Afghan journalism after Taliban takeover

Read Time:1 Minute, 54 Second

A year has passed since Kabul has fallen to the Taliban. Afghanistan has lost more than half of its journalist since the Taliban takeover. Despite the reoccurring international reportage of the situation in Afghanistan, it has become increasingly more difficult to understand all of what has been happening in the country, because of the pressures from Taliban for many Afghans to stay quiet. In a way, the country has lost half it’s eyes and ears.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan has lost almost 60% of its journalists since the fall of Kabul. In the year since the Taliban took power on 15 August 2021, Afghanistan has lost 39.59% of its media outlets and 59.86% of its journalists, especially women journalists. All of this has been happening amid an economical crisis.

Women journalists have been impacted the most, as more than 76 percent of them have lost their journalistic occupations. Furthermore, the female newscasters have been forced to cover themeselves up with masks and other fully covering attire. Although the masks were not required for male journalists, they wore them themselves as a show of support for their female colleagues on the biggest newscannel in Afghanistan, Tolo News. This was part of a campaign called #FreeHerFace that gathered wide spread attention worldwide as well, where both the male and female journalists came up with this idea.

“I cannot breathe. I cannot get oxygen,” she said. “We need to pronounce the words accurately. It is very difficult to read the news with a mask.”
Lema Spesali, 27, a news anchor for 1TV in Kabul, told the Guardian.

Colors have been going away not only on screens with newscasters wearing mostly black clothing, but also on the streets. Women are forced to wear Burqas and have a male chaperon with them, while walking outside. This has been a major hindrance to women’s freedom.

But many journalists are not backing down, despite the increasing physical violance that they face from Talibal. 29-year-old male anchor on a private television channel, who did not want to be named due to security concerns, has said to The Guardian that he and his colleagues will continue to protest until the Taliban reconsider their decisions.