"Over the last decade, Afghanistan has experienced the rise of a robust media sector. Programming fills the airwaves with everything from news to comedy, open debate to open audition, soap operas to police dramas to ABCs. Journalists, however, operate in a climate of fear and insecurity, under threats of reprisal and violence, with insufficient state support for freedom of the press. The National Unity Government’s pledge to promote good governance and fight corruption cannot succeed absent a free and independent media. President Ghani and CEO Abdullah’s campaign pledges to support freedom of speech and press freedom must be backed up by actions, including passage of a mass media law that protects freedom of speech and the personal safety of journalists." (Summary)