Said Najib Asil on Journalism in Afghanistan
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/11/10
Said Najib Asil is an award-winning Afghan journalist with nearly two decades of experience in journalism. He served as the head of Current Affairs at TOLOnews, Afghanistan’s largest media network channel in Kabul. In August 2021, he left Afghanistan due to the Taliban’s takeover and has been residing in Canada since January 2022. In September 2022, Najib joined CBC News as a JHR fellow. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2010. He has written on his experiences in Kosovo 2.0 in the article entitled “From Kabul to Albania to Toronto.” We met in economics for journalists conference, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here, he talks about the work for TOLOnews, the context for journalists in Afghanistan.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are here with Said Najib Asil from Afghanistan.
Said Najib Asil: I was working back in Afghanistan for TOLOnews, Afghanistan’s largest media network.
Jacobsen: How long did you work for them?
Asil: I worked over a decade for TOLOnews, from 2010 to the 15th of August, 2021, After collapse of the previous government.
Jacobsen: How do you find the media landscape pre-2021 for journalists in Afghanistan?
Asil: Right. If we see the past two years in Afghanistan, we can discern significant changes in the media industry after the Taliban regained control after-August 15, 2021.
But, before that, in 2001, when the U.S. and their allies intervened in Afghanistan, there was a surge in the establishment of prominent media organizations. During that period, we witnessed the presence of four main types of media organizations in Afghanistan. The state media organization, governed by government policies; the private media sector, which had the largest market share in Afghanistan; and international media organizations such as Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, which had a substantial influence, covering diverse stories for Afghanistan and the world. Additionally, there were media organizations affiliated with various political parties, each pursuing its distinct objectives in Afghan politics. Lastly, print media played a pivotal role across various sectors.
Based on the latest reports, I would say more than 12,000 journalists were employed in the Afghan media industry in the past two decades. Approximately 600 media organizations operate in Afghanistan, comprising 194 radio stations, 96 TV stations, 290 newspapers, and 14 news agencies. Among these, around 4,000, constituting 40%, were women staff and Afghan girls who received education in Afghanistan after 2001. They were engaged in various media organizations before the collapse of the previous government in Afghanistan.
So, if we look from that perspective, And now after two years of Taliban ruling the country, I would say more than 400 media organizations were closed after the Taliban took back control in Afghanistan. Based on several reports more than 9,500 journalists lost their jobs or fled from Afghanistan. Furthermore, media expression has gone totally. After two years, for now only some media organizations are active in Afghanistan, but they are just following the policies of the Taliban, and what they are saying. So, more than 60% of Afghan journalists who worked in Afghanistan in the past two decades left the country and right now they are in exile. They are in different countries. Hopefully, what we are seeing now, that those journalists who are in different countries have come together and are establishing some media organizations based on the conditions they have, the refugees.
The most recent example I would like to highlight is Amu TV, founded by Lotfullah Najafiza, the former director of TOLOnews, and his former colleague and friend, Samiullah Mahdi. They established Amu TV as an international media outlet for Afghanistan in Virginia, U.S. After two years in exile, they now have around 70 staff. Their team operates from various countries, including the US, Canada, Europe, Pakistan, and even from Iran and Turkey. This represents a positive step toward freedom of speech and engaging the current freedoms for the people who needed it under the Taliban regime. – So, the current state of freedom of speech and media in Afghanistan aligns with my description.
Jacobsen: Now, Middle East-North Africa, depending on the time, depending on the State or the nation-state, the timing for journalists can be volatile at times and a little more stable at other times compared to like North America or Western Europe, for instance. We get some cases that come forward of people who are jailed, killed, harassed, beaten, and things of this nature. When you were doing current affairs for a solid decade for the largest news network in Afghanistan in a more relatively peaceful time, especially currently, how did you find stories that you picked that might have come with risk to you or your colleagues that you’re responsible for at that time? How did you weigh through that ethic?
Asil: Looking back over the past two decades, the accomplishments that Afghan media and the nation as a whole achieved unfortunately faced significant challenges during that time. One of the major obstacles was the presence of the Taliban. The Taliban opposed the existence of private or government media in Afghanistan, targeting various media organizations, including those I worked for. In 2016, they targeted our staff bus, resulting in the loss of seven colleagues and injuries to around 24-25 others. This tragic incident was not isolated; across different provinces of Afghanistan, we lost numerous journalists, colleagues, friends, and staff during the past two decades in Afghanistan.
Furthermore, I would say, those particular Afghans as akin to warlords who had a presence in Afghan politics since the ’90s. They held considerable influence in Afghanistan, participating in various sectors and provinces. However, they frequently pressured journalists to refrain from reporting on events in their regions, impeding the dissemination of crucial information to the public. Consequently, that period in Afghanistan was marked by numerous challenges.
Jacobsen: When things shut down, when there was a collapse of the government and this was to the Taliban for the second time in your country, how did you find yourself dealing with that individually, given the stature and the institutions and the individuals that you built up for that long period?
Asil: Before the Doha agreement, which the US signed with the Taliban, we knew the situation that would happen in Afghanistan in the coming months. So, there was always fear for all Afghans, especially for those Afghans who work in the media sector, women’s rights, human rights, activists, and university scholars. So, all Afghans were worried. I can say, especially in the two months leading up to the collapse of the previous government, some of our colleagues stayed overnight at the MOBY compound due to security conditions. We remained in our office compound for days, bringing along all the necessary items, such as clothes and other essentials. Enduring this two-month period was particularly challenging. After the 15th of August when the previous government collapsed, most of our colleagues were in the office. We received messages from police that the Taliban entered Kabul City at around 9:00 a.m. So, there was a lot of fear in every Afghan at that time. So, for journalists and all nation, it was very hard.
After 2003, MOBYgroup worked together with the US Embassy and other embassies in Afghanistan on different projects on women’s rights, human rights, elections, and freedom of speech…After the collapse, The U.S. government announced an evacuation for Afghans at risk. Four days later, my boss called me and shared a list of my colleagues names and urged me to head to the Serena Hotel, which was located near our office. With little time, I rushed home to see my mother, sisters, and brothers, taking a brief glance at the entirety of my life over the past two decades—my books, pictures, and everything I had built. Especially in my room, it all flashed before my eyes. Emotionally, it was a whirlwind of memories and a realization of the sudden upheaval in my life.
Then I said goodbye to my family and entire life in Afghanistan. After an hour me and most of my colleagues reached Serena Hotel. At that time, The Qatari military was responsible for Hotel security, then the Qatari forces escorted us to the airport and after three days of being in an airport. Fortunately, the U.S. Army flight facilitated our evacuation to Qatar. After spending four days in Qatar, we proceeded to Albania. These were the stages of our evacuation—from Afghanistan to Qatar and then from Qatar to Albania. During this period, we had refugee cases from the U.S. Embassy, known as P1, P2, or SIV (Special Immigrant Visas). Due to our direct collaboration with the U.S. government on projects back in Afghanistan. One day, the U.S. Embassy representatives in Albania held a meeting with Afghan evacuees. They informed us that we had the option to stay in Albania for a duration of two years or more to process our documents. Alternatively, they were working with allies and partners to assist those who wanted to go to other countries. At that time, most of our colleagues decided to go to Canada because Canada at that time was a great opportunity for Afghans.
After three months of processing our documents through the Canadian embassy in Italy, we finally received our PR confirmation. On January 20, 2021, most of our colleagues arrived in Canada. Since then, we have been living here, far from our friends, colleagues, and family members. The current situation back home remains challenging—no schools, no education, no rights; a dire situation for individuals as a nation.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time.
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