May 03 (The Killid Group) — World Press Freedom Day is annually observed on May 3 all around the globe.
The world celebrates the World Press Freedom Day at a time the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread throughout the globe and has threatened the lives of millions of people, and in particular for the journalists, the virus has become more life-threatening.
According to officials in the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), due to an outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, some media outlets are facing a severe financial crisis and are unable to pay their employees.
They warn the Afghan government must pay more attention to the journalists who are also the frontliners in the battle against the novel coronavirus, adding the freedom of press and expression, which are considered to be the major achievement of the country in the past two decades, will be sacrificed as the government continues to fall away its attention from the media.
Addressing the media, Najibullah Sharifi, head of the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC) in addition to highlighting the informative role of media and press in the face of the coronavirus disease, also called on the Afghan government to open an emergency account for those of media outlets that have faced critical financial challenges.
Likewise, Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan (NAI) maintains that other than facing financial challenges, some of the media outlets in the country have lost their employees due to fears of the illness.
AbdulMujib Khelwatgar, head of the Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan (NAI) told The Killid Group that the Afghan media companies and journalists not only face security threats but are also threatened by considerable economic challenges.
NAI and other supporting media agencies put their efforts to convince the government to provide media outlets with funds allotted to combat the deadly coronavirus disease, he continues.
In the meantime, the United Nations Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a press release acknowledges that “nothing should be allowed to threaten the critical advances in press freedom in Afghanistan.”
British embassy in Kabul also renewed its commitment to defend media freedom in Afghanistan saying the UK has long been a supporter of press freedom in the country.
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