Kathy Gannon: Courageous journalism is happening in Afghanistan. We can help.
Journalism in today’s Afghanistan is certainly wounded, but it’s far from dead. The evidence is produced daily, even hourly: This is not journalism as it was before the Taliban took power last August, but it is journalism. It demands our respect and support. Sounding the death knell on journalism in Afghanistan is an insult to…
‘I thought about the efforts and struggles of two decades… and cried’
The founder of a news agency dedicated to covering the lives and concerns of Afghan women on how female journalists are still reporting the news In November 2020, I decided to create an Afghan news agency run by and for women—an online news service that would counter the prevailing patriarchal norms of Afghanistan. The news…
Keeping hope alive
Afghan journalists in exile continue reporting despite an uncertain future “I lost my family, my job, my identity, and my country,” Afghan journalist Anisa Shaheed told CPJ in a phone interview. A former Kabul-based reporter for TOLONews, Afghanistan’s largest local broadcaster, Shaheed is one of hundreds of journalists who fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover…
Inside an Afghan news network’s struggle to survive
Threats, insults, beatings, and censorship: Former Ariana News staffers detail dire challenges during a year under Taliban control For veteran journalist Sharif Hassanyar, the final breaking point came in September last year. The Taliban had ousted the elected government of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani almost a month earlier, and the last American soldiers had since…
Afghanistan’s media faces crisis—and opportunity
Twelve months after the Taliban takeover, many Afghan journalists are out of work or on the run. Others try, very carefully, to challenge the powerful. The extreme distress that has gripped Afghanistan’s independent media since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15 last year lands in my inbox—and the inboxes of many of…
Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora charged with financial crimes, remains in detention
New York, August 10, 2022–A judge in a Guatemala City court on Tuesday ordered Guatemalan journalist and president of the elPeriódico newspaper José Rubén Zamora to remain in pre-trial detention while prosecutors move forward with a criminal investigation on charges of money laundering, blackmail, and influence peddling. Zamora has been held since he was arrested…
DRC journalists Daniel Aloterembi and Fify Kibwana attacked outside Kinshasa court
Kinshasa, August 9, 2022—Congolese authorities should thoroughly investigate the recent attacks on journalists Daniel Aloterembi and Fify Kibwana and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On July 28, a group of police officers at a court in Kinshasa, the capital, attacked and seized two phones belonging to Aloterembi, a…
South Sudan journalist Diing Magot arrested while covering protest for Voice of America
New York, August 9, 2022 — South Sudanese authorities should immediately release journalist Diing Magot and ensure reporters covering protests and other events of public interest can work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Sunday, August 7, South Sudanese authorities arrested Magot, a freelance reporter on assignment for the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities detain, raid, harass journalists and media outlets covering protests
Beirut, August 9, 2022 – Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately cease detaining and harassing journalists and media workers and allow them to report on political unrest freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On August 5 and August 6, Asayish security forces in several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan interfered with the work…
Crew with Indian broadcaster WION News beaten, detained by Taliban in Kabul
New York, August 9, 2022 – Taliban authorities should cease their attacks on the press and ensure that those who harass and assault journalists are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On August 4, armed Taliban members attacked and detained a team with the independent Indian broadcaster WION News, including reporter…