Afghan Paper Says Time to Put Media Back on “Right Path”

Text of editorial in Dari entitled “Media must be committed and loyal”by state-owned Afghan newspaper Anis on 29 July

The Council of Ministers discussed yesterday the issue of “provoking” tribal, religious and linguistic differences by some television channels and private media outlets with the purpose of widening divisions between the people of Afghanistan.

Surely, media do not have the right to insult [national] personalities because of their personal or party-based grudges, and prepare ground for tension and hostility. They must not broadcast and publish reports or news that create division rather than unity among people. This will only serve the interests of enemies.

Responsible and committed media outlets play the role of a guide in a society. They disclose bad things, and give the society a direction. Solid progress has been made in this respect over the past six years. Print and visual media have made considerable progress in terms of quality and quantity.

A new generation of journalists, reporters, commentators, correspondents, programme producers and photo-reporters has emerged in the world of media. They have become soldiers of the media movement. But this has not always been the case. Actions of some media outlets have not been desirable. Some media sources have engaged in unnecessary disputes.

Making harsh and offensive comments, harboring spirit of criticism, making premature judgments, putting immature and unprofessional arguments combined with lack of proper knowledge of norms of journalism has promoted hatred, distrust and jealousy in the society. In many cases, violators of norms, laws and social, political and administrative law have been treated as personal enemies.

If this dangerous trend is not prevented, the Afghan society will become psychologically ill under the very influence of the media. Propaganda for the sake of propaganda, promoting fake personalities, turning a blind eye to realities, favoritism and being prone to one side are issues that seem to have good chances of being sold out in the media market. Unfortunately, the sole inspiration for some media outlets is to make money by any means. This is a betrayal of this noble profession, and will only create hatred and distrust in the society.

If media, the fourth pillar of society, is not used properly, it will cost us a lot of harms. If the above mentioned issues come hard on media outlets, the editor-in-chief of Daily Anis is willing to organize a forum of discussion on the role and responsibilities of media. Some media outlets must not sacrifice national interests for interests of a party or a group. They must not deliberately or unintentionally promote interests of enemies. Time has come to correct the wrong path of media. And approaches that increase tribal, religious and linguistic differences must be avoided.

Originally published by Anis, Kabul, in Dari 29 Jul 08.

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