Reviving Afghan journalism
By Byron T. Scott Posted Apr 1 2002
There is a tabloid weekly published in four languages and hawked on the streets of Kabul. There’s an independent media center, and journalism classes on a campus dominated by the rubble of war. There’s even a radio show proclaiming: “Good morning, Afghanistan!”
Efforts to revive Afghan journalism have begun.
Hoping that lessons learned in places like Kosovo and Bosnia will aid their efforts, a spectrum of international agencies, private foundations, non-governmental organizations and journalistic organizations have begun the task of returning indigenous media to a society still recovering from 23 years of civil strife.
Although it only makes up a small part of the envisioned billions of dollars pledged by international donors, the journalism portion of Afghanistan’s recovery already boasts a lengthy list of agencies and donors. The task is no less daunting. Afghan journalists will work amidst the now-familiar situation of political discord, warlords and bandits, poverty and a decayed and destroyed infrastructure that has failed a far-flung nation of nearly 26 million people, most of whom remember only propaganda from its press. Since the first fighting in 1978, literacy has slipped to about 31 percent and is as low as 20 percent in some regions, UNESCO estimates.
On Jan. 24, an independent weekly, Kabul Weekly (Hafteh Nameyeh Kabol), published its first issue since the Taliban shut it down in 1996. The 10- to 12-page paper included an eyewitness account of the Sept. 10 assassination of Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Massoud, written by the weekly’s editor, Mohamed Fahim Dashty. The tabloid, with an initial circulation of 2,500, is published in Dari, Pashto, English and French, which reflects the new reality of Afghanistan’s capital. The World Association of Newspapers has signed up to develop a nationwide distribution system for this revived newspaper.
The weekly is one of several projects under the umbrella of the Afghan Independent Media Center(AÏNA) founded by international photojournalist Reza Deghati. Based in Paris, and with offices in Kabul and Washington, D.C., “Project Afghan Media” has a growing partnership list that includes the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; the National Geographic Society; Reporters sans Frontiers; and the cultural department of the French government. A key activity is the opening of the Afghan Media Center, which will house training courses and incubate both new and returning indigenous media.
Kabul University, which has been largely closed since 1992 and still remains a rubble-strewn former battleground, is scheduled to reopen on March 22. Its curriculum will include journalism. In late January, Martin Hadlow, director of UNESCO’s media aid team in Afghanistan, sent out a worldwide call for books and training materials, “regardless of language or region,” to be sent via the international agency’s Islamabad office. Early contributors included the World Press Freedom Committee with its well-known Handbook for Journalists.
Efforts to revive Afghan broadcasting media have centered on Radio Afghanistan, whose Kabul studios were stripped as the Taliban abandoned the city. The Northern Alliance assumed control of the station, but so far they have been broadcasting principally music. BBC World Trust, European Commission and others are working to refurbish the facility and train Afghan technicians and journalists. Equipment donations are also being sought worldwide. One of the programming projects, sponsored by the Denmark-based Baltic Media Center, is a daily, one- to two-hour news, sports, travel and weather show, edited by a returned exile journalist, Barry Salaam. Good Morning Afghanistan, which began on Feb. 25, is being broadcast in both principal Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto. Although the Northern Alliance continues to run several regional radio stations, the most popular independent programming probably remains the BBC World Service daily broadcasts in Pashto and Dari, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Among the other broadcast facilities being re-equipped and staffed with international assistance are the Television Afghanistan facility, which was also stripped and disabled during the fight for Kabul. Although satellite dishes have recently sprouted in various cities and towns, the only generally viewable non-Taliban television station since 1987 had been “Fayzabad TV: Symbol of Resistance,” which was recently renamed “TV Badakhshan.” It is a 10-watt, two-hour daily broadcast run by the Northern Alliance with Western support.
Although the campaign to revive the Afghan media is proceeding with vigor, there are notes of caution. Scarred and frustrated by post-1989 journalism programs in former Soviet states and transitional nations of Africa, many journalists beginning Afghan training see a pothole-strewn road ahead. Travel will take patience, time and extreme cultural sensitivity.
The executive director of the World Press Freedom Committee, Marilyn Greene, notes: “It would be unrealistic to believe that a strong, independent and economically viable system for print and broadcast news providers will be possible for quite some time.”
Recalling recent efforts in Bosnia and Kosovo in particular, Greene recalls results that “unfortunately included imposition of not only ideas and procedures from outside, but also a system of content rules and restrictions. ... Assistance must not be interpreted to mean control, and intergovernmental bodies involved in rebuilding Afghan society must not try to assume the role of a press-control body.”
Whether or not it has the restraint, patience and will, she adds, “It is good that the international community recognizes the importance of rebuilding Afghanistan’s media and that the response has been quick.”
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EMERGING MEDIA
Kabul Weekly
After six years of suppression, this weekly tabloid was rereleased on Jan. 24.
TV Badakhshan
Sponsored by the Northern Alliance, this broadcast airs daily for two hours.
Good Morning Afghanistan
Begun in February, this one- to two-hour daily radio program shares news and entertainment.