30pc of media outlets facing closure: Nai

MAZAR-E-SHARIF (Pajhwok): An official of Nai, an organisation that supports free media in Afghanistan, on Monday warned that 30 percent of news outlets were about to be closed because of financial constraints.

Mujeeb Khilwatgar, the chief executive of Nai, discussed the revival of media organisations and the problems being faced by the journalist community at a gathering in the capital of Balkh province.

There were around 500 media organisations functioning across the country, he said, warning 30 percent of them would cease to operate if financial assistance was not provided.

He added media was being brought under different kinds of pressure and the killing of two journalists during the last two weeks was ample proof of the threats being faced by journalists.

“A reporter of The New York Time was shot to death in Helmand while another one was killed during Sunday’s suicide attack in Kabul,” he deplored, saying violence against journalists had surged in 2014.

He linked growing corruption and the absence of a law on access to information to an increase in violence against media-people. If steps were not taken to protect journalists, transparency of elections could be compromised, he feared.

Gulab Shah, the head of a local journalists association, said media representatives were facing problems that needed to be addressed by the government to ensure election transparency.

rm/mud

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