The media of Afghanistan includes printing,
broadcasting and digital. It is mainly in Pashto and Dari (Persian) languages.
Although it was tightly controlled under the religious Taliban government from
1996 to late 2001, the state media gradually relaxed press restriction and
private media began growing rapidly in the last decade. In 2008, Reporters
Without Borders listed the media environment of Afghanistan as 156 out of 173,
with 1st being most free. Journalists in the country operate in one of the world's
most complex and contested information environments. At times, the lines
between propaganda, intelligence and journalism blur, and some journalists
covering Taliban activities have been accused of treachery or arrested, while
others have been kidnapped, beaten or harassed by Taliban insurgents.
Mahmud Tarzi, pioneer of Afghan journalism
The first newspaper, Siraj-ul-Akhbar (Lamp of the
News) in was initially published on January 11, 1906, with Abd al-Rauf as
editor. After this first and only issue in Dari (Persian), its publication
stopped. It was revived in October 1911 by Mahmud Tarzi, the editor and owner
of the newspaper, who was critical of the friendship between the United Kingdom
and Afghanistan. Mahmud Tarzi became known as the pioneer of Afghan journalism;
Mahmud Tarzi in 1916, famously wrote: "Siraj Al Akhbar Afghaniya is neither
British, nor Russian nor French nor Italian nor German nor Chinese or Japanese.
It is a Muslim newspaper and, in that, it is specifically an Afghan newspaper.
Whatever it says, whatever melody it sings, is from an Afghan point of view and
stems from the tone of Afghan national dignity.". In 1919, under King
Amanullah Khan, Aman-i-Afghan (Afghan Peace) replaced Siraj al-Akhbar, serving
as an organ of the government, while several smaller private journals appeared
under different ministries. Along with these developments, Radio Kabul began
broadcasting in 1925, which inaugurated a new era of mass media in the
country.[5] The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan and the Press Law of 1965
provided for freedom of the press, within the boundaries of appropriate behaviour.
The press was editorially independent from government but was instructed to
safeguard the interests of the state and constitutional monarchy, Islam, and
public order. Afghan journalism progressed and developed from the 1950s through
to the 1970s, though it remained limited.
When King Zahir Shah's government was overthrown in
the 1973 coup his cousin Daoud Khan, approximately 19 newspapers were shut down
and media came under severe restriction, ending a period of relative
freedom. The first colour television broadcasting appeared in 1978.The
media fell into the control of Soviet influences during the People's Democratic
Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1979 to 1992.
Taliban takeover
Media under the Taliban was characterized by strict
media laws, including the banning of television, seen as "morally
corrupt" and music, banned under Sharia law. The Taliban instigated the
destruction of television sets in 1998. People caught with a television were
subject to imprisonment or flogging. Most media operated from other countries,
except for the Taliban free areas in Northern Afghanistan, which had its own
television service, Badakhshan Television, broadcasting news and films for
around 5,000 viewers for three hours a day.Television was shut down in
1996, and print media were forbidden to publish commentary, photos or
readers letters. The only radio station broadcast religious programmes and
propaganda, and aired no music. Around 70% of the population listened to its
broadcasts. In 2000, the government launched The Islamic Emirate, an
English-language newspaper designed to counteract information produced by the
"enemies of Islam. Only Russia, Czech Republic and Serbia had
news bureaus based in Kabul due to instability. The Kabul TV centre was
converted into a military barracks, and journalists were not permitted to work
with foreign media. The media environment remained bleak until the overthrow
of the Taliban in late 2001.
Karzai administration
Female DJ speaking to listeners on-the-air from a
radio station at an Afghan National Army base.
The media has experienced explosive growth in
post-Taliban Afghanistan, though quality has not always kept pace with
quantity. Today dozens of private radio and TV stations and hundreds of
newspapers and magazines are registered with the government. After the
fall of the Taliban, television returned and many restrictive laws were
repealed. As a consequence of such policies, Afghan journalists boycotted reporting
on the Taliban for a week in April 2007. All media flourished under new
rules, though journalists do undergo self-censorship; penalties are still in
place for defaming individuals and running material contrary to the principles
of Islam. Some government officials have used their positions to maintain
their own communications facilities, as national and local governments own or
control several dozen newspapers and many electronic media outlets. A 2004
media law prohibits censorship, but requires registration of periodicals with
the Ministry of Information and Culture; in 2005 some 250 periodicals were
registered
International organisations have been training new
journalists since the fall of the Taliban. However, due to instability in
Afghanistan, journalists have been as highly targeted as soldiers, as shown by
instances of kidnapping and death threats. An NGO named Nai (meaning flute, an
important symbolic instrument for broadcasting) tracks violence against
journalists with its Media Watch Data.More than 100 journalists also
protested a raid on a private TV station which drew concern of further
government interference in reporting.
Afghanistan's largest independent news agency is
Pajhwok Afghan News, which was founded in 2004 by Afghan journalists who worked
with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a London-based nonprofit that
trains journalists in conflict zones and developing countries Pajhwok has
reporters in nearly ever Afghan province, and publishes stories online in Dari,
Pashto and English Bakhtar News Agency, another wire service, is run by
the Afghan government, Hindokosh News Agency HNA founded in 2002,. Exiles have
set up the Afghan Islamic Press, based in Pakistan, and the Sahaar News Agency.
Internet and mobile technology media is slowly growing in popularity.
Although many fewer Afghan women than men work as
journalists, female Afghan reporters and editors are increasingly making their
voices heard not just on traditionally "feminine" topics like
education and health, but on larger issues affecting Afghanistan, such as the
tension between tradition and modernity. Shukria Barakzai founded the
weekly bilingual Women's Voice to campaign for women's rights. She was elected
to the House of the People (or Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the National
Assembly of Afghanistan), and speaks up for hopes that a better and freer press
will lead to strong democracy and civil society.
During the Afghan presidential election, 2009 there
were some reports of attacks on press freedom.
Newspapers
Further information: List of newspapers in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has a low readership of newspapers,
coupled with the low 28.1% literacy rate. Many newspapers suffer some form
of censorship and financial difficulty, often relying on supporters of
President Hamid Karzai, or the former mujahadeen supporters of King Zahir
Shah. The principal daily newspapers are the state-owned Anis, Arman-e
Melli,Cheragh fuonded by first Afghan lady Kathreen Wida in Dec. 2003,Eslah,
and Kabul Times and the privately owned Afghanistan Group of Newspapers which
includes Daily Outlook Afghanistan (the first English Newspaper of
Afghanistan), Khaama Press and The Daily Afghanistan in local languages of Dari
and Pashto, Eradeh, Hewad, Ittefaq-e Islam, and Shari'at. The circulation of
independent print publications has been confined primarily to the Kabul
region. About 500 publications are now registered in the country.
Radio
Central control panel at Radio Kabul transmitter in
the 1950s. Transmitter can be heard as far distant as South Africa and
Indonesia.
Radio broadcasting went into air in 1925 with Radio
Kabul being the first station. Radio is the most widespread source of
information in the country. There are many radio stations today, with AM, FM and
shortwave, broadcasting mainly in Pashto and Dari as well as Urdu and English
languages.
After suspension for a number of years during the
Taliban rule, Radio Kabul was relaunched in November 2001.[28] In 2003 an
estimated 37 percent of Afghan citizens, mainly in urban centers, had access to
a local radio station. Arman FM, a private radio station, is most popular with
younger citizens in Kabul.[20] In the early 2000s, international
non-governmental organizations supported establishment of more than a dozen new
radio stations. It was reported in 2011 that there are as many as 175 radio
stations broadcasting throughout the country.[29] The BBC World Service, Voice
of America, Radio Free Afghanistan and others broadcast into Afghanistan as an
additional source of news, in Pashto and Dari languages.
Television
Main article: Television in Afghanistan
With a combination of Afghan news and political
programs, original reality TV shows, Bollywood movies and American programs
like "24", ARIA TV is the first exclusive channel for children and
teenagers, while Tolo TV is Afghanistan's most watched station. Saad Mohseni,
chairman of Tolo's parent company, Moby Media Group, said Moby's revenues are
in the $20 million range and the media company operates at a profit.Lemar
TV, which broadcasts in Pashto language, is sister channel of Tolo.
State-owned Afghanistan National Television relaunched
in 2002 after being shut down in 1996 by the Taliban. Four cable stations
appeared after the overthrow of the Taliban, carrying Indian and American
programs, though cable was banned in 2003 by the Afghan Supreme Court on moral
grounds. In 2006, at least 7 television stations were operating in the country,
of which 1 was government run in addition to six regional stations. Radio
Television Afghanistan was the most powerful broadcast outlet. Satellite and
cable television ownership is growing however; Al Jazeera widely seen as a
leading source of uncensored information.
The Afghan government had planned to make the Bakhtar
news agency and Radio Television Afghanistan independent of government control
in 2004 before elections. It was reported in 2012 that there are as many as
76 television channels in the country. Many global news channels have local
bureau's in Kabul, including: CNN, BBC, Sky News and Aljazeera.
Communications in Afghanistan has increased in the
last decade, and has embarked on wireless companies, internet, radio stations
and television channels. The Afghan Ministry of Communications signed a $64.5
agreement in 2006 with China's ZTE on the establishment of a countrywide
optical fiber cable network. The project was intended to improve telephone,
internet, television and radio broadcast services throughout the country.[1]
About 85% of the country's population has access to communication services as of
2012.[2]
