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Debate
Media funding in Afghanistan should assist reconstruction
Comment: Israel’s crucial front
Yet more fragile states
10/2006 |
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[ Mariam Tutakhel, expert on Afghanistan ]
“Media funding
should assist reconstruction”
When funding Afghanistan’s media, donors have paid far too little attention to local needs. Moreover, they have been unable to protect the still fragile government against malicious warlord propaganda in the media. Mariam Tutakhel believes that freedom of the press may be restricted in post-conflict countries if doing so serves stabilisation. She argues her case in this interview with D+C/E+Z. Tutakhel has written a study on media funding in Afghanistan for the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg/Essen.
How has the media landscape in Afghanistan changed since 2001, when the Taliban regime collapsed?
There has been a huge increase in the number, particularly of print media. However, that increase does not relate favourably to the funds spent on the matter by the international community. In Kabul alone, for example, there are more than 20 women’s magazines, even though the illiteracy rate among women is between 60 and 80 per cent. There is a total of about 300 state and non-state publications in Kabul, and there are about 100 publications in the provinces.
What role did donor countries play?
Much of the market research they commissioned came out against print media. The reasons were the high illiteracy rate as well as difficult distribution logistics. Nonetheless, it was mainly print media that received funding in the early days of international aid after 2001. That this was so can be attributed not least to the fact that newspapers and magazines can be produced more cheaply than other media. They require less technical know-how, and they can be set up fast. Both mattered a lot to the international community then, as there was a desire to see tangible results soon.
In other words, more and more newspapers, which hardly anyone could read, were printed?
Exactly. Moreover, hardly anyone could pay for them either, so there was no guarantee of commercial independence.
And what becomes of all that printed paper?
Piles of publications can be found in the offices of the international aid agencies and in public buildings in Kabul. Only few of these agencies are paying any attention to distributing their print media. To my knowledge, only the magazine Killid is sold nationwide. The publisher, an Afghan non-government organisation, hires cars and delivers the magazine to sales outlets.
To boil it down, one might say that the donors fund print media that are mainly read by their own staff?
Yes, funds are definitely supplier-driven. The target audience is not the Afghan people, but rather the donors themselves, whose beliefs ultimately determine the content of the magazines too.
What about television and radio?
There are currently about 35 independent radio stations in Afghanistan, in addition to the state broadcaster RTA and its stations in the provinces. In this segment, too, women’s broadcasters – such as Radio Sahar in Herat and Radio Sohra in Kundus – are particularly popular. The problem is that the organisations which have set up these radio stations, with few exceptions, did not carry out any market research. A commendable exception is Radio Sadaye Azadie run by the German armed forces. It is very successful, after having identified the needs and wishes of its listeners early on. The same can be said for the commercial broadcaster Arman FM. This is Afghanistan’s market-leader in radio, and, with its station Tolo TV, also in television.
Do all donors deserve equal criticism?
All donors were under political pressure to present results in Afghanistan as fast as possible. Nevertheless there are differences. Budget issues, for instance, can have an effect on the quality of the projects. The funds in the German Federal Government’s Stability Pact for Afghanistan, for example, must be disbursed within one financial year. Accordingly, it is difficult to fund long-term projects with this money. Funds from the German Development Ministry are better suited for that purpose.
What is the media’s role in Afghanistan? Do they check the government and policy-making, or do they predominantly entertain their audience?
Ideally, media in post-conflict nations such as Afghanistan should initially serve communication between government, the people and the international community. Later, they should gradually develop into a controlling fourth estate. The situation in Afghanistan is hazy. On the one hand, there are strong independent broadcasters such as Tolo TV. They do address controversial political issues, and they are attacked by Islamists as well as moderate forces, by state agencies as well as non-governmental organisations. On the other hand, many media are under the influence of warlords. Such media tend to agitate against the state, the government and the international community.
Should they be prevented from doing so?
I would go so far as to say that, in a post-conflict situation such as in Afghanistan, it is legitimate and even imperative to restrict the freedom of the press with the objective of stabilising the political situation. Neither the institutional, nor the legal conditions are in place for the media to responsibly assume their policing role.
In this respect, would you advise donors to exert more influence?
No, not the donors. Inter-governmental organisations such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should control the media – at least until the state is in a position to do so on its own. The Afghan government is itself still under reconstruction; it is a long way from becoming fully functional.
But wouldn’t curtailing press freedom from outside repress societal debate – for instance between modernisers and traditionalists?
Certainly, media debates reflect deeper conflicts in Afghanistan, such as that over the relevance of Islamic principles. Normally, however, controversy is not about principles, but merely about power. For example, there was recently a heated debate over female singers heard on the radio. It was only about Afghan women, not foreign artists. Obviously, critics such as the Supreme Court, were not defending Muslim principles, but rather upholding their power over Afghan people.
Questions by Tillmann Elliesen.
Mariam Tutakhel
wrote her research paper for the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg/Essen. She worked as desk officer at Germany’s Foreign Office from 2002 to 2004 and, from January to July 2004, as German Embassy officer in Afghanistan. She is currently employed as a desk officer at Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin.
tutakhel@hotmail.com
On the Internet:
The INEF study:
http://inef.uni-due.de/page/documents/Report83.pdf
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