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Taliban Have Detained 300 Media Workers Since 2021

  • Amu TV
  • Habib Mohammadi

The Afghanistan Journalists in Exile in a statement on Sunday said that the Taliban have detained at least 300 journalists and media workers during their three years of rule in the country, describing the detainees as having endured “profound and indescribable violence” while in custody.

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What has Taliban Rule Meant for Media in Afghanistan?

  • Al Jazeera English

Since the Taliban regained power, Afghanistan’s media landscape has faced severe restrictions. Al Jazeera English sat down with Lotfullah Najafizada, the former head of Tolo News, to discuss working in exile and keeping the spirit of Afghan journalism alive.

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In Pakistan Afghan Journalists Face a Grim Reality

  • ABC News
  • Trisha Mukherjee

Afghan journalists in exile confront harsh challenges: after escaping Taliban persecution, they now endure poverty, threats of deportation, and years-long waits for humanitarian visas in Pakistan. Many now struggle with mental health crises as Western nations delay promised aid.

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A Mental Health Guide for Journalists Facing Online Violence

  • International Women’s Media Foundation

Online violence is often only considered a digital safety issue, but the impact of online abuse on journalists’ mental health is significant and has serious consequences for them, their work, and for press freedom. This is particularly true for women and diverse journalists who are disproportionately targeted by online attacks.

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Afghanistan: The Taliban are Banning ‘Living Beings’ on TV

  • Deutsche Welle
  • Shakila Ebrahimkhil, Hely Asad, Shabnam Alokozay

Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, detentions, imprisonments, and torture of journalists have surged, creating a “shadow of restriction and oppression” over press freedom in Afghanistan. Recently the Taliban have ordered TV channels in parts of Afghanistan to cease broadcasting images of living beings, after already banning music and female faces on screen.

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Afghanistan Faces a Future Without Voice or Image

  • 8AM
  • Amin Kawa

The Taliban have aggressively targeted media freedom and journalists over the past three years. They have banned photography and filming, mandated pro-Taliban reporting, used violence against journalists and media staff, carried out arrests, imposed severe censorship, threatened to shut down media institutions, and exploited journalists’ vulnerable status.

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Afghanistan: “An Unfinished Journey”

  • CBC

In a new documentary four Afghan women – former parliamentarians, a past minister and a journalist — who fled their homeland after the Taliban-takeover of in August 2021, spotlight the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. “An Unfinished Journey” captures their resilience in exile as they advocate for women’s rights and strive to keep Afghanistan’s plight in global discussions.

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Handling the Mental Load of International Watchdog Reporting

  • Reuters Institute
  • Matthew Leake

Cross-border investigative journalism exposes reporters to unique mental health risks. A new study highlights systemic challenges, including legal threats, remote work stress, and lack of professional support. “Most still rely on individual coping strategies, leaving many systemic challenges to be faced alone,” says writer and researcher Belle de Jong.

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What Does the Taliban’s New Law Mean for Journalists?

  • 8am Media
  • Eleanor Pugsley

The Taliban’s new law on the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” bans journalists from publishing or broadcasting content the de facto government believes violates Sharia law or insults Muslims. Article 17 describes several restrictions on the media, including a ban on publishing or broadcasting images of living people and animals which the Taliban consider unislamic.

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Afghanistan: RSF Calls for Continued Support for Media in Exile

  • RSF

Afghan media in exile remain economically fragile, even though they are a widely followed source of information, according to a report by the think tank for media professionals, The Fix, and the support fund for journalism in exile, JX Fund, created in 2022 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its partners.

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UK: Online Training Course for Exiled Journalists

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has launched a new online training course for exiled journalists, in partnership with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). The free e-learning course, which covers areas like UK media law, public affairs, writing styles and an introduction to the UK media industry, will help journalists forced to relocate to continue reporting.

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    “Like Swimming in a Swamp”

    • IWPR
    • Mohammad Munir Mehraban

    It is estimated that, nearly 2000 journalists have left Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021. Many sought asylum in Europe and North America, while others settled in Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries. Despite severe challenges Afghan reporters in exile remain committed to keeping the flow of independent news from their homeland alive.

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    Fact-Checking From Exile

    • JX Fund

    When the Taliban took power three years ago, the previously thriving Afghan media landscape collapsed. Many journalists were forced to leave the country and now work remotely. Others have stayed and continue their work despite all dangers. How do editorial teams in exile deal with the challenge of accessing sources on the ground?

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    Study: Afghan Exiled Media Since The Taliban Takeover

    • JX Fund

    The Taliban takeover in 2021 ended a period of media flourishing and improving freedom of expression in Afghanistan. The collapse of the Afghan government and the resurgence of authoritarian rule have created an environment of fear and uncertainty within the media community. Independent and diverse non-state media are in danger; many journalists have fled their homeland in search of safety and freedom.

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    Tips for Using Data in a Small Newsroom

    • Global Investigative Journalism Network
    • Pınar Dağ

    Small newsrooms need to focus on the importance of data use more than ever. But they often face numerous hurdles to this kind of work, including a lack of funding, limited human resources, and outdated thinking about what constitutes traditional journalism.

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    Dealing With Trauma Arising From Cyber Attacks

    • IJNet
    • Kayak Dasgupta

    Journalists today are often primary targets of online harassment, trolling, doxxing, hacking and spyware. In addition to abuse from anonymous users online, they are also subject to surveillance, intimidation and persecution by powerful entities like large corporations, legal and local authorities, or the state machinery at large.

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    Needs Assessment Report of Afghan Journalists

    • Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization

    The Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization (AJSO) has published its findings from a survey in which 310 Afghan journalists, both in Afghanistan and in exile, participated. The new report mainly focuses on the needs of journalists in capacity building.

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    Please Glorify the Government

    • Tagesspiegel
    • Alisher Shahir

    The Taliban claim that there is freedom of the press in the country. Even Western Youtubers are allowed to come – if they report positively and adhere to strict conditions.

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