North journalists' satisfaction with security and cooperation of government institutions
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Mazar-e-Sharif: At the same time as the one-year anniversary of the Islamic Emirate government, journalists in the north and northeast of the country say that the problems of accessing information, the fear of high-ranking government officials from the media and their unwillingness to provide information, lack of information Enough, economic problems and government supervision of their work have been the challenges of the media in the past year.
But on the other hand, better security than in the past for journalists, unprecedented cooperation of the departments of information and culture of the provinces, and the fact that no journalist was killed, injured or kidnapped in the north in one year, are good achievements of the government of the Islamic Emirate.
Qutbuddin Kohi; The head of the Faryab Journalists' Association said in a conversation with Ava: "For the past one year, there has been no freedom of speech in Faryab province, what the media has published is in accordance with the government's request, and things that are against the opinion of the authorities have not been published."
According to him, the rulers of Faryab were afraid of the press and the media, they knew that the media played a role in the downfall of the previous government, and that their fledgling government also has gaps and problems, so they were not willing to answer to the media.
Kohi added that despite these problems, the cooperation of the Department of Information and Culture of Faryab with the media has been very good and has always provided information to journalists. But other officials, including Governor Faryab, have not agreed to meet with reporters even once, despite the journalists' insistence.
Besides this, Jamal Ahmadi; Balkh's local reporter also told AVA: "The past year was a good opportunity for the Islamic Emirate to find a good position among the media and people, use the existence of the media and follow the media freedom law that exists in the Islamic law of Afghanistan." has and accepted could act; But it did not happen in practice and I hope that this law will be considered in the future and the officials of the Islamic Emirate will be held accountable.
He added: In the past year, there were many problems in the field of information, the officials of the Islamic Emirate were not willing to respond. There were no complaints about these either; because they have not received training in this field and we hope that they will be given the necessary training in the coming years.
Meanwhile, one of the journalists of Takhar Province, who did not want to be named in the report, also stated in a conversation with AVA: "In the past one year, the situation of the media in Takhar was not good, the facts were not provided to the media, and the officials according to They dealt with reporters of their own accord.
But despite the problems, this Takhar local reporter added that the head of information and culture of the Islamic Emirate government in Takhar has tried to solve the problems of the media and provide them with information as soon as possible.
Abdul Basir; The reporter in Badakhshan also told AVA: In the past year, access to information in Badakhshan also faced problems. The media were not invited to a number of events and programs, or remained behind closed doors, and high-ranking officials were not willing to respond to the media.
According to him, the government of the Islamic Emirate should make it easy for the media to access information in their future plans, use the media humanely and sensibly, and consider journalists as members of their family.
Also, Abdul Samad, one of the Samangan journalists, informed about the unfortunate situation of the media in this province and said: only two local radio stations in Samangan operate for several hours a day, and the doors of other media outlets are closed, and the journalists have abandoned their duties.
According to him, the cause of the problems of the media was not the government of the Islamic Emirate; rather, the lack of financial sponsors has caused the downfall of journalism in Samangan.
He added that in the past 4 private media were active and nearly 30 people worked in Samangan media; but now, only two to three journalists’ work as freelancers with external media.
At the same time, the information and culture officials of the Islamic Emirate in the north talk about the continuation of their cooperation with the media.
Imdadullah Mohajer; Samangan's head of information and culture told AVA: We have cooperated with the media in the past year and we will be with them in the future.