Richard Shafer, professor of journalism in the UND Communication Program, and Eric Freedman of Michigan State University, are co-editors of the first comprehensive overview of the press in Central Asia. Their new book: After the Czars and Commissars: Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia, is a collection of essays investigating why the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) have so far failed to develop independent and sustainable democratic press systems. The book also documents the complex relationship between the press and governance, nation-building, and public policy. Shafer and Freedman were both Fulbright journalism scholars in Central Asia and have taught journalism courses, seminars and workshops throughout Central Asia and worldwide.
Shafer teaches graduate and undergraduate UND mass media courses. He is a veteran newspaper reporter and editor. In 1987 he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri focusing on the role of the press as an agent of social change and development. He has lectured and conducted journalism seminars and courses in more than 20 countries under sponsorship of the Soros Open Society Foundations, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), The U.S. State Department, the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and other agencies and foundations engaged in international press development of free press systems.
Their book is available through the Michigan State University Press at www.msupress.msu.edu
