AFGHANISTAN: First station to broadcast live 24 hours launched

ISLAMABAD, 6 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Afghanistan’s first radio station to broadcast live 24 hours a day went on air in the capital, Kabul, this week. Radio Khilid Kabul (RKK) 88.5 FM is one of the first private-sector radio stations in the country to be granted a government broadcasting licence.

"Radio Khilid will be highlighting Afghan culture, giving it back to the Afghan people as it has almost been forgotten. For 30 years Afghans have been living in other countries, and Afghan culture has not been transmitted to their children," Shahir Zahine, the director-general of an Afghan NGO, Development Humanitarian Assistance for Afghanistan (DHSA), told IRIN from Kabul on Wednesday.

RKK's conception and realisation is the result of a partnership between DHAA and the international media NGO, Internews.

The country's airwaves have been monopolised by government-run stations for many years. Following the fall of the Taliban, however, new stations have sprung up, with the coalition forces taking the lead in establishing two of them.

RKK is funded by the US Agency for International Development, and the objective of the venture is to encourage and foster the development of the independent media in Afghanistan.

The new radio station, which was inspired by the success of a national magazine, Khilid, is currently playing music only, but will also be broadcasting cultural information and chat shows, as well as news bulletins on the hour, with effect from Afghanistan’s National Day on 18 August.

Zahine said RKK would not only entertain but also help unite the Afghan people during this important period of national reconstruction. The station has taken a community participation approach by inviting citizens to contribute to programming by sending in ideas. The target audience is expected to be middle class 25- to 45-year-olds.

Internews envisages RKK to be the basis for a public service, but to remain a privately owned radio network spread across Afghanistan. The station will serve as an on the air training facility for journalists from other radio stations around the country. Internews is providing experienced international radio journalists as trainers for the venture, as well as studio and transmitter equipment.

The project faced some difficulties at the beginning of the collaboration, which are now being overcome. "Training is the major problem, people going into modern radio who either have old radio or no radio experience," John West, the Internews country director, Afghanistan, told IRIN from Kabul. He added, that the envisaged national network across Afghanistan would also help to highlight humanitarian issues.