London – Afghanistan is turning into a desert of journalists, with 40% fewer media outlets that existed before the Taliban came to power a year ago: 60% have ceased to operate.
In the country whose regime still prohibits girls from going to school, female journalists are the hardest hit, with 76 percent losing their jobs, according to a survey released on the first anniversary of the takeover by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Kabul.
By August 2021, only 656 of the total 2,756 people are working in the country. Some manage to relocate and work outside Afghanistan, while others are struggling to rebuild their lives.
Journalists and media outlets in crisis after Taliban
The destruction of independent journalism in Afghanistan is the result of a combination of intense suppression of press freedom and the severe economic crisis fueled by regulations that pave the way for persecution and self-censorship.
According to RSF, there were 547 outlets in Afghanistan before 15 August 2021. A year later, 219 outlets had closed.
And out of 11,857 journalists counted before the Taliban took over the country, there are currently only 4,759 journalists in the profession.
Female journalists most affected
Women suffered the most in the massacre against Afghan journalism last year.
According to the NGO’s survey, 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces – Badghis, Helmand, Daikundi, Ghazni, Wardak, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktia, Samangan and Zabol – no longer have journalists.
Of the 2,756 female journalists and media professionals employed in Afghanistan before 15 August 2021, only 656 are still working, of which 85% are in the Kabul region.
Accusations of “immorality or behavior contrary to the values of society” are commonly used as excuses to harass and send women journalists home.
The organization states that this traditionalist worldview in the official discourse of the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has resulted in female TV presenters being forced to cover their faces in front of the camera.
“They work in severe physical and mental conditions,” said Bibi Khatera Nejat, a journalist who fled to Pakistan, describing the conditions that drove her into exile.
“I worked for Radio Hamseda in Takhar state for seven years,” he told RSF.
“Of course, in this process, I was the target of harassment, just like all women journalists in the provinces, especially those working in radio and television.
I was even threatened several times, but at least we managed to resist. On August 8, 2021, the Taliban entered the city.”
Nehat reported that one of the first things the fighters did was to destroy media equipment and shut down newsrooms.
He took refuge in Kabul with his family. But after the fall of the capital on August 15, there was “no hope left”. So he left the country.
“Right now I’m in Pakistan but I’m in even more trouble economically and there’s no way out.
Embassies do not respond to our visa requests. A year later, we were forgotten by the international community,” he said.
Journalist manages to go to Canada, but husband and wife stay in Afghanistan
For those who have had to leave a life behind and already expect bureaucratic difficulties, the departure has been difficult.
Award-winning journalist Farida Nekzad, the editor-in-chief of Afghanistan’s largest independent news agency Pajhwok Afghan News, also gave up on her country.
She won the International Women’s Media Foundation “Courage in Journalism” award in 2008 and was the director of the Afghan Center for the Protection of Women Journalists (CPAWJ).
Upon his arrival in Qatar, he made an emotional statement to a representative of the International Federation of Journalists.
At least 15 journalists were on the same plane, including prominent figures from the country’s leading networks such as Zen TV, Ariana News, Khalid and ToloNews.
Explaining that everyone on the plane was crying, he said that like his other colleagues, he did not know what awaited him in the future.
Do you live in Qatar or in a third country? Restart your career? Waste of time?
In Doha, we met Farida, who works as a journalist in Afghanistan, helps many female reporters, and fled four days ago. Watch what you say! pic.twitter.com/li4d10D5ya
– Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) August 28, 2021
Nekzadd managed to go to Canada with his daughter and now teaches at a university in Ottawa.
However, her husband and son have not yet managed to leave Afghanistan. Target of the Taliban as a journalist.
Belgian refugee journalist analyzes the situation for 10 years
Even those outside the country followed closely the situation of the press before the Taliban came to power.
Lailuma Sadid is an Afghan journalist and political refugee due to the threats she has received from the Taliban for her journalistic work.
He has been living in Belgium for more than ten years and is a reporter for the Brussels Sabah newspaper.
“I see no hope for the future because the dark days are back,” he says in an interview with the International Federation of Journalists about the first year of the new Afghan government.
“The situation is getting worse day by day.
A few weeks ago, the Taliban sent a letter to women who were still working, warning them not to come to the office and to send a replacement.”
She draws attention to the obstacles in front of women journalists.
“They are forbidden to report on events, have no access to information, and are sometimes even barred from going to newsrooms.”
Sadid said the Taliban filled the news bulletins in Afghanistan with their propaganda, making it difficult for Afghan citizens and the outside world to know what was going on.
“Journalists face many threats, but at the same time, women journalists, activists, human rights defenders and others are leading the resistance and fighting for their rights.
Even if women risk their lives, they do not remain silent. “
Courage of those who remained in Afghanistan
An example of resistance is Meena Habib, director of RouidadNews, a Kabul-based news agency that she created after August 15, 2021.
“I chose to stay in my country to report the news and defend what women have accomplished over the past 20 years,” she told Reporters Without Borders.
“The living and working conditions of women journalists in Afghanistan have always been difficult, but today we live in an unprecedented situation.
Women journalists who have the opportunity to work also work for a miserable wage.
They fulfill their duty of reporting on an empty stomach, working without any protection, in severe and exhausting conditions, both physically and mentally.
Today, all associations that defend the rights of journalists are all men and work for men.”
60% of Afghan journalists are out of work
Every journalist, male and female, has been affected by regime change and has seen their professional opportunities evaporate overnight in Afghanistan.
According to RSF, a total of 7,098 journalists are no longer working, including 55% of male journalists.
Of the 9,101 men who worked as journalists before the fall of Kabul, 4,962 are no longer working. as a result of the shutdown of 40% of the media outlets in the country within one year.
Although four new media outlets have been established since 15 August 2021, Afghanistan lost 219 of its 547 media outlets.
Provinces with the greatest decline (more than 50% reduction) according to RSF mapping are Balkh, Bamyan, Panshir, Parwan, Takhar, Herat and Faryab.
The Kabul region, in the center of the country and home to the most media outlets (133), was also heavily affected by the regime change and lost almost half of them. RSF claims that only 69 of them are currently working.
The obligation to replace music or news programs with religious content in some provinces caused some media outlets to stop broadcasting.
However, new economic restrictions, such as the cut of international or national funds and the decline in advertising revenues as a result of the economic crisis, have also caused some media outlets to close.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, Afghanistan lost 700,000 jobs, while the proportion of Afghans below the poverty line is expected to reach 97% this year.
These factors combine the impact of brutal regulation and disregard for Afghanistan’s own press freedom law.
In 2012, Afghanistan was ranked 150th out of 179 countries in RSF’s Press Freedom Index. It has risen to 122nd place out of 180 countries by 2021, thanks to the dynamic media landscape and the adoption of laws protecting journalists.
And it dropped to 156th place in 2022 after losing about 40% of its media and more than half of its journalists.
Also Read | Taliban, one year: see the facts that destroy press freedom in Afghanistan
source: Noticias
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