Sport and Arkadag. There are no commercial or private TV stations. The nightly official news broadcast, Watan (Homeland), is available on YouTube.

Although officially banned, widespread use of satellite dish receivers allows access to foreign programming, particularly outside Ashgabat. Due to the high mutual intelligibility of the Turkmen and Turkish languages, Turkish-language programs have grown in popularity despite official efforts to discourage viewership.

Internet services are the least developed in Central Asia. Access to Internet services is provided by the government's ISP company, Turkmentelekom. As of 27 January 2021, Turkmenistan reported an estimated 1,265,794 internet users, or roughly 21% of the total population.
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