Freedom of the Press in Afghanistan

Introduction

Ever since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the independent media and freedom of press emerged. The quality and quantity of free media escalated during the past two decades. One of the major achievement of the post-Taliban Afghanistan is believed to be press freedom (Popal, 2021). However, doing journalism in Afghanistan has never been an easy task. Afghan journalists are regularly threatened, intimidated, and attacked for the work they do. There are multiple sources of threats to free press in Afghanistan including but not limited to insurgency, legal gaps, political pressure, economic challenges, security problems and extreme cultural norms of the Afghan society (Khalvatgar, 2014). Within a period of four months between December 2020 and March 2021 twelve journalists were killed in Afghanistan (Popal, 2021). Afghan journalist are forced to flee their country and seek refuge in other countries because of critical reporting on the insurgent groups such as Taliban and al-Qaeda or going against the strict but vaguely defined religious values (MacKenzie, 2014; Mitra et al., 2019; Popal, 2021).

Freedom of press is essential to a democracy and Afghanistan being a relatively young democracy and going through war, instability and political crisis needs a free press to play the role of watchdog on the activities of government and keep the citizens informed. It is also in best interest of the United States and other global powers to empower freedom of press in Afghanistan as these countries have been providing billions of dollars in grants to build infrastructure and stabilize the country through good governance and democracy (Almukhtar & Nordland, 2019). However, in absence of press freedom, the corruption and undemocratic poor governance practices will go un-noticed which will lead to waste of resources and waste of the American taxpayers’ money. These all make the issue of free press in Afghanistan a relevant and important topic that needs to be thoroughly studied.

Literature Review

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places for journalists. Only between January 2018 and January 2021, more than 65 human rights defenders and media professionals were killed (Kumar, 2021). There are numerous threats and barriers to the freedom of press in Afghanistan, these threats include security problems, flaws in the legal system, insurgency, lack of access to information, and gender inequality. These threats are posed or caused by the government (or sometimes negligence of government), insurgent groups, warlords, and by social, religious, and cultural norms.

Independent media in Afghanistan emerged with the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001. Today, there are over 1800 active media outlets in Afghanistan (TOLOnews, 2019). However, terminology revolving around freedom of speech including terms such as free speech, freedom of press, freedom of writing and free media has long roots in the legal system of Afghanistan throughout its history. During King Amanullah Khan’s reign (1919 – 1928) the constitution provided a legal framework for the right of free speech (Rawan, 2002). However, major developments in the Afghan journalism in terms of freedom of press were made during the Constitutional Decade (1964 – 1973) of Afghanistan and during that time Afghanistan became a democratic nation with its constitution granting permission to independent press and freedom of writing political opinions (Bezhan, 2013). Political cartoon, political satire, and political criticism emerged during that time. The constitutional decade also gave birth to Tarjoman, the first satirical newspaper in Afghanistan, focusing on political cartoons (Bezhan, 2014). However, the freedom of press during the Constitutional Decade still remained only a relative freedom. In action, newspapers that criticized the government did not survive for long and the government banned newspapers critical to government’s actions and punished editors with fines and imprisonment (Bezhan, 2013).

The current constitution of Afghanistan guarantees freedom of expression and there is no limit unless it is against national interests or invades personal privacy, but the Afghan journalists are still facing numerous challenges and continue to be concerned about their safety due the threats posed by the Taliban, politicians, cultural norms, and legal gaps (Khalvatgar, 2014). Despite being considered as one of the best mass media laws in the region, the Mass Media Law of Afghanistan and the constitution of Afghanistan have some vague and contradictory elements (Khalvatgar, 2014; Torfeh, 2009). The Mass Media Law of Afghanistan includes punitive measures for media if they offend Islam or go against the vaguely defined cultural values of the Afghan society as several journalist have been punished due to the vaguely defined terms (Mitra et al., 2019; Torfeh, 2009). These legal gaps and gaps between the laws on paper and how they are implemented on the grounds have been identified by several studies as a one of the major barriers to free press in Afghanistan.

Another challenge often faced by the Afghan journalists is the extremity of cultural norms against media. These norms are embedded within the Afghan society and are rooted in the extremist interpretation of Islam. During the Taliban regime (1996 – 2001) most types of media including photography, TV, music, and cinema were banned and the only radio station was a Taliban-owned radio in Kabul spreading religious messages. Other media sources such as newspapers were also strictly controlled by the Taliban and were used to convey government messages, but these media outlets had lost their quality and credibility (Kumar, 2021; Rawan, 2002; Saboor, 2015). Even today the Afghan journalists continue to struggle with the cultural and religious norms which include intolerance to photographs especially when women are photographed. Furthermore, the Afghan photojournalists face prospects of death or physical injury, harassment, imprisonment, loss of equipment or significant obstruction to their work not only from the Taliban but also from the Afghan military, intelligence personnel, civilian police, and government officials (Mitra et al., 2019). In addition, Afghan female actors and TV personalities are forced to escape from Afghanistan and seek refuge in other countries due to the threats of violence against them (Osman, 2014). This raises the question as to how are threats to freedom of press correlated to different forms of media in Afghanistan as the literature indicates that some types of media such as TV and photography are more vulnerable due to added layer of threats by the cultural norms.

While photographing Afghan women is not well perceived in the Afghan culture, this has led the portrayal of Afghan women to be presented by the international media outlets that focused only on urban Afghan women who are more open and less inclined towards the extreme cultural norms. However, this has created two problems concerning freedom of press. First, the rural Afghan women got excluded from the picture and this resulted in less diversity of voices (Kenyon, 2014). Second, the representation of Afghan women was done by a few women living in large cities and this coverage by the western journalists mostly focused and served to justify the US official policy towards Afghanistan (Rasul & McDowell, 2015).

In addition to these challenges the journalism and freedom of press in Afghanistan is also put at risk by the market-driven challenges (Svensson & Edström, 2017) as the Afghan media outlets are often funded by foreign embassies, grants, and philanthropies and a very few have the ability to survive on their own revenue (Khalvatgar, 2014; Kumar, 2021) after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

As discussed earlier, there are several obstacles in the way of free press in Afghanistan. However, further study will lead to a better identification and understanding of these challenges especially through the Afghan journalist’s perspective. Therefore, the following research questions are raised.

Final Research Questions

RQ1: What do the Afghan journalists describe as the major threats to the freedom of press in Afghanistan?

RQ2: How are threats to freedom of press in Afghanistan correlated with different forms of journalism?

Research Design

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to answer the proposed research questions. The Afghan journalists will be surveyed and interviewed in order to learn what they describe as the major threats to freedom of press in Afghanistan and if there is a correlation between the threats and different types of media. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods will allow find more comprehensive answers to our research questions as some aspects of the research questions might be better addressed with statistical data while others might demand more in-depth and specific understanding and might involve open-ended explanatory interviews. Valuable information can be obtained through interviews including background or in-depth information that cannot be observed or efficiently accessed otherwise. In addition, interviews will enable participants to provide their opinion, motivation, and experiences (Tracy, 2019). Hence, Interviews will allow us to enrich our understanding of the status of press freedom in Afghanistan through personal narratives of the Afghan journalists.

Sample Selection

The target population for this study is people who are currently working or have previously worked in the media industry in Afghanistan. Rigorous measures will be taken to ensure that the participants in the study are representative of the entire populations. Hence, probability sampling techniques will be utilized in the study. As probability sampling technique ensures that anyone from the population has the chance or probability to be included in the sample (Keyton, 2019). However, lack of access to internet is a potential obstacle in the way of making sure that the probability/random sampling is achieved. But, journalists in Afghanistan often have at least a few hours of access to internet during the day so they can participate in the interview or take the survey. A total of 40 journalists will be interviewed for this purpose and each interview will about an hour long conducted via Zoom or other convenient virtual meeting tool. Participants will be recruited through local press clubs; Nai Media, a non-profit organization supporting open media in Afghanistan; local directorates of Information and Culture; local and national journalist associations; and internet/social media campaign. To reduce the sampling error and selection biases, interviews will be distributed on the four regions of Afghanistan and no more than 10 interviews will be conducted per geographic region i.e. Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western provinces. This will allow for the representation of the entire Afghanistan rather than the capital Kabul or one particular region. Similar sampling techniques will be used for administrating the surveys however a larger number of surveys will be administered to make sure the issues of reliability and validity are addressed. At least 80 surveys will be administered to achieve the goal.

Procedure

For the qualitative part, an open-ended interview guide will be used to standardize the interviews and ensure each participant is asked similar questions. The interview guide is attached at the end of this proposal as annex A. An informed consent will be used to ensure that the participants understand that their participation is voluntary and confidential and they have full autonomy before and during the interview. In addition, the participants will be informed that there are no direct benefits for their participation and there is no foreseeable risk associated with the interview as their names will remain anonymous and confidential and the data will be used for research purpose only. With the permission of participants, the audio of all interviews will be recorded.

Interview participants may choose to take the survey as well. However, additional participants will still be needed for the surveys in order to enable the statistical data collection for the surveys more reliable and comprehensive. For this purpose, a total of 80 journalists will be surveyed in the four regions of Afghanistan making 20 per region. The survey will be online, each survey will approximately take 10 minutes and the questions are addressing issues revolving around the freedom of press in Afghanistan and the respondents personal experience in this regard. The survey questionnaire was specifically developed for this study and was pilot tested with a participant in order to identify its potential pitfalls. The survey contains an introduction which also serves as an informed consent to make sure that the participants are aware of their autonomy, anonymity and potential foreseeable risks, and benefits. In addition to the introduction the questionnaire comprises 38 questions with non-descriptive responses. The survey questionnaire is attached at the end of this document as annex B.

Potential Barriers

There will be a few barriers that might hinder the study and interrupt the process. These include lack of access to reliable internet by the Afghan journalists. Internet is becoming more scarce in Afghanistan and as the US troops are leaving the country the Taliban are warning the broadband and telecommunication companies (TOLOnews, 2021).

Another barrier that might cause a delay in the process is the language barrier as the survey and interview are designed in English, but not all the participants will be proficient in English language. So, this might take a two step process to first transcribe the interviews in the native language and then translate them into English. Similar, the survey questionnaire will be translated into Pashto and Farsi languages to make sure Limited English Proficient participants can take part in the study.

Furthermore, in a cultural society like Afghanistan it might be difficult to find and interview female participants about their personal account. However, this could be easier if the interviewer is female which will allow the female participant to feel more comfortable and openly express her thoughts. To address this challenge, a female interviewer will be recruited and trained to conduct the interviews with the female journalists.

Discussion

The proposed research design will help us better understand the challenges and threats to freedom of press in Afghanistan. As an Afghan journalist living in the United States with very less experience of doing journalism in Afghanistan, I want the Afghan journalists to express themselves and share their thoughts in their own words about doing journalism in Afghanistan. Most of the previous researches have taken the approach of applying outside academic theories to dictate the data analysis process leaving out the narrative of the Afghan journalist community. By taking the grounded theory approach I will classify and categorize the data segments into a set of codes, categories, and relationships to ensure that any preexisting theoretical expectations or biases are suspended before the data analysis (Bhattacherjee, 2012) and let the data speak for itself to formulate and inform our understanding.

The interviews will be professionally translated (if needed) and transcribed. There will be no need for outsourcing the translation because I have over 10 years of experience in working as a professional translator. In addition, the translation process I will also allow me to thoroughly study the data and find potential trends and themes within it. After the translation and transcription is done and all the data is collected a coding scheme will be developed to categories and classify the data. This will allow for reducing the data into a manageable size from which an interpretation can be made (Keyton, 2019). Moreover, all the notes, recordings, and transcripts will be used to make a sense of what is happening.

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References

Almukhtar, S., & Nordland, R. (2019). What did the U.S. get for $2 trillion in Afghanistan? New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/09/world/middleeast/afghanistan-war-cost.html

Bezhan, F. (2013). Artist of Wonderland. Third Text, 27(5), 634–649. https://doi.org/10.1080/09528822.2013.829351

Bezhan, F. (2014). Tarjomān or interpreter, the first satirical newspaper and the emergence of modern satire in Afghanistan. Media History, 20(3), 302–321. https://doi.org/10.0.4.56/13688804.2014.920208

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices (3rd ed.). Textbooks Collection. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

Kenyon, A. T. (2014). Assuming free speech. The Modern Law Review, 77(3), 379–408. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.1207

Keyton, J. (2019). Communication research asking questions, finding answers (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Khalvatgar, A. M. (2014). Freedom of expression under threat in Afghanistan? Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 3(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.el

Kumar, R. (2021). Afghanistan’s press freedom is threatened. Meet the young journalists fighting for it. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/afghanistans-press-freedom-threatened-meet-young-journalists-fighting-it

MacKenzie, J. (2014). An author questioned God in Afghanistan’s press. Here’s what happened next. Global Post. https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-27/author-questioned-god-afghanistans-press-heres-what-happened-next

Mitra, S., Høiby, M., & Garrido, M. (2019). Medium-specific threats for journalists: Examples from Philippines, Afghanistan and Venezuela. Journalism Practice, 15(1), 80–98. https://doi.org/10.0.4.56/17512786.2019.1696697

Osman, W. (2014). On media, social movements, and uprisings: Lessons from Afghanistan, Its neighbors, and beyond. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 39(4), 874–887. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/675736

Popal. (2021). The war on Afghanistan’s journalists. Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/southasiasource/the-war-on-afghanistans-journalists/

Rasul, A., & McDowell, S. D. (2015). Images of oppression. Journal of International Communication, 21(1), 21–37. http://10.0.4.56/13216597.2014.987798

Rawan, S. M. (2002). Modern mass media and traditional communication in Afghanistan. Political Communication, 19(2), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600252907425

Saboor, M. (2015). Media barriers in Afghanistan. Media Development, 62(4), 18–22. https://proxy.library.kent.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=114306481&site=ehost-live

Svensson, E.-M., & Edström, M. (2017). Market-driven challenges to freedom of expression and the interaction between the state, the market, and the media. NORDICOM Review, 38(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.0.5.235/nor-2016-0013

TOLOnews. (2019). Suspects sentenced to death for killing journalist in Kandahar. TOLOnews. https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/suspects-sentenced-death-killing-journalist-kandahar

TOLOnews. (2021). Taliban threatens govt-owned telecom company. TOLOnews. https://tolonews.com/business/taliban-threatens-govt-owned-telecom-company

Torfeh, M. (2009). Media development in Afghanistan. Media Development, 56(1), 39–44. https://proxy.library.kent.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=36527591&site=ehost-live

Tracy, S. J. (2019). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Annex A: Interview Guide

Interview Guide: Freedom of Press in Afghanistan

I.

Welcome and Introduction

5 Minutes

II.

Living and Doing Journalism in Afghanistan

10 Minutes

III.

Threats and Challenges to Freedom of Press

25 Minutes

IV.

Medium-specific threats

15 Minutes

V.

Wrap-Up

5 Minutes

Total

60 Minutes

Research Objective: The objective of this research is to understand the overall status of press freedom in Afghanistan by exploring the threats and challenges Afghan journalists are facing.

Research Questions:

· RQ1: What do the Afghan journalists describe as the major threats to the freedom of press in Afghanistan?

· RQ2: How are threats to freedom of press in Afghanistan correlated with different forms of journalism?

Ethical Disclosures:

- This information is obtained for research purpose only

- I am an independent student researcher

- This interview is being recorded

o The interviewee may ask to pause the recording at any point

- Name and other distinctive characteristics of the interviewee will remain confidential

- There are no direct benefits for your participation in the study

- Your responses are very important

- The video and/or audio recording of this interview will never go publicly online

I.

Welcome and Introduction

5 Minutes

· Welcome, thank you for taking your time to talk to me today. This interview is going to take about an hour. Does that still work for you? I encourage you to elaborate on your answers. However, when I redirect, it is only because I want us to cover all issues within the one hour time frame.

· Introduce self and disclose the purpose of the research

o I am a student researcher

o This study is intended to explore threats and challenges Afghan journalists are facing in terms of the freedom of press

· Ethical disclosures

o This information is obtained for research purpose only

o I am an independent student researcher

o This interview is being recorded

o During the interview you can ask to pause the recording

o Names and other distinctive characteristics of the interviewees remain confidential

o There are no direct benefits for your participation in the study

o Your responses are very important

o No right or wrong answers

o Used for research purpose only

o The video or recording of this interview would never go publicly online

o Feel free to express your thoughts

· Make it discussion, try to make the interviewee feel at home

o Briefly, share why I am pursuing this research, and how I got interested in the topic

· Before we jump in, feel free if you have any questions or concerns about the interview today

II.

Living and Doing Journalism in Afghanistan

10 Minutes

· Okay, let’s start with you. Tell me about yourself, where you studied, grew up and how did you become a journalist?

· What type of journalism experience do you have?

· What kind of news stories do you work on? Any particular beat or general?

· What is your most favorite part of working as a journalist in Afghanistan?

· What is your least favorite part of working as a journalist in Afghanistan? How come? [PROBE for freedom of speech]

· What medium of journalism do you like the most? How come?

III.

Threats and Challenges to Freedom of Press

25 Minutes

Now that we have learned a little bit about you, I would like to add some fun to the interview to having us watch this video clip. [Provide some background information to the interviewee about the Pentagon papers and then show him/her the video clip, briefly explain the events as they happen in the video.]

· [Creative Exercise] Watch this video clip from a Hollywood movie, The Post, and then answer the following questions:

o What are your initial thoughts about this video?

o If you were the chief editor of a national news outlet in Afghanistan and you gain access to a top-secret document regarding the Afghan government, and you think that the public needs to know about them. How would you deal with these documents? How come?

o If you decided to publish these documents, what do you think would be the consequences?

o What do you think a typical Afghan newsroom/journalist would typically do with these types of documents? What makes you think like that?

o How would the public react to it?

· What do you think are some of the major threats to the freedom of press in Afghanistan?

o What are the sources of these threats?

o What has the government done to address these challenges?

· Have you, or someone you know ever received a direct threat from anyone (individual/institution) as a result of your job as a journalist? Would you please elaborate? You do not need to mention any real names if you want.

IV.

Medium-specific threats

15 Minutes

· Now I would like you to think about medium-specific threats to freedom of press. Imagine that you are an investigative journalist investigating and denouncing cases of corruption and scandals that involve high-rank politicians and/or government institutions, what medium would you choose for your journalism (Radio, TV, pint, internet)? How come?

§ Have you had times when the source would want to remain anonymous?

· What do you think are their motives for remaining anonymous?

o How has the internet/social media changed the way you do your job as a journalist?

o Have you ever published something on the internet or on social media that you would not have been able to publish otherwise due to censorship, editorial policies, etc.?

o How has the internet changed the way you cultivate sources for your news stories?

V.

Wrap-Up

5 Minutes

· [Creative exercise] As we are getting to the end of this interview, I would like you to flex your imagination muscles and think about this: If you had a magic wand and you could make the most ideal and perfect condition for the freedom of press in Afghanistan. What would this look like?

o Ask follow up questions if required for clarification (If required)

· Is there anything that I may have missed and you would like to share?

· Now it is your turn, if you have any questions, it time for you to ask

· Thank you for taking your time and talking to me today.

Annex B: Survey Questionnaire

Start of Block: IntroductionQ1

Hello,

You are invited to take part in our survey 'freedom of press in Afghanistan'. This survey is intended to be taken by journalists or newsroom staff who currently or have previously worked for a media organization in Afghanistan. It will take approximately 10 minutes of your time to complete this survey and you will be asked a series of questions in regards to your work with as a journalist in Afghanistan.

The survey is part of an independent research project about freedom of press in Afghanistan and your information and responses are going to be used for research purpose only.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary and is highly appreciated. There are no foreseeable risks associated with this survey. However, if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions you can quit the survey at any point.

There are no direct benefits for your participation in this survey, however your responses are very important in informing our study about this highly important topic of press freedom.

There is no right or wrong answers however, you are encouraged to take your time and carefully select the answers that best describe your experience.

Your responses will remain anonymous and confidential. If you have any question or concerns about this survey, please feel free to contact Noorulbari Afghanmal at (786) 227-1900 or by email at nafghanm@kent.edu.

Thank you very much for your time and interest in the topic. By clicking "I agree" below you acknowledge that you understand the above information and are willing to participate this survey.

I agree

I do not agree

End of Block: Introduction

Start of Block: Screener Questions

Q2 Do you currently or have previously worked for a news organization in Afghanistan?

Yes, I currently work for a news organization in Afghanistan

Yes, I have previously worked for a news organization in Afghanistan

No, I have never worked for a news organization in Afghanistan

Q3 Which of the following best describes your journalism experience in Afghanistan?

No journalism experience at all

Less than one year

1 - 3 years

4 - 6 years

7 - 10 years

Over 10 years

Q4 Which of the following best describes your most recent role as a journalist?

Top editorial leadership

News reporter

Editor

Opinion Writer

Graphics designer

Photographer

Cartoonist

Other ________________________________________________

Q5 If you are currently involved in the journalism industry, which of the following best describes your employment status?

(Select "Not applicable" if you currently do not work in the journalism industry)

Employed full time

Employed part time

Freelance or on short term contract

Unemployed, looking for work in journalism industry

Not applicable

End of Block: Screener Questions

Start of Block: Softball Questions

Q6 What type of news organization do you most recently worked for? (Select all that apply)

▢ Newspaper

▢ TV

▢ Radio

▢ Internet

▢ Magazine

▢ News agency

▢ Other ________________________________________________

Q7 What kind of news stories do you generally work on? (Select all that apply)

▢ Political

▢ Social

▢ Economic

▢ Health

▢ Sports

▢ Environmental

▢ Education

▢ Other ________________________________________________

Q8 How well do each of the following words describe your feelings while working on a report/project that represents a negative image of the government entities?

Excited

Comfortable

Fearful

Uncomfortable

Worried

Powerful

Q9 How well do each of the following words describe your feelings while working on a report/project that represents a negative image of the Taliban?

Excited

Comfortable

Fearful

Uncomfortable

Worried

Powerful

Q10 How well do each of the following words describe your feelings while working on a report/project that represents a negative image of other insurgent groups?

Excited

Comfortable

Fearful

Uncomfortable

Worried

Powerful

End of Block: Softball Questions

Start of Block: Body

Q11 How do you think the amount of risk differ between the following in terms of freedom of press in Afghanistan?

Extremely risky

Very risky

Moderately risky

Slightly risky

Not risky at all

Newspaper article

TV reporting

Radio reporting

Photography

Social media posting

Internet

Political cartoon

Other

Q12 How risky it is for a newsroom to publish a satirical cartoon condemning actions of the government?

Extremely risky

Very risky

Moderately risky

Slightly risky

Not risky at all

Q13 How risky it is for a newsroom to publish a satirical cartoon condemning actions of the Taliban?

Extremely risky

Very risky

Moderately risky

Slightly risky

Not risky at all

Q14 How risky it is for a newsroom to publish a satirical cartoon of a political leader?

Extremely risky

Very risky

Moderately risky

Slightly risky

Not risky at all

Q15 How frequently do you encounter problems while trying to get information from government officials?

Always

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q16 How easy or difficult it is to gain access to government information?

Extremely easy

Somewhat easy

Neither easy nor difficult

Somewhat difficult

Extremely difficult

Q17 How often can you gain access to government information in a timely manner?

Always

Most of the time

About half of the time

Sometime

Never

Q18 Have you ever felt fear of retaliation in connection to your work as a journalist?

Yes, Definitely

Possibly, but not sure

No, definitely not

Q19 Have you ever been physically attacked in connection to your work as a journalist?

Yes

No

Q20 Have you ever been verbally abused in connection to your work as a journalist?

Yes

No

Q21 How often do you receive intimidation as a result of your work as a journalist?

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Never

Q22 How often do you self-censor your reporting/writing to avoid any potential threats?

Very often

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q23 How often do you experience political pressure to produce positive coverage of government officials?

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Never

Q24 How often do you experience political pressure to produce positive coverage of political leaders?

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Never

Q25 How often do you experience political pressure to produce positive coverage of the Taliban?

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Never

Q26 How often do you receive intimidation for producing negative coverage of government officials?

Always

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q27 How often do you receive intimidation for producing negative coverage of political leaders?

Always

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q28 How often do you receive intimidation for producing negative coverage of the Taliban?

Always

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q29 Based on your experience, how would you rate the following as a source of threat to your journalism?

Not a threat

Somewhat threat

Serious threat

Strongly serious threat

State-linked censorship

Taliban

ISIS

Politicians

Elected officials

Drug dealers

Other

Q30 How often do your sources want to remain anonymous?

Always

Most of the time

About half the time

Sometimes

Never

Q31 Which of the following do you think best describes the reason for your sources to remaining anonymous?

Fear of losing their job

Fear of legal repercussions (Arrest, detention or persecution)

Fear of physical violence

Other concerns

I don't know

Q32 In your experience, how ideal do you think is the condition for the freedom of press in Afghanistan

Extremely close to the ideal

Very close to the ideal

Moderately close to the ideal

Slightly close to the ideal

Not close to the ideal

Q33 If you are an editor in-chief of a national newsroom and you gain access to top-secret government documents and you think that reporting to these documents is in best interest of the public, how likely you are to publish these documents?

Extremely likely

Somewhat likely

Neither likely nor unlikely

Somewhat unlikely

Extremely unlikely

Q34 If your newsroom constantly covers issues that the government would want you to refrain from covering. What do you think will be the consequences for your newsroom? (Select all that apply)

▢ Legal repercussions (arrest, detention, or persecution)

▢ Denial of access to government representative official sources

▢ Exclusion from government press conferences

▢ Government advertising being withdrawn from your publication

▢ Licenses to reporting revoked

▢ There will be no consequences

▢ Other ________________________________________________

End of Block: Body

Start of Block: Demographics

We are almost done. The following questions are for statistical purpose only.

Q36 What is your gender?

Male

Female

Non-binary

Prefer not to say

Other ________________________________________________

Q37 What region of Afghanistan have you mostly worked in as a journalist?

South

North

East

West

Q38 What type of media organization have you mostly worked for?

Local

National

International

Q39 What best describes the type of organization you have mostly worked for as a journalist?

Public (Government-owned)

Private

End of Block: Demographics