Independent media in Khost worries about the future after 2014
Will international assistance to the media dry up after US and NATO forces hand over security to Afghans? Can the media, one of the
Will international assistance to the media dry up after US and NATO forces hand over security to Afghans? Can the media, one of the country’s biggest success stories of the last decade, survive without foreign aid?
Both questions are the subject of much discussion in the independent media in Khost.
Amanullah Haqmal, chief of Da Wolas Ghag (voice of the nation) told Killid that major contracts with aid agencies and international organisations have either lapsed or been recently terminated, creating a serious hole in the radio’s revenues. “For a long time we were publishing their short messages in between our programmes.” However, the radio station has continued broadcasting even after the contracts wound up. “Now we try to stay active like in the past but without their (international donors) support.”
Zahed Shah Angar who heads another private radio called Da Soleh Paigham Radio (message of peace) admitted there is concern that assistance to the media would be cut. “Nowadays most of the media is funded (by donors). If there is a cut in international assistance the media would also be damaged, like other sectors,” he said. Da Soleh Paigham like Salam Watandar -a network of radio stations in 29 provinces, was started with assistance from USAID. One of the most popular radio stations, it has been able to get assistance from several local businesses. In fact, its popularity has encouraged competition among businesses to have their advertisements heard.
Those in the media who have “organised their affairs properly and anticipated the shrinking of aid” will not have a problem, Da Soleh Paigham’s Angar pointed out. Every media organisation that “was dependent on or depended on funds from aid agencies will naturally face difficulties,” he added.
Shaky ground
Afsar Sadeq, the chief editor of Da Helow Carawan (the caravan of hope) who has been campaigning for the empowerment of radio has described the possibility of the drying up of funds for the media as a “plague”. In his words in Khost province, which is on the Durand Line, the international border with Pakistan, any cut in international assistance would be to the advantage of “intelligence/espionage rings”. “They will expand the area of their influence,” he warned.
However, Dr Aslam Qanooni of FM Today, another private station, is more optimistic. In his opinion the radio has durability, and also the people of Khost would not let the media collapse because of a decrease in foreign aid. He urged rich business to support Afghan media. “There are two benefits,” he argued. “First their business would flourish as their announcements would be published; and, second the media would be financially strengthened.”
No to propaganda
Potential external sources of support for the media after 2014 could be the governments of India, France, US, Italy and Germany which have signed bilateral agreements with Afghanistan, said Fazullah Ghamkhor, a writer and journalist in Khost. These countries have a stake in making Afghanistan work, and “they (media) should ask for work”, he reasoned. The US, through USAID, is already a major donor for the media with the Afghanistan Media Development and Empowerment Project (AMDEP). USAID’s website said the agency has supported the growth of independent media since 2002, “helping to establish a robust and energetic media sector”.
But media expert Ameer Shah Kargar warned the media cannot afford to become a “tool/puppet” of donors. “The media has to be clear. Announcements are published in return for money. Contracts provide funds for the media. The media should not take aid for the purpose of publishing propaganda for the donor. Such a thing would be a big setback for the media’s reputation.”
