You're invited: VOA & USIP - CORRECTED SUBJECT LINE! Panel Discussion and Screening: Protecting Independent Media in the Taliban’s Afghanistan, Thursday January 19

VOA & USIP - Panel Discussion and Screening: Protecting Independent Media in the Taliban’s Afghanistan

In person or virtual

January 19, 2023

10:30 a.m. to 12 noon

2301 Constitution Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20037

Join the U.S. Institute of Peace and Voice of America for a discussion with journalists and media experts about the challenges facing media in Afghanistan today and what those both inside and outside the country are doing — and can do — to protect media freedom. The discussion will include a screening of the short documentary, "Silenced, Media Under Taliban." The VOA original video tells the story through a female journalist whose career has ended, a social media activist who the Taliban put in prison, and a media manager struggling to run his channel without resources.

Panel:

Ayesha Tanzeem - Director, South and Central Asia Division and former Bureau Chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Voice of America
Rahim Gul Sarwan - Senior Correspondent, Afghanistan, Voice of America
Barry Salaam - Senior Program Officer, Afghanistan, U.S. Institute of Peace
Gypsy Guillén Kaiser - Advocacy and Communications Director, Committee to Protect Journalists

Moderator:

Kate Bateman - Senior Expert, Afghanistan, U.S. Institute of Peace

The expansion of freedom of expression and the emergence of a vibrant free press were among the biggest achievements of the 2001-2021 period and made Afghanistan a standout in the region for independent media. But since taking power in August 2021, the de facto Taliban government has eroded these gains, leaving the future of free media in Afghanistan unclear. Over the past year, the Taliban have shut down and restricted media organizations, detained journalists and imposed harsher restrictions on female reporters. However, media organizations like VOA are fighting back, finding innovative ways to get accurate, timely information to the Afghan public.

According to Reporters Without Borders, in the year since the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan has lost 40 percent of its media outlets and 60 percent of its journalists, including a steeper decline in women journalists. A free press in Afghanistan is essential for Afghans to hold their government accountable and for human rights monitoring.

The conversation will also look at lessons from other authoritarian contexts to discuss what has worked to preserve media freedom in hostile environments.

About Voice of America

VOA reaches a weekly global audience of more than 326 million people in 48 languages in nearly 100 countries. VOA programs are delivered on multiple platforms, including radio, television, web and mobile via a network of more than 3,500 media outlets worldwide. VOA’s seasoned journalists are experts on topics trending in the United States and around the world. The Voice of America is funded by the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency.