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Eagle TV News—The Difference in Mongolian Journalism When I first came to Mongolia in 2002 Eagle TV aired a standard news package of two 30-minute casts each night. The organization already had eight years under its belt and its newscasts was already known by the moniker, Mongolia's News Leader. But as we all discovered in 2001 and then again in 2003, the world was changing at an ever increasing rate. Mongolia was also changing.
4,000 calls came in during the first few days on those two little patchwork lines. Each caller got his or her say, with no censorship of opinion. When the phone lines weren't enough we sent cameramen onto the streets. As the word of our coverage got out, stores, restaurants, and bars all turned their TV's to Eagle. But inside the halls of power there were some people who weren't very happy. Two days after the coverage began the Foreign Minister went on State TV to criticize our war coverage. He announced that once the government had made its decision regarding support or opposition for the war, that the public should not be allowed to comment openly on television.
During my 2-minute commentary I made a promise. As long as Eagle TV exists, the station would always be used as a conduit for the Mongolian people to express their opinions, uncensored. After all, part of our mission was to advance Mongolia's freedom and democracy by supporting free speech and free press.
"Eagle TV is our TV." What began as a daring move became a cornerstone of Eagle TV news. When we restarted the operation in 2005, we turned Eagle TV into a full time live new operation like FOX News or CNN. Every half hour during an 8-minute slot we took live phone calls from viewers to comment on stories. It was a huge success. While other stations were criticizing us for the next two years, we noticed that our new practice was having an effect. Now, virtually all stations follow our model of taking uncensored live commentary from viewers. Eagle TV became a game changer for the way local media reports the news and how TV viewers exercise their freedoms. Our independence is what has made Eagle TV successful. It's also what makes our newsroom the most respected newsroom in Mongolia. Eagle TV was even awarded by Globe International as the fairest and most balanced TV news in the nation. Whenever there is a breaking news event, Eagle TV is there to cover it live or break new ground for media freedoms:
While many other stations wait for "approval" to cover the news, our staff simply goes out and gets the job done.
Today, Eagle TV continues its work of independent journalism and looking for ways to cross new horizons as we explore Mongolia's freedom of speech and press. When I came to Mongolia in 2002 we had only 4 TV stations. Now, between terrestrial and cable we have 24 competitors. Yet viewers know that when it comes to the truly important issues of the day there's only one name they've come to fully trust: Eagle TV. I'm extremely proud of what our team members have accomplished. I'm so proud of their work, I want to introduce them to you.
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With the advent of the second Iraq War, we decided that Eagle TV would do what no other media outlet in Mongolia had ever done—cover the war live. This may not sound like a big deal today. Most of the world watched the first Gulf War live in 1991 thanks to the efforts of CNN. But Mongolia had not come into its full media freedoms then. We knew that whatever we would do, whether rebroadcasting CNN or offering our own local input on the coverage, it would be ground breaking. What we didn't know at the time was that our efforts would shake the very foundations of Mongolian media practice.
As we broadcast the CNN coverage and cut in with our own local coverage from local experts and reports from other international sources, we opened up our phone lines to take uncensored calls with people's opinions. At the time we only had two phone lines, and they weren't even located in the main studio! So our staff ran cable downstairs, patching as they went, so we could have a phone in studio and take calls. We put up the graphic, invited opinions and the phones began ringing.
Sometimes I'm just a dumb American. I suppose if I had been smart I would have kept my mouth shut since I was a guest in this country. But, I'm just a dumb American. So I did what any manager of an American TV station might do if his or her freedoms are threatened. I made a public statement on our evening news.
No, I didn't win a lot of friends in government that day. But Eagle TV did win a new respect and appreciation from the people. Our reputation was cemented more than ever before. Everywhere I went, whenever I would be recognized people always told me the same thing with a smile, a pat on the back, or a handshake: 
Eagle TV hosted the first-ever Presidential debate in the nation's history
Our objectivity and independence was rewarded in 2005 just prior to the first visit by a sitting U.S. President to Mongolia. State TV was lobbying strongly for an interview with President George Bush in the White House. But when the U.S. State Department surveyed the media choices in Mongolia they came away with only one choice: The only truly independent TV station in Mongolia was Eagle TV. In November that year our journalist, Batjav, conducted a sit-down interview with the President, and with the help of Associated Press, it was delivered to us within an hour. 