The Modern Afghan Journalist

This chapter describes the sociological constraints that modern Afghan journalists face, not the least of which is a highly volatile security environment and a high degree of economic instability that jeopardizes their organizations’ sustainability. Based on interviews with these journalists, the chapter explores the ways they think of themselves, their relationships with Afghan government officials, and their roles in Afghan society. It also surveys the dense networks that Afghan reporters have created with Western journalists to report news stories. Afghan journalists have an inherent national bias and are proud that U.S. elite news professionals find Afghanistan newsworthy, as this confers legitimacy on Afghanistan’s importance in the world. Yet given their nascent state, they acknowledge that they depend on Western journalists’ reportage to hold Afghanistan’s powerful accountable.