06/06/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09928

AFGHANISTAN’S FREE PRESS

Under the oppressive Taleban regime, there were no independent newspapers published in Afghanistan. Those that were available were controlled by the government.

Publications like the Sharia Weekly were religious in nature, filtering "news" through the prism of Muslim extremism. Others, like the Kabul Times, did not practice real journalism, either. Their articles simply quoted, verbatim, remarks made by Taleban leaders. No criticism was allowed. Moreover, television was banned and women were forbidden to work as journalists.

There were other examples of Taleban extremism. Photos of people and animals were not allowed in print. Under Taleban law, the only pictures of life forms that could be published were those of plants.

Things are very different now in Afghanistan. An estimated one-hundred newspapers are available, though circulation of the largest rarely exceeds three-thousand. Television stations are once again on the air. And journalism is being taught at Kabul University.

Local and international journalists, Afghan officials, representatives from non-governmental organizations, and diplomats attended a seminar on journalism and reconstruction to mark World Press Freedom Day. The event was held at the newly built Afghan Media and Cultural Center in Kabul.

Abdul Hamid Mubarez, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, said that there is a need for free and robust media. Independent media, said Mr. Mubarez, can contribute to the education and political conscience of the Afghan people and help them defend their rights. Mr. Mubarez said he hopes that Afghan journalists and publishers now outside the country will return home.

Rohan Jayaskera is Kabul representative for the London-headquartered Institute of War and Peace Reporting. Mr. Jayaskera said that some problems remain. Among them, the fact that most newspaper publishing is confined to Kabul, and there are claims of some government interference.

But the interim authority’s press law has created independent media in Afghanistan. Mr. Jayaskera said that the new law indicates the government’s commitment to freedom of expression.

As Mohammad Fahim Dashty, editor of the Kabul Weekly, said, "We are just moving toward creating a new Afghanistan. We’ve got, no doubt. . .some problems. But we’re generally optimistic."