"I am pleased that Turkmenistan, absent for many years from our discussions, sent representatives of their budding journalism education system, helping our Central Asian conference achieve its full potential," Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said.

"Media freedom and pluralism should be the core values of the ongoing reforms of academic and on-job training across the region."

The event was organized by the office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media, hosted by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and supported by four other OSCE field offices in the region.

"The challenge of preserving and indeed improving standards of accurate and ethical journalism looms large as journalism increasingly shifts from using traditional media forms to attracting audiences through the Internet, blogging, Facebook and Twitter," said Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere, Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. "This makes the theme of this conference, journalism education, all the more pertinent - as much for the public and media watchdogs as for journalists."

Conference participants issued a declaration on journalism education in Central Asia.