Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Afghan woman reporter: Finalist, Young Journalist Year 2024

05/11/2024

One of the three finalists for the Young Journalist of the Year 2024 is a woman journalist working in secret in Afghanistan because of the restrictions imposed by the Taliban. She works for The Afghan Times which was founded by Afghan women journalists in exile. In this Q & A she explains how she manages to report under the severe constraints.

What difficulties do you face working as a woman journalist in Afghanistan? As a woman journalist in Afghanistan, I face constant threats to my safety and my ability to work. The Taliban's outright ban on women's voices and presence in journalism means I must operate in secrecy, constantly fearful of being discovered. I can no longer work openly, and I have to rely on trusted networks to communicate, gather information, and publish stories. It's also nearly impossible to access government sources or official channels, as the Taliban refuses to engage with women journalists. My work is further complicated by the stigma attached to female reporters, who are often targeted for violence and harassment, even by civilians influenced by Taliban ideology.

Tell us about the stories you submitted for the Award. The stories I submitted highlight the severe and ongoing challenges faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule.

The first article focuses on the closure of women-only restaurants, which were some of the few safe spaces left for Afghan women workers. It was extremely difficult to obtain interviews with women because many fear retaliation from the Taliban for speaking out. I had to rely on clandestine communication methods and work with sources who were equally committed to bringing the truth to light, but who also faced significant risks.

The Afghan Times

The second piece documents the devastating impact of flooding on Afghan women, already marginalized and vulnerable under Taliban policies. For this I had to navigate dangerous terrain, both physically and politically. The Taliban heavily restricts women's access to areas where they might be able to report on these issues, and their suppression of women's voices in media made it difficult to collect first-hand accounts. Additionally, security risks, including surveillance by the Taliban, made it dangerous to gather information in person.

The Afghan Times

The third report explores the crisis of child labour in Afghanistan, which has been exacerbated by the Taliban's ban on women's right to work, driving more families into poverty and forcing children into exploitative labour. Engaging with them without compromising their safety required careful coordination, often through secret channels.

The Afghan Times

How has life changed for you recently? The situation for women journalists has become even more perilous since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Previously, despite the difficulties, women could still work in media and report on issues affecting Afghan society. Now, the environment is suffocating; women are no longer allowed to participate in public life or hold professional roles, and the media itself has become heavily censored. Access to sources, information, and the ability to move freely have been drastically curtailed. The threat of violence or imprisonment for doing my job has escalated, and many of my colleagues have either fled the country or gone into deep hiding.

Can you describe the normal working day now for a woman journalist working in Afghanistan? A normal working day for a woman journalist like me is fraught with anxiety and isolation. I cannot go to a newsroom or conduct interviews in public. I work from hidden locations, often through encrypted communication tools, relying on a small and trusted circle of sources. My reporting requires extensive planning and discretion; every interaction must be calculated to avoid detection by the Taliban. Fear of surveillance means I have to work quickly and leave no digital footprint that could be traced back to me. What used to be routine-such as interviewing subjects, travelling to report on a story, or fact-checking information-now feels like navigating a minefield. Every day could be my last as a journalist in this country.

With all the challenges you face, why is it important for you to continue to tell the stories of the women in Afghanistan? Despite the dangers, it is essential for me to continue telling the stories of Afghan women because their voices are being systematically silenced. The international community often forgets the everyday struggles faced by Afghan women, who are not only oppressed but also erased from the public sphere. If I stop reporting, the reality of their suffering may never reach the outside world. My work is one of the few ways to bear witness to their lives and resist the Taliban's attempts to render them invisible. The stories of Afghan women are stories of resilience, courage, and survival. By telling their stories, I hope to give them a platform and inspire action that can lead to change.

What impact do your stories have? My stories shine a light on the ongoing atrocities committed against Afghan women, helping to raise awareness both within Afghanistan and internationally. They provide a voice to the voiceless, especially those who cannot speak for fear of reprisal. Through my reporting, I aim to mobilise international support and pressure on the Taliban to reconsider their policies, as well as to spark dialogue around the plight of Afghan women.

What or who inspires you to keep working as a journalist? I am inspired by the incredible strength of Afghan women who, despite facing overwhelming oppression, continue to fight for their dignity and rights. They risk their lives every day to keep their families alive, pursue education in secret, or speak out against injustice. Their resilience fuels my determination to keep working, even when I feel overwhelmed by f
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/afghan-woman-reporter-finalist...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

29/04/2026

Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...

29/04/2026

How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...

29/04/2026

Save the Date: SVG Venues & Teams Summit Travels South to Miamis Kaseya Center on Aug. 12

Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...

29/04/2026

The Cast and Crew of Conbody VS Everybody Have Each Other's Backs for Life

(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Veronika Lee Cla...

29/04/2026

Free Tilt EQ plug-in from Techivation

Combines EQ and harmonic distortion Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...

29/04/2026

Expressive E launch the Osmose CE

Two new MPE controllers announced Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...

29/04/2026

iZotope RX 12 is here

New modules & enhanced machine-learning The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...

29/04/2026

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award 29 April, 2026 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...

29/04/2026

YEP Spotlight: Julissa Padilla

Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Promotes Brian Grahn, Ben Turnwell to Expanded Roles

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

The CW Unveils Major Streaming Deals with ESPN and Roku

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Announces New Roles for Brian Grahn and Ben Tur...

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...

29/04/2026

Reduce Workflow Complexity with nxtedition at MPTS 2026

nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...

29/04/2026

Telxius taps Synamedia to unlock seamless global multi-CD...

Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...

29/04/2026

freispace and Projective Announce Joint Showcase of Integ...

freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...

29/04/2026

DHD Celebrates 30th Anniversary at 2026 NAB Show

DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...

29/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...

29/04/2026

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...

29/04/2026

Paramount Will be 49.5% Foreign Owned After WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

NAB Show 2026: AI, Vertical and BPS Dominate Broadcasters' Discussions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

IAB Tech Lab Announces New OpenRTB Attributes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

U challenges stars and their dogs to compete for Wagging Rights

Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U London, 29th April 2026: F...

29/04/2026

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentary series from BAFTA-winning Mindhouse, coming this summer

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...

29/04/2026

Sky announces upcoming documentary series The Lie That Exposed The Truth

Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026 Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...

29/04/2026

Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exclusive summer escape The Five Star Weekend, coming to screens this July

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...

29/04/2026

'SUPERNOVA: GENESIS' Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Million Viewers on Netflix

Back to All News SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...

29/04/2026

dB Sponsors College Sustainability Week

Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...

29/04/2026

Listen to the birds sing! Experience mother nature in a seven-hour radio marathon

The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...

29/04/2026

April 28, 2026

Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry. April 28, 2026 LA JOLLA, CA S...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

28/04/2026

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...

28/04/2026

Spotify rapporterar resultat fr frsta kvartalet 2026

I dag presenterade vi v rt resultat f r det f rsta kvartalet 2026. Vi inleder ret med starkt momentum i hela verksamheten och fortsatt innovation p plattforme...