Media & Communications in Mongolia

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Mikell Johnson and Professor Joel Campbell, Communications and Journalism

Mongolia is located just north of China and south of eastern Russia. The country is occupies 1.565 million square miles (CIA) yet is home to a small population of about 2.7 million Mongolians. Mongolians are a nomadic people by tradition and nearly half of the population still practices this lifestyle. From 1921 until 1990 Mongolia was ruled under a communist form of government. This fact had a huge impact on the way new communication and media technologies were implemented in Mongolia’s public. This paper will first attempt to give an accurate description of historical communication and media advances in Mongolia and will then describe the current state of communication and media technology and its primary uses in Mongolia today. The paper will conclude with a description of where Mongolian technology and media seems to be headed in the future.

RECENT HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION & MEDIA IN MONGOLIA

Mongolia’s first real taste of mass communication media came with the beginning of the socialist revolution in 1920. On November tenth 1920 the newspaper “Mongoliin Unen”, or Mongolia’s Truth, was first printed. According to the Mongolian Youth Encyclopedia this newspaper led the way for many other newspapers aimed at different parts of the community and eventually led to Mongolia’s first Mass circulation, “Ardiin Erkh”, newspaper being established in 1924. This paper is still being printed today and is one of Mongolia’s most credible news sources, although it is criticized by some for remaining under government control.

The first radio broadcasts in Mongolia also began in the early part of this century. The Mongolian Youth Encyclopedia states that Mongolia’s first radio station, “Mongoliin Radio”, began transmissions in September of 1934. The radio station, centered in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar, initially only broadcast to the areas surrounding the capital but by the 1980’s was available in most of Mongolia’s Aimag’s (provinces).

The “Mongoliin Radio” radio station is still in operation today and remains one of the most popular radio stations in the country.

Mongolian Television broadcasts began on September 27th 1967, according to the Mongolian Youth Encyclopedia. The initial purpose of television in Mongolia was to increase the populations understanding of the communist party, to introduce new party programs, and to help organize party members into a more effective body. According to Gunaratne’s Handbook of the Media in Asia, “A major emphasis [of television and radio] was on education, particularly in relation to imparting social values. Fostering social responsibility was a fundamental objective of radio and TV broadcasts. The Mongolian Youth Encyclopedia also noted that in 1969 the first television programs for youth were established. Aside from Mongolian programming Gunaratne states that the “ only foreign content on Mongolian television was program material provided by other “fraternal” socialist nations”. (642)

Mongolia Since Communism

Since Mongolia’s peaceful revolution in 1990 there has been major developments and growth of all Mongolian media outlets. According to Gunaratne, as soon as the political system was changed demands for liberalization of the mass media were made. The Number of newspapers and magazines has skyrocketed. Television channels, for the most part, have been privatized. And the use of new technology, such as the Internet and cellular phones, is on the rise. For example, according to the UN Statistical Yearbook Issue 46, in 1996 there were only 900 cellular phones in Mongolia. But by 2000, the number increased to 107,500. Also, statistics given by Gunaratne show that in 1998 there were an estimated 3,200 Internet subscribers in 1998. But the CIA World Fact Book shows that Internet user numbers have grown as high as 40,000 in 2002. Mongolian access to the media in the past was primarily accessible to those near cities and in the capital. Now there are growing numbers of nomads who have grown wealthy enough to install generator powered satellite television systems in their yurts.

The Future of Media in Mongolia

Mongolia Media will continue to grow as demand increases throughout the nation. As tourism revenues increase and the Mongolian economy improves citizens will be able to afford new media that was previously to costly to obtain for the masses. Mongolia Media will be somewhat limited by the small population of the country. With only around 2.5 million people living in the county media markets may become saturated quickly. Also, the fact that nearly half of the population is still nomadic and have no use for, or access to, the Internet and technologies such as cellular phones will also slow media and related technological advancements in Mongolia.

Citations

  • CIA. (2003). The World Fact Book. Online at: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mg.html
  • Gunaratne, Shelton A. (2000). Handbook of the Media in Asia. Sage Publications.
  • Minic, Tudev, Tsendenbal. (1983). The Mongolian Youth Encyclopedia. Ulaanbaatar: National Press.
  • The United Nations. (2000). Statistical Yearbook: forty-sixth issue. New York: The United Nations.