"At a stay in Afghanistan in May 2006 my father-in-law Mohammed Faried Parvanta in a laborious effort acquired Persian lists of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations from the Ministry of Information and Youth. These lists give an excellent quantitative overview on the current lands
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cape of mass media in the country and I soon came to the conclusion that they are a source in itself, documenting a status which will have already changed considerably at the moment this article appears. My wish to publish them was limited by the question of how to make them accessible in a useful way. While speaking about it to my friend Eckart Schiewek who is since nine years a member of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) he mentioned another list that had been produced in February 2001 by UNSMA under his direction and thus reflects the media situation in the time of the Taliban (a time where very little is known about the publishing landscape). Eckart’s generosity to freely use the 2001 list made it clear that both lists should be published thus giving a comparison which to my knowledge hasn’t been tried yet. I decided to create a certain frame for the data in providing a short historical overview and adding some comments at certain points in the lists although I am in no way qualified for a critical historical study of the situation of Afghan mass media or periodicals. Instead this small article intends to make these two valuable lists available to the interested specialists. Despite my few comments both of the lists are basically reproduced as they were. I quickly gave up initial thoughts to translate the Persian lists because of the sheer size of these lists." (Preliminary remarks)
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"This book represents one step in explaining international efforts to promote independent media. It attempts to examine the nature and significance of media assistance, discussing the evolution of the field, the focus of various programming approaches, and the possible impact of such efforts. It pre
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sents case studies of media assistance programs in different countries. The book concludes with a set of recommendations for expanding and deepening media assistance for the international community. This book project grew out of a multi-country study that I directed in 2002–2004 to examine media assistance programs funded by the US Agency for International Development. The overall purpose of the study was to assess the nature and effectiveness of USAID programs and make policy and programmatic recommendations for the future. In writing this book I have mostly drawn from the massive information collected during two years of research and analysis. The book is based primarily on three sources of information. First are reviews of literature covering scholarly writings, project and program documents, and articles in popular magazines and newspapers on media assistance. Such reviews were country specific as well as global in nature. Because the academic literature is extremely limited and media assistance is hardly covered in magazines and newspapers except in high-profile cases such as Bosnia and Serbia, reviews largely relied on program documentation. I had the unique advantage of perusing thousands of documents that are not available to the public. Although mostly descriptive and often self-serving, they identified critical gaps in our knowledge and illuminated the challenges and achievements of international media endeavors. Second, my colleagues and I undertook extensive fieldwork in seven countries/regions—Afghanistan, Bosnia, Central America, Indonesia, Russia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. In each of these cases, research teams conducted extensive discussions with international donor agencies, officials of host countries, project staff and contractors, and local media experts and journalists. Every possible effort was made to interview all those experts and managers who had intimate knowledge of the ongoing media assistance programs. Teams also examined locally available documents and reports and used translators to translate documents into English when necessary. In the absence of hard quantitative data, they largely relied on available documentation, indepth interviews, and their own knowledge of the media scene for their findings and conclusions. Finally, I organized a series of meetings in Washington, D.C., to discuss the findings of the country studies and explore new directions for media assistance programs. Such meetings helped to identify many problems and challenges facing media assistance programs and helped in formulating a set of recommendation for policymakers." (Chapter 1, page 10-11)
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"The experience of establishing community stations in Afghanistan provides four distinct, but interrelated lessons [...] The project has demonstrated that international organizations can promote community stations in impoverished, war-tron societies that have had no experience of independent or comm
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ercial media. Second, community radio can provide not only news but also a stimulus for grassroots democracy and social networks [...] Third, the Afghanistan example also suggests that community radio stations can raise modest resources locally [...] Fourth, in a politically and economically fragile environment, most community stations may require long-term financial support." (Lessons and recommendations, page 270-271)
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"Progress on Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) is more likely to occur when there is collaboration with others; where there are strategic opportunities; when UNESCO uses project funds to reward progressive policy change; where there are staff in the field who are committed to PSB; when there is foll
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ow-up and follow-through on activities; where UNESCO has a long-term perspective. The case study from Afghanistan (Appendix D) supports the view that collaborative programming has the potential to achieve much more than UNESCO could do alone. Collaboration is essential for large, long-term initiatives since UNESCO has limited funds available within the CI sector’s regular budget for PSB. UNESCO’s collaboration with UNDP in central Asia and its positioning of PSB within the UNDAF appears to have resulted in a positive influence. This is evident in Kyrgyzstan, for example, which developed a progressive broadcasting law that brought the country closer to a PSB model. UNESCO’s recent experiences in Malawi and Afghanistan demonstrate that significant movement towards PSB is possible in countries that are undergoing democratic reform. Post-conflict and failed states in transition can be fertile grounds for PSB but sustainable reforms are difficult to achieve within UNESCO’s planning cycle. UNESCO and its partners need to undertake thorough risk assessments in such countries before investing heavily. Cambodia illustrates one of UNESCO’s successful strategies for influencing change. UNESCO used IPDC funds to lever concessions from the Cambodian government. With IPDC as a carrot, UNESCO was able to persuade the government to introduce a new policy on editorial independence for broadcasters. As noted earlier, UNESCO’s greatest strength is its staff. In regions with knowledgeable and committed staff, it has had the largest volume of projects and made the most progress towards PSB. In contrast, where field officers have had little knowledge or interest in PSB, progress has been marginal." (Lessons, pages 25-26)
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"This study critically evaluates international democratization assistance in postconflict societies to discern what has worked, what has not, and how aid programs can be designed to have a more positive impact. The authors offer a unique recipient perspective as they explore three dimensions of demo
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cracy promotion: elections, free media, and human rights. Drawing on the experiences of Afghanistan, Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, they suggest concrete ways in which the international community can better foster democratization in the wake of conflict." (Publisher description)
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"This dissertation examines international aid in support of Afghan media from fall 2001 to fall 2004 as a case study to interrogate the notion of “media transition” and its underlying assumptions. It examines how development organizations such as the United Nations, bilateral aid agencies such a
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s the U.S. Agency for International Development, and non-governmental agencies created the institutional structures that define and support the practice of media transition. It analyzes how the nascent Afghan state media institutions and non-governmental organizations dedicated to media reconstruction negotiated and mobilized the discourse of media transition to further their own aims. It also analyzes how changing political considerations, media production and dissemination outlets, and media producers’ own sense of mission affected the production of a series of radio programs designed to promote Afghan political transition. This dissertation argues that democracy should not be treated as a self-evident goal for media transitions, but should be viewed as a discursive process that shares many of the same concerns as development communications, and that mobilizes a transnational public sphere." (Abstract)
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"[...] It is too early to assess the full impact of media development efforts undertaken since February 2002, given the short timeframe and the absence of reliable audience surveys. Nevertheless, OTI and Internews deserve credit for adopting an innovative, cost-effective approach to media assistance
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that helped open up civic life in towns and villages across the country, while planting the seeds for Afghanistan’s first commercial radio market. Emphasizing sustainability and quality programming, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and Internews appear to have avoided pitfalls that have plagued projects in other postconflict settings. Internews carefully chose aid recipients, stipulated that the aid would be phased out, and organized training courses relating to core editorial and management skills. The main pillar of the assistance effort has been a loose network of community radio stations where journalists and business managers receive training, equipment, and a relatively modest level of funding. The network was launched February 2003 with a $327,897 grant from OTI. A subsequent grant was awarded to expand the network, which, by November 2004, had 25 community stations with a potential audience of 7.47 million Afghans, or 36 percent of the population. It is hoped that plans to add an AM component to the network will not prove too ambitious or burdensome for the stations. The community radio stations may sound amateurish at times, but they have helped raise community issues for public debate for the first time and held local authorities accountable. Other stations have provided an unprecedented arena for discussion of social concerns and formerly taboo women’s issues, including forced marriage and domestic violence." (Executive summary, pages ix-x)
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"The purpose of the final evaluation was to provide the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development with an assessment of the relevance, effectiveness, and lessons learned from OTI’s mega-program in Afghanistan. Since evaluations of the media program ha
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d been undertaken and a study of management issues was planned, this evaluation addressed the following fundamental questions: 1. Was OTI strategic? 2. Did OTI promote government legitimacy? 3. Did OTI’s use of participatory democratic processes increase citizen’s connections to each other and to local authorities?" (Executive summary, page 6)
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"[...] Radio listening amongst young people appears to be high and most of those interviewed listen daily, usually after lunch and in the evening. The BBC and VOA are popular stations with young people as are local radio stations including Radio Azadi, Aman and Sharq. However, in cities radio compet
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es with TV, and young people from middle and low income groups often prefer it. Young people like listening to music but are also interested in news, debate and programmes, dealing with real issues or problems that offer insight, analysis and helpful solutions. Such programmes according to local journalists, youth workers and young people are in short supply, whereas music is not. Most young people indicate strongly that they want radio to contribute to both their broad education and their schooling. They want information about Afghanistan, its history and culture, its development and place in the world. They want to know how to help themselves, their families and their country and they want to be informed in an interesting, entertaining and frank way. They also want to know how other young people live in neighbouring countries. Young men and women would like a radio programme that gives them a voice and encourages debate about issues that affect them (for example, schools in rural areas, the introduction of private education, how much study to do, examination procedures, how to get into university, available courses, marriage and job opportunities). Women say they want radio to deal with the specific problems they face in relation to their status, education, work and security. Young people want to hear provincial, district and rural perspectives, not just voices from Kabul. There are high expectations of what the media can achieve in Afghanistan in terms of improving civic behaviour, government accountability, and changing harmful cultural attitudes and practices, particularly towards young women. Young women say radio should do more to persuade and influence fathers, uncles, brothers and imams on issues relating to their rights." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"To develop communication capacity specifically around adverse events following immunisation (AEFI), the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) and the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO) organized a joint regional workshop "Strategic Communication: Building Trust and Responding to
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Adverse Events Following Immunisation in South Asia", in New Delhi from 9 to 10 August 2004. This working paper synthesises the presentations and debates from the workshop." (Foreword)
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"This article analyzes the framing of Norwegian media coverage of the war against terror in Afghanistan with special emphasis of the coverage of the Norwegian military presence in Afghanistan. Two main issues are discussed: 1. How was the start of the war covered in the media in October 2001? 2. In
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what context was the Norwegian military presence covered? The two newspapers analyzed are Aftenposten and VG. The choice of these two newspapers was made to include Norway’s largest and potentially most influential morning paper (Aftenposten) and its largest tabloid, as well as largest newspaper (VG). Quantitative as well as qualitative methods are used to analyze the coverage. Both Aftenposten’s and VG’s coverage on the first day of the war in Afghanistan are dominated by pro-US framing and the use of Western sources. The pro-US framing is more obvious in Aftenposten than in VG." (Abstract)
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