Submitted by Mediothek on Mon, 2010/10/25 – 20:00
Afghan Media and International Stakeholder Dialogue for a Better Understanding and Improved Reporting
The conference was held between the 24th and 25th of October 2010in Mazar.
Please find die full report from the Media Advisor at Mediothek Christine Röhrs and Zubaida Akbar the Project
Manager at FES as a PDF attachment.
- Background
Over the past 9 years international development organizations and military forces have been reporting very actively back to their own countries about what and how they were doing in Afghanistan – the communication with the Afghan public however was weak. Afghan media was not taken seriously as a link to the Afghan society and journalists complain massively about the lack of information on the international side. This lack of transparency has caused several conflicts which are also currently widely discussed in international politics. It has helped increasing prejudices and anxieties within Afghan society, it has produced anger and frustration, and has caused misunderstandings about the intentions of the international community in Afghanistan. As an indirect result wide parts of the Afghan society are persuaded that the “foreigners” cannot be trusted. This negative atmosphere also has obstructed peace building and development efforts.
Another result of the mutual communication blackout is that the international community is not aware of who Afghan media is, how it functions and which impact it has.
The problems are rooted on both sides. On one hand Afghan media only seldom builds and maintains contacts to international stakeholders because language and professional skills are not always sufficient to do so. On the other hand this kind of access is often not offered. International aid agencies and military forces form a closed community.
This series of events was organized by two organizations working in behalf of Afghan media, although both parties invited benefitted. Afghan media might be widely affected by financial, ethnical and political corruption. It is also often not trained well enough to meet the various challenges of media in a political unstable environment. Nevertheless: It has an official assignment to check and balance powers, and the international community in Afghanistan, motivated by the goal of democratic state building, has to acknowledge its duty to provide Afghan media with information and to see the chances and advantages therein.
- Objectives and structure of the program
This project was supposed to bring together Afghan media representatives and international stakeholders in order to achieve different goals outlined below.
The first very concrete goal was to facilitate as many mutual personal contacts on the ground – phone numbers, email addresses, faces – as possible to lay the foundations for further cooperation. This is why the implementing partner FES and Mediothek decided to do the conferences on local levels and in more intimate settings (25 to 50 people). Before the conference the representatives of the international organizations were asked to fill out an information sheet (goals and philosophy of the organization, budget, number of national and international staff, programs in the region, beneficiaries) which was handed out to the journalists in order to help them base further coverage on facts as well as get an overview about the complex landscape of the international engagement in the region. During the conference small sized notebooks – business cards substitutes – were handed out for those who did not have enough cards with them. After the conferences comprehensive contact lists were sent to all the participants per email.
The second goal was to create a better understanding: to base each other’s perception on facts not prejudices or hearsay and to raise some awareness about the consequences of not doing so. During the morning sessions two representatives of each side held presentations about their experiences working and communicating with the other side (see media examples from Herat in Annex 2, “Media Statements”). Good and bad experiences were mentioned and helped understanding how the other side functions and what it needs.
In working groups the participants defined concrete solutions for the problems mentioned. New strategies were developed to improve dialogue and cooperation.
In the afternoons mutual field visits took place, introducing international outreach staff to Afghan media outlets and Afghan journalists to international projects.
- The implementing partners
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
FES is a German political foundation with more than 100 offices worldwide. In Afghanistan, FES is involved in capacity building for civil society organizations. It works with parliament, provincial councils, political parties, media and youth. Its aim is to strengthen democratic institutions and civil society and to encourage political participation. To find us online please refer to http://www.fesafghanistan.org/.
Mediothek Afghanistan
Mediothek Afghanistan, an Afghan NGO founded in 1993, promotes peace building in several provinces of Afghanistan. Main goal of Mediothek is to strengthen the Afghan civil society by its projects. It runs five community centers and five media houses in Afghanistan (Kabul, Khost, Kunduz, Mazar-e Sharif and Jalalabad). In its media program it focuses on capacity building, networking and lobbywork in behalf of Afghan media. For more information please go to http://www.mediothek.org.af/.
- The participants
From the international side FES and Mediothek invited a broad range of locally, nationally and internationally active NGOs as well as representatives of GOs such as USAID, Italian Cooperation, JICA, CEDA, DFID, GTZ or DED. Regular guests were the local UNAMA spokespersons.
From the Afghan media there were participants from local media outlets as well as reporters from national media such as Tolo TV, Ariana TV, Shamshad TV, Ashte Sobh Newspaper, Killid Radio, Salam Watandar Radio or Radio Azadi.
ISAF has sent different representatives. Amongst them were ISAF spokesperson General Josef Blotz, public affairs officers from PRTs and Regional Commands as well as Infoops personnel.
Altogether FES and Mediothek have hosted 243 guests. Mazar 46 (31 media), Herat 52 (23 media), Jalalabad 48 (12 media), Kunduz 43 (16 media), Kabul 54 (11 media).
- The locations
FES has started the series of events with a round table in Kabul, inviting representatives of Afghan media, international development agencies and international military together. For the following events FES decided to invite civilian and military guests separately and get the Afghan media NGO Mediothek on board as partner. The initial event in Kabul was followed by a two-days-conference held at the Mediothek Media House in Kunduz, one two-days-conference held at the Mediothek Media House in Jalalabad, one at the Mediothek Media House in Mazar-e Sharif and one held at Marco Polo Hotel in Herat.
Moderators were Zubaida Akbar and Tina Blohm from FES, Christine Röhrs from Mediothek and Friederike Böge, newspaper correspondent and media trainer from Berlin, Germany.
- Main challenges in the communication between Afghan media and international civilian institutions
Only few international organizations have developed a proper strategy dealing with Afghan media. This is mirrored in the lack of outreach-skilled staff – in Kabul, but especially in the provinces. Even some GO’s do not employ press officers in the provinces, let alone smaller NGO’s.
This is why local media requests often are being dealt with by media-inexperienced program managers (example: in Herat 11 of the 15 international organizations being represented did not have press officers in the region) – and only if they have the time beside their original duties. In case there is an actual press office it is often located in Kabul or even at the headquarters abroad – this makes it difficult for Afghan media to access it. In addition project activity in Afghanistan is mostly considered as highly political and security sensible which makes many international organizations “press shy”. Very simple obstacles such as a lack of phone numbers complicate the issue further. Journalists are complaining that even if they tried to look up organizations in the internet, they often could not find phone numbers, or the phone numbers were not up to date anymore, or calls weren’t answered.
During the course of the conferences it became clear that the international NGO and GO community communicates in a different way than Afghan media – both sides miss each other literally trying to get in touch. The international community relies a lot on technical communication like “back home”. Email is the preferred means of communication – mostly in English – while Afghan journalists often lack proper technical equipment (photo left shows Herai TV equipment; field visit). Power blackouts remain a common problem for Afghan offices and internet access is still a luxury due to the high costs: The (at least) 500-Dollar-per-month-internet-systems the international organizations are operating on are not affordable for the average Afghan media outlet. A majority operates on mobile phone stick internet systems which at times do not even open emails. Only a small percentage of the Afghan journalists has stable internet access on a daily basis. Still not every journalist owns an email address. Email accounts are often only checked once or twice a week. Emails with English text might be ignored.
On the other hand simple phone contact is being avoided. International representatives admitted that they would not try to call Afghan journalists, because “we wouldn’t understand each other anyway – just too complicated”. The language barrier is one of the most important obstacles for a successful cooperation, again due to a lack of experienced national press staff. It was already complicated for the internationals to have the requested in sheets about their organizations translated to Dari – half of them were delivered in English.
However, communication in Afghanistan is still a very “personal business”. Meeting in person, having a tea, exchanging amenities might sound like a cliché, but is what builds lasting contacts. The international community on the other hand increasingly avoids to go “out in the field”. The lack of opportunities to meet is part of the problem.
Many international organizations choose not to appear in the media due to security reasons. A “low profile” is essential for their risk management. An appearance in local media is considered as potentially dangerous. Insurgents could discover them as possible target. One international guest stated that she just didn’t dare being mis-quoted in Afghan media. “I cannot control what is understood by the journalist, partly because of cultural misunderstandings, partly because of the language barrier, and conveying the wrong message to the Afghan public can be really dangerous for us but also our beneficiaries.” Other participants said that they made the experience that names, numbers, titles and general information got twisted in Afghan media coverage and therefore decided to cut down on media contact. There seems to be a fair amount of mistrust due to a – partly real, partly assumed – lack of professionalism of Afghan media.
In general international conference guests admitted that they had not been aware about the dimensions of the Afghan media nor its impact and influence. Discussing the findings of the recent Altai-Report on “The Afghan Media in 2010” they were surprised to read that “overall, media is generally viewed by Afghans as a positive force in society, celebrated for addressing key issues – economy, crime, and corruption – and is seen as a way to open minds and educate. …” Another result of this report being discussed with conference guests was that “with their increased media sophistication Afghans want their media to … more comprehensively address the country’s reconstruction activities and achievements.” After the discussions some of the international guests said that they would suggest to their headquarters to reconsider their organizations conservative media strategy.
On the other hand the Afghan media is after nine years still astonishingly unaware of who the international organizations are, about their philosophies and how they operate. One international guest commented: “It seems we have been living on two different planets here.” Some journalists assumed that “all the foreigners came here to make money”, many of the journalists invited could not tell the difference between GO’s and NGO’s or mistake both for contractors. In Herat journalists asked their international counterparts to organize military protection for them going out in the field. They were surprised to hear that many international NGO’s actually decide to stay away from the military.
The discussions also showed a limited understanding of access to information on the side of the media and what duties come with the demand. There was little interest in and awareness about the importance of 6 background talks, building and maintaining contacts and understanding the complexities of the international civilian engagement beyond the actual story to report on. Some journalists explained that this was due to the constant need of covering “breaking news” such as explosions or attacks. In general it has to be said that journalism is in Afghanistan still often mistaken for “news writing” or covering immediate happenings. Due to the yet not sufficiently developed journalistic education system, journalistic forms such as features or interviews which are eligible to cover “softer” topics or background stories aren’t very much acknowledged, taught and used yet. “How should I put this in a news report?” one journalist asked when international participants suggested to write a series about the aid agencies active in the region.
This is also mirrored in the international guests’ experiences. Some of them mentioned that it was hard to get media attention for press conferences or round tables on non-current topics. Journalists were usually late or didn’t cancel if they couldn’t make it. The Norwegian Refugee Council gave the example that they had tried to set up a media round table recently and not one of the invited journalists had shown up.
Another explanation for the lack of media interest in (success) development stories or organizations was offered by one of the journalists invited in Mazar-e Sharif. It basically came down to the argument that there was a tendency of “negative storytelling”. Zohra Safi from Radio Free Europe stated: “We all have been so much involved with insurgent attacks news and war news that we are not even aware anymore of the good things happening in the country.”
- Main challenges in the communication between Afghan media and international military
One main challenge is a lack of awareness within the international forces about the influence and impact of Afghan media. Partly this is because of a kind of mistrust in who Afghan journalists are and what they do with “sensible” information. In interviews before the conferences military personnel mentioned that they received information that journalists were actively working for insurgents groups or delivered sensible information “in the wrong direction”.
Although this might be true also those journalists who try to follow the profession’s ethical standards of reporting independently and non-biased regularly feel treated as “potential threats” or even “terrorists”.
An important factor, mentioned with considerable bitterness at all conference locations, is that Afghan journalists do not only feel not taken seriously as journalists but also personally humiliated by the way they are treated trying to enter camps or research in the field. The implementing partners FES and Mediothek consider this a dangerous game with important multiplicators of information into the Afghan society. The “human factor” is not to be underestimated. The general annoyance of the Afghan media after nine years of negative experiences is reflected even in articles not directly on the matter. It contributes considerably to a negative image of the international engagement in Afghanistan as a whole. The international community tends to underestimate this effect because it mostly and simply does not understand media coverage in Dari and Pashto. Most international organizations and at least the PRT’s in the provinces don’t do media reviews, again due to the lack of national press personnel.
FES and Mediothek were greatly supported by ISAF spokesperson General Josef Blotz (photo to the right, Kabul event). He himself attended two of the events: the round table in Kabul and the conference in Jalalabad. FES and Mediothek are of the opinion that ISAF Headquarter is serious about communicating more actively with the Afghan public. Unfortunately they also had to experience that the farther away their events were from headquarters the less serious this policy was taken. While there was always a sufficient to very satisfying number of guests from the civilian side for engaging discussions and effective working groups, the military was backing out at the last minute at three of the five events. Representatives of PRT’s and Regional Commands cancelled their visits in Herat (not enough close protection), Kunduz (not enough capacity) and Mazar-e Sharif (no reason given).
In an interview before the conference the head of the Public Affairs Office Regional Command West, said that they were chronically understaffed and most of the colleagues were busy with international media requests (see full authorized statement in Annex 4).
Some PAO (Public Affairs Office) representatives also stated that the military did not “have a media memory” – meaning that the outreach staff rotates too quickly (4 to 6 months terms) exacerbating the development of long lasting contacts. Judging from what the media representatives said there might also be a problem with proper handovers to successors in ISAF Public Affairs Offices. The journalists in Herat, Mazar and Kunduz have to introduce themselves all over again to each and every new commander and press officer. The latter might also not be updating their contact lists properly. Journalists at all conferences locations mentioned that only representatives of the 5 to 10 most known Afghan media were invited to events while the reporters from smaller media outlets were left out. “They operate on contact lists which are four years old!” a participant in Herat complained.
In addition the journalists have the impression that the contact to the Afghan media is very much dependant on the willingness or interest of the individual commander or press officer. The journalists have at all locations complained about ISAF’s media strategy. Main points were:
The lack of Dari and Pashto press releases (partly)
The lack of Dari and Pashto speaking press personnel
The slow dissemination of information, staying behind governmental and insurgent sources
Incomplete information making it hard to crosscheck information from government and
insurgents
Rude behavior towards Afghan media (being searched by men, machines and dogs, being escorted
“like criminals”, calls not returned)
International media requests are “always first”
Press officers rotate too quickly
As one of the participating journalists has stated: “The international nations active in Afghanistan claim to be the leaders of free speech and freedom of the press. Yet, their forces do not act accordingly. They keep information from us, they lie, they even break our equipment or imprison us when we do something they don’t like.”
In Herat the journalists wrote an official complaint letter to General Petraeus (see picture below), requesting a revision of ISAF’s media strategy towards Afghan media as a whole. They also developed “10 suggestions for the improvement of the ISAF Public Affairs Offices’ work and for a better cooperation in the future” (find the list of suggestions in Annex 1 and the full complaint letter in Annex 3).
The perspective of the military press officers is partly different. Although some of them admit that they do not have sufficient capacities to go out and meet Afghan media, others feel they already have a good press outreach as well as a proper strategy, as presented by the Swedish public affairs officer of the PRT in Mazar-e-Sharif. They also see a need for journalists to act more unified when presenting their demands, for example through a journalists union with a spokesperson (this wish was expressed in Kabul).
Reacting on the media’s complaint about the slow dissemination of information PA officers in Mazar explained that they needed time to “get the facts right in order not to misinform” – and that it was much easier for the insurgents to give quick answers to the media because they were not bound by such rules of accuracy. In the case of casualties time was also needed to inform the victims’ families back home before the information could be passed on to the press. The PRT representatives in Mazar stressed that they always informed Afghan media first and international media afterwards. Finally, the success of a military operation and the security of international military on the ground made it at times necessary to withhold information.
In general – comparing the different presentations by ISAF staff – a corporate ISAF approach towards Afghan media requests is missing. The outreach strategy seems to be dependent on the different nations’ media culture and the understanding or energy of individual staff.
- Results and suggestions
One result of the conferences is that there is a considerable amount of “across the board-judgement” on both sides. “The internationals” lie and do not allow access to information – “the Afghan media” is unprofessional and not trustworthy. The increasing lack of contact in daily life does not help to abolish these barriers and to build trust. In fact: The more urgent personal contact is needed the less it is possible for the international community to actively engage. There is a visible wall of security measures between the Afghan media and the international stakeholders and an invisible wall of prejudices.
Another result is that the international community is not well aware of the anger within Afghan media and its impact on coverage, thusly the society. As one representative of an international governmental development agency said: “I had no idea how frustrated they are!” Media officers who only work in Kabul are used to a more or less vivid contact with at least the most important media outlets in the capital – this changes clearly in the provinces.
The FES-Mediothek-conferences have successfully facilitated contacts for Afghan media to representatives of international aid agencies and members of the international forces, though. Numerous international actors commented explicitly that the program had made them aware of or underlined the need for more intensive contacts with Afghan media.
Practical suggestions for improved access to information were developed. The working groups have defined the following ideas for the future cooperation of Afghan media and international stakeholders.
Regular (preferably monthly) media round tables with representatives of civilian organizations and
military PAO officers
Easy to find and regularly updated press contacts on the international organizations’ websites
Annual reporting meetings where the international organizations and military forces respond to the
Afghan media about their activities, achievements and challenges in the last year
More press officers for international organizations on the ground in Afghanistan – especially in the
provinces, especially Dari and Pashto speakers
Press releases in Dari and Pashto
The establishment of ISAF press and liaison offices outside the camps or Regional Commands
Establishment of capacity building for Afghan media on how to work with the military
Some of the suggestions are likely to be implemented or are being implemented already
In Jalalabad, ISAF plans to establish a liaison office for media contacts outside the base. In Takhar, the PRT plans to initiate monthly meetings with local media. In Kabul, Oxfam has been offering to implement trainings on development reporting. By the time of the report being finished ISAF HQ has taken action on the complaint letter of Afghan media in Herat, investigating the Regional Command West not attending the conference, checking the “10 Suggestions to Improve the ISAF Public Affairs Offices’ Work” and planning an own meeting with media in Herat.
Personal contacts were established. First coverage of international projects evolved right from the conferences. In Herat and Mazar the media covered the event and also published first articles / radio pieces about some of the organizations’ work seen during the field visits.
Mediothek and FES consider the series of conferences as a success and plan follow-up-events in Kunduz, Jalalabad, Mazar-e Sharif and Herat as well as additional conferences at new locations such as Lashkagar and Bamyan in 2011.
