{"id":4986,"date":"2023-04-25T11:40:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T11:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/?p=4986"},"modified":"2023-04-25T18:44:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T18:44:43","slug":"the-afghan-press-feels-the-heat-of-taliban-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/the-afghan-press-feels-the-heat-of-taliban-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"The Afghan press feels the heat of Taliban rule"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Nazira Karimi <\/strong><\/p>\n
\n

Afghanistan experienced significant changes following 2001 related to freedom of press and increased media activity.\u00a0 This was one of the most significant accomplishments of the international coalition, people, and the government of Afghanistan.\u00a0 Unfortunately, after the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban, the personal and professional life of journalists and media workers were turned upside down.\u00a0 Previously, Afghan media workers showed the reality of Taliban as a terrorist group and criticized them for their activities.\u00a0 With the Taliban\u00a0 now in power, there is\u00a0 concern for the safety of Afghan Media workers.<\/p>\n

State of journalism in Afghanistan today:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today Taliban restrict all parts of Afghan people\u2019s daily life.\u00a0 Before the Taliban took over on August 15 2021, Afghan reporters and journalists practiced freedom of speech and in most cases, had access to information. But today it is not easy to get access to events, and there are too many restrictions in the media imposed by the Taliban leadership. These restrictions force reporters to think twice before publishing their reports.<\/p>\n

In the preceding 20 years, the Afghan media were able to gain the trust of the Afghan people.\u00a0 Prior to that,\u00a0 the international media were the primary source of news for the people of Afghanistan.\u00a0\u00a0 With the passage of time, the source of news for the people of Afghanistan became reliable domestic media, including Tolo News, Shamshad, One TV and Ariana.<\/p>\n

But now that the restrictions have been imposed, local media are trying to maintain the trust of the people.\u00a0 This has been a challenge\u00a0 for them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, new media outlets broadcasting from outside of Afghanistan along with social media have become a source of news for the people of Afghanistan.\u00a0 At the same time,\u00a0 there is a greater challenge posed by \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compared to the bad experience I had with the first Taliban regime, today\u2019s journalists and media are trying their best to resist opposing the Taliban pressure. This is commendable.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the Taliban have become somewhat more patient compared to their first regime.\u00a0 Still, this is not enough.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the Taliban forced Afghan female reporters and journalists to wear masks while they are on TV.\u00a0\u00a0 At first, their male colleagues also publicly resisted the Taliban and wore masks for several days as a protest.\u00a0 Ultimately, however,\u00a0 power is in the hands of the Taliban and the media have to obey what they say.<\/p>\n

Female Journalist Challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Taliban have removed women as much as possible from the socio-political life. In a society where women cannot go to school, what will be the status of women reporters? We had brave journalists like Anisa Shahid, Shakila Ebrahim Khel, Frahnaz Frotan and dozens of other journalists, but where are they today?<\/p>\n

By some accounts,\u00a0 85% of women who worked in the media have lost their jobs.\u00a0 At present,\u00a0 there are no women employed by the national radio and television of Afghanistan.\u00a0 Many who lost their jobs were the only people in their family who worked.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, how can a male reporter treat issues from a woman\u2019s point of view? The scope of work in public media outlets such as television and radio are severely limited and this is a cause for concern.<\/p>\n

Self-Censorship:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As noted,\u00a0 there are many restrictions imposed by the Taliban government which have narrowed the field of journalistic activity.<\/p>\n

For example, recently a message was broadcasted by the Taliban leadership which said that no one should criticize government officials unnecessarily.<\/p>\n

This complicates the work of journalists who fear what will happen if they express their views.\u00a0 My Afghan colleagues and journalists saying\u00a0 they are very tired of the conditions.<\/p>\n

There is a huge difference between the working environment of journalists in Kabul and the provinces.\u00a0 In , Kabul at least there is\u00a0 access to some resources and there are intermediaries that work with government institutions and can intervene when needed.\u00a0\u00a0 In the provinces, the Taliban system is very closed.<\/p>\n

If a journalist publishes a report of a problem in any provincial government institution,\u00a0 officials will think that there is\u00a0 a personal problem with them or their system.\u00a0 They can then create problems for the reporter.<\/p>\n

Access to information is also far more difficult outside of Kabul.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Economic Crisis Effect on Media Houses:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following their establishment in 2001, Afghan press and media never reached self-sufficiency.\u00a0 In that era,\u00a0 large advertising and awareness projects were primary sources of income for Afghan media.<\/p>\n

With Afghanistan in an economic crisis, commercial companies are not very interested in investing in marketing through media advertising.<\/p>\n

The international community can help Afghanistan\u2019s media by directly and fairly supporting and promoting awareness projects in that country, so that the media can afford their broadcasting costs.<\/p>\n

Does media facilitate Taliban to retain sufficient support to make this comeback?<\/p>\n

High-ranking officers of the previous government and their supporters, allege that the media published critical reports on the government, providing indirect propaganda for the Taliban.<\/p>\n

However, in a democratic system, the media is considered as a fourth pillar of the system.\u00a0 Given this, the media\u2019s duty was to expose the truths and weaknesses of the government.<\/p>\n

The rulers were not reformed.\u00a0 According to my personal experience, the media considered national interests as much as possible all time, especially in favor of Afghan security forces.<\/p>\n

Current coverage of Afghanistan\u2019s Stories in International & US Media:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have repeatedly said in front of the highest-ranking American officials, even President Joe Biden, that America has forgotten Afghanistan, especially after the Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n

When Russia attacked Ukraine, no one in America was interested in Afghanistan anymore.\u00a0 The people of Afghanistan believe that America itself caused the downfall of the Afghan government as they gave anything to the Taliban that they wanted in the Doha Agreement, breaking the morale of the security forces.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the American media cover the events in Ukraine more than those of Afghanistan.\u00a0 In my opinion, the ones who have suffered the most and been affected by this crisis after the Ukrainians are the Afghans.<\/p>\n

Taliban treats local journalists compared to Westerners:<\/strong><\/p>\n

People believe that the Taliban are trying their best to make foreign journalists have good impression of Afghanistan and show a perfect image of the Taliban\u2019s situation to the world, but their attitude towards local journalists is not good at times.<\/p>\n

When my journalist friends call me, they say that in many cases these differences are very extreme.<\/p>\n

For example, if an incident happens, foreign reporters have full access to visit and take photos but Afghan reporters have to wait for hours until they have minimal access to the scene of the incident or event.<\/p>\n

Also, on the days when there is a ceremony, such as the 10th of Muharram, on that day the reporters must have a separate letter from the Taliban security authorities in order to be allowed to record video, defying logic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]\n

ABOUT AUTHOR: <\/strong>Nazira Karimi is a journalist, television presenter, author, and entrepreneur from Afghanistan currently based in U.S. She reported for Afghanistan National Radio and TV, BBC, Radio Free Europe \/ Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and more until Kabul fell to the Taliban. She now owns and manages NK Media, a futuristic multimedia house for the Afghan community around the world. The Washington Post in 2001 called her \u201ca young Barbara Walters.\u201d<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Nazira Karimi Afghanistan experienced significant changes following 2001 related to freedom of press and increased media activity.\u00a0 This was one of the most significant accomplishments of the international coalition, people, and the government of Afghanistan.\u00a0 Unfortunately, after the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban, the personal and professional life of journalists and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[237],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-4986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oped"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4988,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions\/4988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4986"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saperspectives.net\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=4986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}