Profile of the Afghan press

Most national newspapers feature both Pashto and Dari

As the constitutional grand assembly, or loya jirga, gets under way in Afghanistan, BBC Monitoring looks at the country's newly invigorated press which has emerged in the aftermath of September 11 and the collapse of the Taleban regime.

While print runs are comparatively small, there is considerable freedom of expression. But the government appears ready to step in if it feels the papers are going too far.

The Afghan press is governed by a Media Law last amended in February 2002. The law removed most restrictions on independent media. Since then the number of newspapers and magazines has grown to about 270.

The law has been criticized for imposing the need for a licence, but in practice this is not always enforced. The Ministry of Information and Culture said in July 2003 that 17 unregistered papers were still in print.

The powerful Northern Alliance paper Payam-e Mojahed has refused to seek registration and is still publishing.

The policy of the ministry is to foster press freedom and political pluralism. It has a press commission which considers complaints by or against papers. The ministry has defended journalists under attack from government bodies.

Two national daily papers, Hewad and Anis, and several weeklies are funded by the government, while some other papers are funded from regional budgets.

Tiny circulation

Most papers have small circulations in Western terms. Hewad claimed a print run of 6,500 in 2002. The outspoken women's weekly Ayina-e Zan claimed 3,000 in 2003.

Independent papers founded by individuals with their own or foreign funds are even smaller. The Information Ministry plans to set up a printing plant in Kabul specifically for independent papers.

Print runs in Herat province rose after a new printing plant went into service in September 2003. The independent fortnightly Awa-e Naw runs to 2,000 copies, the same as the subsidized Herat regional paper Etefaq-e Eslam.

Despite this and the 30-per-cent literacy rate, the content of the papers is lively. Most focus on Afghan news and comment. Foreign affairs are generally covered only if they affect Afghanistan.

In the independent press editorials and commentaries crowd out factual news. Papers often enter into polemics.

Most national newspapers feature articles in both Pashto and Dari. Some papers, especially in the regions, are in one language only.

Several papers, such as the official Kabul Times and the independent Kabul Weekly, regularly run English-language pages. There are no restrictions on the use of minority languages.

Censorship

Government funding does not stop the official papers from campaigning against official policies. Few papers are mouthpieces for specific parties.

The exceptions include the weekly Mojahed, which voices the views of the powerful Jamiat party, and many of the regional papers. More papers can be expected to announce their party affiliation when election campaigning starts in 2004.

Official censorship is rare, though one ministry official told BBC Monitoring they intend to crack down once the elections are over. Many papers regularly attack the central government in strong terms with impunity.

Once the mark is overstepped, however, the authorities are prepared to crack down. The weekly Aftab was closed and its editors arrested in June 2003 after an article equating Islam with fascism.

The editor of the weekly Farda was jailed in December 2002 after Farda carried a cartoon lampooning President Karzai. The editor of the daily Erada was detained in April 2003 after an article attacking corruption in a ministry. In all cases the journalists were released soon after.

Editors are adept at self-censorship. Obvious taboos are criticism of Islam or ethnic groups, support for the Taleban or terrorism, and criticism of dead war heroes.

Living war heroes are often attacked, but in circumspect terms. Newspapers based in provinces with powerful local rulers, such as Herat, tend to be careful.

Few newspapers have web sites, but Internet publication is likely to grow as papers install new technology. Payam-e Mojahed has had a web site for years. The Herat paper Awa-e Naw is now available on the web.

The Ministry of Information and Culture says that it will soon develop a new government website. China is funding the project.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.