AUDIO: Media freedom 'great achievement' in Afghanistan, says BBC reporter

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AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary has hailed media freedom as one of the accomplishments in Afghanistan over the last decade.

The Kabul-based reporter working for the BBC expressed this view at a Pacific Media Centre seminar in AUT University last night.

In a Q&A session with New Zealand journalist Jon Stephenson, who has also done extensive reporting in Afghanistan, Sarwary noted the big steps Afghanistan has taken in media freedom.

But he also warned of the many risks journalists working in Afghanistan face.

“There’s definitely a lot of progress made in that area. For example we have many FM radio stations, we have many television stations, but media freedom is open to abuse.

"The life of a journalist is fraught with danger. […] The threat is there: The kidnapping of local reporters, a lot of them have been killed, intimidation is there. And as I said, you know, the freedom of media is truly one of the achievements in the last ten years, but how do you protect that?” Sarwary asked in an interview with Pacific Media Watch.

Talk to people
Sarwary, 30, urged more journalists to simply sit down, drink tea and talk to people in Afghanistan.

The BBC reporter, who has also worked for Radio New Zealand, ABC Australia and ABC in the US, said journalists needed to be patient in Afghanistan:

“[I]n Afghanistan everything is almost done, or all the deals are done, over green tea. You have to have the patience to go, sit down, whether that’s a shopkeeper, bus driver, tribal elder or someone who’s lost a member of his family.

"Just sit down, and keep talking and keep drinking tea until you get the story, until you create that layer of confidence. And part of the problem is that a lot of the time that doesn’t happen. Even those in the Afghan media, they have their reports on certain topics, but the people are missing, although the report is about the people.”

Hopeful
The journalist acknowledged that Afghanistan faced an array of big problems, such as corruption, torture, terror and others. Nevertheless, Sarwary said that Afghanistan today had made progress in many fields compared to the Afghanistan of 10 years ago.

That makes him hopeful for a better future, also after the international forces leave the country at the end of 2014.

“[I]f you’re an Afghan, you’re of course hopeful. It’s in your blood. You really cannot hide that fact, but this is a country where we’ve had hope through some of its very darkest periods and we’ve come out of it. So if you’re an Afghan, hope is all you have, and you hold on to that hope.

"I believe there’s a great opportunity for Afghanistan on this very dangerous journey for peace that the country has begun the last ten years. But how the next government comes in, how we elect the new president, or how someone comes in to power will all contribute to that. But for me the hope is that the country will have some level of peace, hopefully you know."

Listen to the full interview with Sarwary. Here is a transcript:

DD: How do you see media freedom in Afghanistan today?

B. Sarwary: Well, there’s definitely a lot of progresses made in that area. For example we have many FM radio stations, we have many television stations, but media freedom is open to abuse. The life of a journalist is fraught with danger. There are a lot of threats, and that’s the very basic, but through reality on the ground. The threat is there: The kidnapping of local reporters, a lot of them have been killed, intimidation is there. And as a I said, you know, the freedom of media is truly one of the achievements in the last ten years, but how do you protect that? How do you create a system where you make sure that people are not threatened, or killed or kidnapped just because they’ve written an article or they’ve expressed their views.

DD: Where do you see media freedom in Afghanistan after the international forces leave the country?

B. Sarwary: I think there will be very big and imminent dangers posed towards Afghan journalists in particular. We hope that the international community [and] the Afghan government will ensure that that doesn’t happen. That there’s a clear mechanism if people are not happy with certain aspects of reporting or journalism, they should do so by complaining at a court. The answer is not kidnapping. The answer is not to kill or intimidate a journalist, because you don’t have to. Don’t shoot the messenger you know. Journalists are just there to tell the story.

DD: One of the things you mentioned in your lecture today was talking to people. Please explain talking to people in Afghanistan.

B. Sarwary: Well, what I meant was that we as journalists we have to talk to ordinary people. We have to talk to people in the government, which we do, but it’s the story of the Afghan people. And in Afghanistan everything is almost done, or all the deals are done, over green tea. You have to have the patience to go, sit down, whether that’s a shopkeeper, bus driver, tribal elder or someone who’s lost a member of his family. Just sit down, and keep talking and keep drinking tea until you get the story, until you create that layer of confidence. And part of the problem is that a lot of the time that doesn’t happen. Even those in the Afghan media, they have their reports on certain topics, but the people are missing, although the report is about the people.

DD: And another thing that was mentioned [in the lecture] was the advantages of being a foreigner reporting in a country, and also the advantages of being a local as you are reporting in Afghanistan. What advantages do you have as opposed to a foreign journalist coming to Afghanistan?

B. Sarwary: I have certain advantages and disadvantages. The advantage I have is I speak the languages, I’m from there, I know the country well; I know many of the people. But I’m also at risk. There are many things I don’t want to do: Corruption, drug trade and many other stories are something I would never be able to touch, so that’s where colleagues in the international media are better equipped to deal with those stories. They have experience, they have better protection than an Afghan would have. Let’s move beyond Kabul, because I’m based in Kabul. The real threat is to people in the provinces. The real threat is to the people who brings us the news from those remote corners. They are in a great deal of risk rather than me or my other colleagues in the Afghan media in Kabul.

DD: To me it seems that you’re quite hopeful for the Afghan future, even though the prospects are a bit uncertain of course after the international forces leave the country. Why are you so hopeful?

B. Sarwary: Well, you know, if you’re an Afghan you’re of course hopeful. It’s in your blood. You really cannot hide that fact, but this is a country where we’ve had hope through some of its very darkest periods and we’ve come out of it. So if you’re an Afghan, hope is all you have, and you hold on to that hope. I believe there’s a great opportunity for Afghanistan on this very dangerous journey for peace that the country has begun the last ten years. But how the next government comes in, how we elect the new president, or how someone comes in to power will all contribute to that. But for me the hope is that the country will have some level of peace, hopefully you know.

DD: Is there anything you think New Zealand, and we here in the Pacific, can learn from Afghan journalists?

B. Sarwary: It’s always possible to learn from each other. It’s always possible to share ideas. I hope that we’ll have more New Zealand media coverage of Afghanistan now that the New Zealand forces are no more in Bamyan. I hope that the coverage will now be focusing on the Afghan people: On the problems, on the victories of the country, on the failures, just like any other country. And I hope that reporting on Afghanistan will shift from attacks and bombs and killings, to other problems, whether that’s the issue of women’s right, education, the country’s economy or the country’s journey simply. You know, into another phase, into very uncertain phases in the next ten years.

DD: I guess that, the area you mention there, is an area where knowledge of the country is more needed than what it would be if you were just reporting on just a conflict as such. What do you think?

B. Sarwary: Well yes, but it’s something that’s not impossible to have. You know, if you spend time in a country over a period of years you create that knowledge, you gain that knowledge, and you can get to the story by working with Afghan journalists, as well as having your own resources and sources and connection that you create as a journalist. It requires investment, it requires human investment which can be tough, but you have to make that investment in order to be able to tell the story of the people. And I have to do it as an Afghan, and that doesn’t mean that I don’t have challenges in this job. That doesn’t mean that I know everything. You know, every day I wake up to new realities and to new very confusing situations, and I think that’s just the reality whether you’re in Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else, you just have to keep on learning and you have to keep on relying on the people until you get it right.

DD: But in a time where of course many Western media organisations are cutting back, and instead you have more PR practitioners, are you still a bit fearful that the media coverage will disappear a bit from Afghanistan?

B. Sarwary: Well you know, my heart bleeds as someone who has been to the West, and who understands the West through my education and years of experience and personal friendships I have. Why have we come to where we have come? Why is it that we don’t care about news and independent journalism? I don’t think it’s okay for news organisations, and I don’t want to name any. I mean almost all of the Western news organisations to have a wake up a call, to think you know, we really have to be telling the stories of the people outside of these countries. And that doesn’t mean Afghanistan [and] Pakistan. It covers the Middle East, it covers many other countries. And the amount of money that is spent on other stuff, you know, that’s not how much you need to tell the stories. But you know money shouldn’t have been a problem. I don’t think money is a problem. I think we have a management problem. I think people have made certain choices, which are resulting in the problem of not proper coverage of certain countries."