The newspaper is celebrating its 18th anniversary. Thank you for being with us!

The newspaper is 18 years old. Thank you for being with us!

**Author: Co-founder of the newspaper Azamat Atadjanov, on behalf of the entire editorial staff**

The idea to create "Gazeta.uz" appeared in an hour. Just a week later, on August 11, 2008, the site was launched and quickly became one of the most read and cited sources.

"We need a site that would provide news for people," Suren Sapov and I thought during lunch, discussing an idea that had been forming in our minds for several years. The official media did not provide people with the necessary information, and the audience of existing online publications did not exceed two to four hundred people.

It is you, our dear customers, who have always been the main goal of our activities.

When preparing any material, even a small news item, we ask ourselves the following questions: "Is this interesting and important for our subscribers?", "Is it worth the time they spend?", "Is it understandable to everyone - both a schoolchild and a pensioner?"

Much has changed in Uzbekistan over the past 18 years.

The most important events of the country over the past two decades - reforms and changes, discoveries and achievements, as well as crises and tragedies - have found their reflection on the pages of the Gazeta. Following our subscribers, who have long called us simply "Gazeta" and even "gazeta", we decided to give the publication this name.

In its first month - August 2008, the Gazeta wrote about the following:

* [The most important news of August 2008]

The Gazeta's experience has become a model for dozens of new online media outlets.

Starting from news, reports and interviews, we gradually grew to the level of columns, analytical articles and personal documentaries, and the development of social networks constantly encourages the introduction of new formats of materials.

Our formats have been inspired, our texts have been quoted (with or without references) by independent and state media, our news has been read on the radio since the very first days, and some of our photos, like the one below, have acquired a symbolic meaning, they "live separately from us" (we do not approve of this, copyright must be respected).

* [This photo from the newspaper is regularly used by various media and state bodies. Author — Yevgeny Sorochin.]

The emergence of many independent publications that work to inform people about the most important events, although some may not like it, has reduced the demand for foreign and domestic media that were once blocked. Over time (under the new president and within the framework of the announced policy of openness), access to them was fully opened — and nothing bad happened. In conditions of honest competition, the customer decided for himself what to read.

Journalism is a complex field all over the world.

Journalists have to risk their health when reporting from different places. Many of our employees have experienced unpleasant conversations in the "precincts" simply for doing their job (for example, taking pictures or preparing a report). There have even been threats that forced them to retreat.

But we continue to write news, prepare reports, publish articles and interviews every day. We believe that people need quality journalism, inspiring stories, texts that talk about what matters most, opinions that have the right to be freely expressed - a space that helps them see, understand and discuss what is happening.

As freedom has expanded in the country, unpleasant "conversations" have also decreased significantly. There are still some challenges, but this is not unique to today's Uzbekistan. One of the biggest challenges is the closed nature of state bodies. Many decisions are made without broad public discussion - at the national level, at the city and district levels, neighborhoods and even courtyards. We will continue to speak out in the public interest as advocates for greater openness. After all, the whole country benefits from this in the end.

Over the past 18 years, the Gazeta editorial team has grown from a one-man team into a close-knit family of dedicated professionals, ready to overcome difficulties again and again to deliver important information to our readers. Dozens of our former colleagues have contributed to making the publication even better. Dozens of authors — experts, scientists, ambassadors, heads and employees of state bodies and international organizations — continue to write for us both domestically and abroad.

We also consider our multi-thousand-strong audience to be our family. Many subscribers regularly leave comments on our materials, enriching them. Thank you to each of you for your trust in the Gazeta’s future!

We would also like to express our gratitude to our advertisers, whose support over the years has helped us to develop further. We would also like to thank our partners for the implementation of major projects, such as a personal documentary and coverage of the World Cup in the USA, without whom this would have been difficult.

And, of course, we would like to thank our colleagues from other publications - online and traditional media - for their contribution and support to our common work.

Thank you for being with us!