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40% of Afghan media have closed, 80% of women journalists lost their jobs
A survey by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) has found a radical change in the Afghan media landscape since the takeover by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
According to a report on the RSF website, a total of 231 media outlets have closed and more than 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs since 15 August.
Women journalists have been hit hardest, with four out of five no longer working, the report stated.
More than four out of every ten media outlets have disappeared and 60% of journalists and media employees are no longer able to work.
According to the RSF report, of the 543 media outlets tallied in Afghanistan at the start of the summer, only 312 were still operating at the end of November.
This means that 43% of Afghan media outlets disappeared in the space of three months.
The central Kabul region, which had more media than anywhere else, has not been spared. It has lost more than one of every two media outlets (51%). Of the 148 tallied prior to 15 August, only 72 are still operating.
RSF reported that the closure or reduction in the activities of media outlets has had a major impact on employment in the media sector. Of the 10,790 people working in the Afghan media (8,290 men and 2,490 women) at the start of August, only 4,360 (3,950 men and 410 women) – or four out of every ten media workers – were still working when this survey was carried out.
RSF attributed this change in part to new regulations issued by the IEA.
The rules require journalists to tell information and culture ministry officials what they would like to cover, get their permission to go ahead and finally inform them about the results of their reporting in order to be able to publish.
“There is an urgent need to rein in the spiral leading inevitably to the disappearance of Afghan media and to ensure that respect for press freedom is a priority,” said Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran-Afghanistan desk.
“Journalists’ safety, the fate of women journalists, media legislation and the right of access to news and information are all crucial issues that the authorities must address without delay. Without a free press capable of exposing bad governance’s failings, no one will be able to claim that they are combatting famine, poverty, corruption, drug trafficking and the other scourges that afflict Afghanistan and prevent a lasting peace.”
IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told RSF that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan supports “freedom for the media in the defined framework for preserving the country’s higher interests, with respect for the Sharia and Islam.” He also said that the government wanted to “help those media that are operating to continue to do so, and help the others to find solutions so that they can resume operating.”
Aside from new rules, media owners have to cope with new economic constraints. Many media outlets were receiving national and international funding that ended when the IEA seized control.
“These subsidies, which came above all from countries that had a military presence in Afghanistan and which had an interest in providing them, have now ended,” said Mujahid.
Recognizing the disappearance of many media outlets, Mujahid noted that many media “executives and managers had fled the country.”
This had contributed to the “collapse” of their media outlets, he said.
A high-level government–private sector delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Shukhrat Abdullazakov, Governor of Namangan province, arrived in Kabul to enhance trade between the two countries and promote investment in Afghanistan.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Industry, the delegation, which includes deputy governors and more than 30 of Uzbekistan’s top businesspeople and investors, will meet with officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and participate in conferences and trade meetings.
The delegation will also travel to Balkh, meet with local officials, and hold business meetings with members of the private sector.
Additionally, the delegation will inaugurate an exhibition of Uzbek products and goods in Mazar-i-Sharif.
This visit follows the trip of Erkinjon Turdimov, Governor of Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya Province, and his accompanying delegation, and is based on meetings between Nuruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Islamic Emirate, and senior Uzbek officials.
Other governors from Uzbekistan are also expected to visit Afghanistan to further expand bilateral trade and economic relations.
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment announced on Saturday that national traders, jointly through the chamber, have provided approximately 15 million AFN in aid to the people of Iran.
The chamber stated that this aid package was delivered to the Iranian Consulate in Herat. It added that the assistance was intended to express solidarity with families affected by the war.
Mohammad Younes Qazizadeh, head of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: “Today we have presented 15 million AFN to the dear people of Iran through the Herat provincial authorities and the Iranian Consulate, and this aid will continue.”
Meanwhile, officials at the Iranian Consulate in Herat emphasized that Afghanistan and Iran always stand together and fully understand each other’s difficulties.
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment also highlighted that the people of Iran have consistently supported the people of Afghanistan during various crises, and their cooperation in different sectors has reached families affected in the country.
Officials of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment stressed that the process of private-sector humanitarian aid to the affected people of Iran will continue.
Following attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, many people in the country have been affected and harmed.
Local officials in Badghis have reported that heavy rainfall from midnight until Saturday morning claimed the lives of five people in the province.
According to officials, three people died in Qadis district, while two others, including a three-year-old child, lost their lives in Dara-e-Bum district.
The Badghis Department for Disaster Management stated that the floods not only caused fatalities but also inflicted significant financial losses on local residents and destroyed agricultural land.
However, complete information on the extent of damage and casualties is not yet available. Staff from various government departments have been dispatched to affected areas to conduct preliminary surveys.
Meanwhile, heavy rains and floods in western Afghanistan temporarily blocked the Herat–Kandahar Highway.
According to Mohammad Israil Sayar, head of the Disaster Management Department in Farah province, recent rainfall has caused the Farah River to swell significantly. He added that the situation has now returned to normal, and traffic along the highway has resumed.
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