Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) with the financial support of one of the elites of the Afghan media community abroad organizes a competitive program in order to encourage the many journalist and media worker in Afghanistan.
The professional achievement and activities of the best “Journalists, photographers, and presenters” will be assessed based on standardized journalism principles and a code of ethics.
Therefore, journalists and media workers falling into one of the above categories can forward their work samples to info@aija.af. The winners will receive cash awards of AFN 83,500, for first place, and 41,000, for second and third places respectively. Also, Ordinary people can participate in this program and vote for their favorite media workers.
Since the overthrow of the previous regime in August 2021, it is the first program of its kind to be organized in Afghanistan – aimed at motivating journalists and media workers, who have been faced with tons of problems in implementing their daily activities. The de facto regime of Afghanistan has imposed tough restrictions, particularly, on private media and news agencies, leading to a large number of media outlets closing their doors.
Lack of financial support is another key reason Afghanistan’s mass media is collapsing. Journalists, presenters, photographers, videographers, and other media personnel who worked for TV broadcasters and news agencies are now either jobless or seeking shelter for their survival. Some have even taken illegal routes to migrate to neighboring countries such as Iran, Pakistan, or Turkey.
So Afghanistan’s mass media needs immediate attention in order to survive and reflect the realities of the ongoing situation in this country to the outside world.
