Afghanistan – no country for journalism?

On Tuesday 14 June JMIC (Journalism & Media International Center) at OsloMet presented a report on the development of Afghan journalism after the Taliban takeover in mid-August 2021. 

H.E. Youssof Ghafoorzai, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Norway (Photo:  Pål Arne Kvalnes, OsloMet).

The study is based on analysis of media content from six Afghan outlets, as well as interviews with prominent media leaders, and journalists still working inside Afghanistan. It is to our knowledge the most comprehensive report on this issue so far.  

The event was addressed by: 

H.E. Youssof Ghafoorzai, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Norway, Oddgeir Osland, Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet, and Knut Olav Åmås, Director, Free Expression Foundation.  

The report was presented by: 

Elisabeth Eide (Professor Emerita, project leader), Hasina Shirzad (MA student, OsloMet), and Zahir Athari (researcher, UiO). 

Other team members are postdoc fellow at OsloMet Mahmud Farjami as well as Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar, Director of Nai-SOMA, a media watchdog in Afghanistan, who could not be present at the occasion.  

The presentation was followed by comments from Mr. Sharif Hassanyar, previous Director of Ariana TV network in Afghanistan Kristian Berg Harpviken, Research Professor, Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)  

Responses from the authors and questions from the audience. 

The event was streamed for those who could not attend physically.

More information about the event on the OsloMet homepage:
https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/events/afghanistan-journalists

The link to the recording:
https://film.oslomet.no/afghanistan-et-land-der-1

Read more:  

Afghan media landscape drastically changed, finds study – Pajhwok Afghan News  

(In Norwegian):  

Aftenposten:

https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/Wjp7zL/overlever-journalistikken-i-afghanistan

Journalisten:

https://journalisten.no/afghanistan-elisabeth-eide-kortnytt/rapport-omfattende-mediedod-i-aghanistan-etter-maktskiftet/523310

Uniforum:

https://www.uniforum.uio.no/nyheter/2022/06/journalistikken-i-afghanistan-er-truga.html

UiO:

KRONIKK: Akademia i Afghanistan i eksistensiell krise – Uniforum (uio.no) 

The launch: https://film.oslomet.no/afghanistan-et-land-der-1 

The printed report is available by clicking here.

All photos by Pål Arne Kvalnes, OsloMet.

United Nations showing images from Afghanistan  

The Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations in New York opened an exhibition with photographs from Afghanistan 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day. 

Norway pays tribute to brave journalists, photographers and media workers in Afghanistan and across the world, according to @NorwayUN on Twitter.

Norway’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Mona Juul opened the exhibition, which was attended by media, diplomats and UN colleagues. 

Fore more information: 

https://www.norway.no/en/missions/UN/news/photo-exhibition-by-afghan-photographers/

Silence is killing us

In an interview with Violet Gonda Afghan journalist and media leader Najiba Ayubi says the silence of the world is killing the people of Afghanistan, especially women and female journalists.  

Najiba Ayubi is a leading Afghan media personality and one of the Information Heroes by Reporters Without Borders.  

She narrates the evacuation ordeal to Germany and USA with her family after the fall of the country to the Taliban 15 August.  

The interview was done in December after she was settled in USA, but published 3 February in the programme Hot Seat by Violet Gonda.

Gonda is an award winning journalist and President of President: International Association of Women in Radio & Television [IAWRT]

IAWRT has been trying to assist its members to be evacuated from Afghanistan after they received death threats from the Taliban. Najiba Ayubi is the chapter head of IAWRT Afghanistan.