Media outlets in Afghanistan are on the verge of bankruptcy as they face financial difficulties after the Taliban takeover.
A survey released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) shows that around 43 percent of media outlets in the country have ceased operations, leaving nearly 60 percent of journalists unemployed.
The survey also shows that the Taliban’s coming to power has radically changed the Afghan media.
Only 312 of the 543 media outlets operating in Afghanistan at the beginning of summer were operating at the end of November.
Since the Taliban took over in mid-August, a total of 231 media outlets have had to close and more than 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs.
The main reasons for this decline are the economic crisis and certain limitations imposed by the Taliban government.
Abid Ehsas, news director of Shamshad TV, a local television channel in Kabul where operations continue as normal, said the media has been badly affected by the loss of revenue they used to earn from advertisements.
He also added that the limitations of the Taliban have forced many organizations to even resort to self-censorship.
More than 84 percent of women in the media industry were unemployed after the Taliban takeover. This rate is 52 percent among men.
Afghanistan’s most popular channel, TOLO TV, continues to employ female media personnel who appear on television.
Şemşad TV reporter Şükriye Niyazi, who continues her duty at the desk, says that she is considering quitting her job, but has given up on this decision. Still, she is not sure what to expect in the future.
In the capital, Kabul, and in the rest of the country, the atmosphere has become tough for journalists.
The press has to fulfill the “11 Rules of Journalism” published by the Ministry of Information and Culture, with the interpretation of the Islamic doctrine of the Taliban.
The “Journalism Rules” pave the way for censorship and persecution and strip journalists of their independence.
The National Association of Journalists of Afghanistan says the situation is hurting the Afghan press, and the lack of access to information makes the situation even more serious for journalists.
Journalists, always on the front lines, over the past 20 years have been targeted by the Taliban, ISIS, criminal gangs and in some cases the former Western-backed government led by former President Ashraf Ghani.
In 2018, nine Afghan journalists were killed and six others injured in a suicide attack undertaken by ISIS-affiliated organizations.
The RSF-AIJA survey also noted that the reduction in the activity of media outlets has had a major impact on employment.
At the beginning of August, 10 thousand 790 people, 2,490 of whom were women, were working in the Afghan media. When the survey was conducted, this number was only 4,360. Of these people, 3,950 were men and 410 were women.
30-year-old video reporter Mustaf Jafari, who has been working for local television channels for the past eight years, was unemployed when Rah-E-Farda TV, where he worked, was shut down after the Taliban took over Kabul.
Caferi now owns a small wheelbarrow and sells corn. He barely earns 200 Afghani ($2) a day to support his wife and two daughters from this corn. Caferi says he has no hope for a better future.
Afghanistan is grappling with an almost complete economic collapse, cuts in international aid, an alarming increase in hunger, and a dangerous revolt by IS militants. Billions of dollars in the country’s assets abroad, mostly in the United States, were also frozen.
The international community is also in no hurry to formally recognize the new Afghan administration, as it fears that the Taliban may impose a harsh regime similar to what they did when they were in power 20 years ago.