Media in Afghanistan: Past Challenges and Present Achievements
First Secretary M. Ashraf Haidari visited Syracuse University on February 15 and gave a talk on “Media in Afghanistan: Past Challenges and Present Achievements” at the University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
To highlight Afghanistan’s post-9/11 achievements in the freedom of press and expression, Haidari discussed obstacles to these freedoms during 1980s and 1990s. Under the communist regime, 
he said that the state effectively controlled the media through state-run Afghan TV and radio. “Because the constitution promoted the communist/Marxist agenda, print press was automatically self-censored in compliance. Hence people mostly obtained their information from BBC, VOA, and Radio Free Europe. In the post Soviet era, freedom of press and expression continued to be controlled with many papers run by various warring factions that promoted their agendas. However, it was under the Taliban regime that freedom of press and expression was totally stifled, “Haidari told the students.
“We have made monumental progress in promoting and maintaining freedom of press and expression in Afghanistan over the past five years. The Constitution that the people of Afghanistan adopted in 2004 guarantees free press, which has contributed to the emergence of a multitude of independent print and broadcast outlets in Afghanistan,” Haidari noted. He thanked some of the international NGOs that have provided funding to maintain some independent papers, as well as the private investors for running several TV channels.
Discussing the constructive role free media has played in the process of rebuilding Afghanistan, Haidari explained that the medium of radio and TV has educated people on the process of the presidential and parliamentary elections. Radio is of particular importance, as it is the key medium of communication in rural Afghanistan, where more than 60 of the population lives. Radio stations have been launched that are run by women for a female audience. These stations educate women on their rights under the new Constitution and promote literacy, preventative healthcare and human rights.
“Although Afghanistan is considered to have the most freedom of the press in the region, a lack of progress in the judicial reform remains an impediment,” Haidari noted. However, he pointed that with time and increased resources to institutionalize the formal justice sector in Afghanistan, that problem would be resolved.
