More than two thirds of the roughly 12,000 journalists in Afghanistan have abandoned their profession ever since the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, as per a new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
It also added that over 80% of Afghanistan’s women journalists have had to stop working since August 15, 2021.
RSF stated that the media sector has been decimated in the past two years under the Taliban regime.
It stressed that more than half of the 547 media outlets that were registered in 2021 have since disappeared and of the 150 TV channels, fewer than 70 remain. It said that of the 307 radio stations, only 170 are still broadcasting and the number of news agencies has gone from 31 to 18, according to the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA).
RSF quoted Zarif Karimi, the director of NAI-Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan as saying that “nationwide the most impacted media outlets are the local ones”.
RSF’s South Asia bureau said, “On their own, these figures showing the extent of the Taliban destruction of the media would sicken anyone but that would be without taking account of the incredible resilience of Afghan journalists who, at home and abroad, battle daily to keep the flame of a free press alive.”
RSF said that the organisation stands at the side of the Afghan journalists and will provide them with emergency assistance and help them build a new free and independent journalism in Afghanistan.
The report also spoke about the challenges while reporting from the ground. It talked about self-censorship, harassment of journalists, arbitrary detentions by the Taliban and also how journalists are forced to comply with the “11 journalism rules” decreed in September 2021 – which, as RSF analysed at the time, opened the way to tyranny and persecution – and with the many other regulations restricting journalistic activity that followed.
The report said that faced by the relentless harassment of media personnel within Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, many journalists have had to resign themselves to fleeing abroad.
The Assistance Desk at RSF’s international secretariat supported 86 visa applications by Afghan journalists seeking refuge in a third country in 2022. The report stated, “Since January 2023, the organisation has already supported 89 applications of this type. Support for political asylum applications is also continuing, with 36 media professionals assisted in 2022 and 15 since the beginning of 2023.”
