Conference on media to be held on Wednesday

KABUL, June 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A two-day conference to discus current situation of the media and talk on future plans is to bring together representatives of more than 60 national and international media outlets later this week. 

A statement released from the Internews Kabul office on Monday said representatives from electronic media (radio/TV), print media and wire services would be invited to join the conference. Besides, the conference will also be attended by ministers, analysts and press officers to deliberate on role of independent media in Afghanistan and devise a future plan.

Country Director of Internews Jan McArthur said: "Media management, regulation and sustainability will be key focus of the planning session." The conference is financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The conference is the first venture to bring together a large group of media officials to jointly contribute to strategic planning in the media sector. Fifteen Afghan and international media representatives had met in Paris in March this year to devise a "long-term media development strategy" for Afghanistan.

In addition to 50 radio and 16 TV channels, there are 350 independent and state-run magazines and newspapers in the country.

Borhan Younus