• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Afghanistan Celebrates Journalists as Violence Targets Press

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
03/18/19
in Featured, Media Freedom, World
Hanif Hamgam Afghanistan

A poster of comedian Hanif Hamgam. Workers are removing it on December 17, 2018 from outside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, following a ceremony to mark his death on December 15. Photo:AFP

10
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Afghanistan on Monday marked National Journalists Day amid a spike in violence that has already seen four media workers killed so far this year in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press.

Gunmen killed Sultan Mahmood Khairkhaw, a journalist working for a private TV channel and radio station in southeastern Khost province, on Friday – the latest media worker to be killed in the war-torn country, which saw its deadliest year on record for journalists in 2018.

The attack on Khairkhaw came two days after another journalist was seriously wounded when a sticky bomb ripped through his vehicle in southern Helmand province.


The Birth of the Free Press 

“Freedom of expression is the most important achievement for us,” Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president told a gathering of journalists in Kabul.

“During the Taliban regime … any voice would be considered against their movement. And it is not acceptable to us to put people under censorship and pressure anymore,” he said.

Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan’s media has been one of the country’s few success stories.

Hundreds of free media organizations have mushroomed, giving rise to a lively and largely free press – something that had never before existed in the country’s history.

The Afghan National Journalists Day was marked on Monday in #Kabul. During the event Shahpoor Farahmand a reporter with Ariana News was among top 10 journalists who received the 2019 Afghanistan Journalist of the Year award. pic.twitter.com/jK7UIIMBh3

— Ariana News (@ArianaNews_) March 18, 2019

The media landscape in Afghanistan today includes over 100 TV channels, 284 radio stations, and just over 400 newspapers and magazines, according to a recent government report. Most of the outlets are private.


Under Threat 

But growing violence has made the country one of the most dangerous environments for the media.

Last month, two journalists were shot and killed when gunmen stormed their radio station in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province in north-east Afghanistan.

The pair, both men in their 20s, worked for Radio Hamsada, a private broadcaster.

In January, Afghan citizen journalist Jawid Noori was snatched from his car and murdered by the Taliban in Farah province, in the country’s west.

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that 2018 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in Afghanistan.

“Eighteen journalists lost their lives in the line of duty last year,” Danish said.

According to RSF, 60 journalists and media workers have been killed in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 – an average of around three a year.


More on the Subject 

Afghanistan mourned the death of one of its most treasured celebrities, comedian Hanif Hamgam, known for ridiculing the powerful in a region where poking fun at warlords is no laughing matter.

Hamgam’s daily show “Zang Khatar” (The Alarm Bell), which aired on Afghanistan’s largest private TV channel Tolo from 2007-2013, was so popular that squadron leaders on the front line against the Taliban would demand televisions so as not to miss an episode.

“After the fall of the Taliban (in 2001) and freedom of media, his show was the first that critically looked at important issues,” his old friend and Zang Khatar colleague Nehmat Haidari told AFP.

Afghanistan Mourns Death of Comic Who Mocked the Powerful

Share10Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Australian soldiers in Afghanistan
Middle East

Australian Special Forces ‘Unlawfully Killed’ 39 Civilians in Afghanistan

by Staff Writer
November 19, 2020
Security personnel outside the Kabul University in Kabul after a brutal attack on November 2, 2020.
Middle East

Afghan Forces Capture ‘Mastermind’ of Kabul University Attack

by Staff Writer
November 14, 2020
The head of the Afghan government delegation, Abdullah Abdullah, addresses the opening session of peace talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.
World

Afghan Violence Soars Despite Peace Talks: Watchdog

by Staff Writer
November 5, 2020
A flash flood affected villager pushes a bicycle along a road in Charikar, Parwan province, on August 26, 2020
Middle East

Flash Floods Kill More Than 70 in Afghanistan

by Staff Writer
August 26, 2020
Afghanistan children fly kites during a kite festival in Kabul, November, 2016
Middle East

Third of Afghans Estimated to Have Contracted Virus: Health Ministry

by Staff Writer
August 6, 2020
A replica of a loudspeaker which transmitted propaganda messages during the Vietnam War
Media Freedom

Vietnam, Where Independent Media Is Outlawed, Opens Press Museum

by Staff Writer
July 17, 2020
Next Post
Putin: US Fails to Comply With Nuclear, Chemical Weapons Treaties

Putin Signs Laws Against 'Disrespecting' Authorities, Fake news

Cholera cases in Yemen

Yemeni Women Take on Traditional 'Male' Roles Amid Crisis

Recommended

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018, while he was inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Reporters Without Borders Sue Saudi Prince Over Khashoggi Murder

March 2, 2021
Hatice Cengiz delivers a speech addressing the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2019.

Khashoggi Fiancée Demands Punishment for Saudi Prince

March 1, 2021
People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

February 27, 2021
What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

February 26, 2021

Opinion

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Refugee child holding up a sign reading 'we are human like you'

US Asylum Laws Must Catch up With the Reality of Today’s Refugees

February 18, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post