Publications

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Media Review and Planning Workshop

14 - 15 June 2006
American University of Afghanistan

Executive Summary

(PDF version of complete report in English)
(PDF version of complete report in Dari)

This publication was made possible through support provided by the Office of Transistion Initiatives of the U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Award No. HDA-A-00-03-00119-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

1.0 Executive Summary

When the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, Afghanistan had no functioning press. For most of its earlier history, Afghan media was state-run and private press, if allowed under the various regimes, was frequently censored by authorities. Given this background, developments across the media sector in the past four years should be seen as an immense success. There are seven private television networks, more than 50 independent radio stations and more than 100 functioning newspapers and magazines today. Radio, the dominant medium of news and information access, reaches approximately 62 percent of the Afghan population.

Locally-initiated projects to unify media actors, such as the Afghanistan Independent Radio Association, are also emerging, indicating a greater maturity in the organization behind the media sector. Similarly, growing initiatives in business development and requests for management training show that local media are determined to stay.

While this prolific growth of the media is encouraging as an indicator of emerging freedoms of expression and public participation in social and political life, the media sector is in its early stages and has been buoyed by donor funds to date. While business development efforts have begun, most media are far from achieving self-sufficiency in the immediate future. This underlying constraint means that further developments in the sector need to be guided by targeted, strategic, longer term plans.

Attacks against media workers continue, without a great deal of support from the sector itself. One week after the seminar detailed in this report, the country’s National Security Department issued an unofficial directive calling on the media not to give coverage to insurgents and not to give bad press to the Afghan national army or ISAF. Furthermore, despite many positive provisions, the country's media law also includes a prohibition on publication of “matters contrary to the principles of Islam and offensive to other religions and sects.” This language is too broad, leaving journalists and broadcasters vulnerable to charges of blasphemy, an offense punishable by death.

Internews Afghanistan held a “Media Review and Planning Workshop” on 14 and 15 June 2006. The workshop hosted approximately 81 representatives from all sections of the media in Afghanistan. The workshop was designed and implemented in the interests of gathering as many media representatives together to collectively analyze the sector’s achievements to date, identify ongoing needs and challenges, and devise a shared “vision” for future media initiatives. The Media Review and Planning Workshop came on the heels of another Internews initiative that brought media representatives together once a month to discuss ongoing activities to discuss strategies to maximize shrinking resources and donor funds.

The information found below is a summary and analysis of discussions held between participants over the span of two days. The information found herein therefore represents the ideas of those representatives from the Afghan media sector, not those of Internews or its affiliates.

At the outset of the seminar, participants classified the state of Afghan media as “beginning to move towards a free media.” Collective opinion was that the sector had developed rapidly from its virtual non-existence in 2001, but was still vulnerable to a range of threats. The most oft-cited of these threats was managing to develop the skills and markets to self-sustain the media sector in Afghanistan’s uncertain economy.

An underlying theme that emerged from discussions was that donors had begun to pull out of the sector too soon, leaving agencies without the skills, experience or resources to continue managing without additional support. Security fears were also put forward as a key threat to developing an independent press. Closely following this were concerns over the development and implementation of the new media law – participants felt they did not have a proper understanding of the law and its regulations, and they also feared that government officials would have similar difficulties, thus rendering it ineffective. Another overriding threat to developing a free press was the difficulties associated with Afghanistan’s geography – the expansive, mountainous country-side makes travel and communication, and therefore reporting, exponentially more difficult. That said the participant’s discussions and writings expressed an overriding sense of pride at having been part of the development of media in Afghanistan. Taking broadcast and print media to the provinces was seen as a key step in educating Afghanistan’s population.

The latter part of the conference was dedicated to identifying collectively supported goals for the Afghan media sector – first identifying the goals, and then the steps that needed to be taken to achieve them. The overarching goal for the future of Afghan media was a sector that facilitated positive community relations. This “community building” extended to relationships between individuals, different communities, and community relations with the government. Beyond this, participants sought a media that was sustainable, free and secure – it was to be a media that the community trusted because they knew it was acting in their best interests. In order to achieve these aims, the sector needs to acquire lawyers trained in media law, focus on research and training in business development and better targeting media outputs for the community.

With the interests of identifying these needs and goals, Internews ran its Media Review and Planning Workshop. This document will be disseminated as widely as possible in the hopes that it will generate further discussion, as well as action, on the issues and aims that are put forward.

In August 2006 Internews was granted funds to implement an ongoing media development project with independent media and in particular the network of stations created and supported by Internews since 2002. This report and recommendations from the seminar were used to inform project design of the current Internews program in Afghanistan.

COMPLETE REPORT (PDF):

("Afghanistan Media Review and Planning Workshop" in English)

("Afghanistan Media Review and Planning Workshop" in Dari)