Print Media in Afghanistan

Print media in Afghanistan has a long history. Along the history and despite dictator and puppet regimes in Afghanistan.

Printed media has played constructive role to inform and motive people to stand against invaders and to fight for freedom.

The first Afghan printed media is Shams Ul Nahar which came into existence using very primary tools during the reign of Amir Shir Ali Khan in 1290 and soon after that another printed media (Saraj Ul Akbar Afghania) started to work during the reign of Amir Habibullah Khan .
In 2001 after the fall of the Taliban, new political environment and when a democrat government has come into existence in Afghanistan the printed media has started to grow very quickly.

Currently there are 22 Daily newspaper and around 200 publications are being printed all around the country. Most of media are being studied by educated people in Afghanistan and it is a common fact that only educated people would read it. But we should also mention another fact that all of the educated people do not read the newspapers.

In most part of the world middle class of the society are studying the newspapers but unfortunately unbalanced growth and lack of an economic system in Afghanistan caused us not to have an active class of the society who may read it. On the other hand aimlessness in publications and lack of their knowledge about the readers are causing that a small number of educated people to trust them.

There is a global debate about it to examine that the electronic media especially TV has discredited printed media. Generally we can say that reading printed media in Afghanistan can not be happen through a habit to people but sometimes the readers would read it by chance.

The publications like, Nokhust , Mandagar , Kabul weekly , Arman-e- Milli , Rah-e- Nejat , Hasht Sobh , and the Killid and Mursal magazines have most of their readers in the country .
As most countries we can also categorize publications in Afghanistan into two classes:

1- Special printed media: like publication for women, sport, literature, technology, education, medical and other subjects which has its own readers .
2 – General publications: In such publications, columns and pages are being reserved for each type of subjects . The readers of the general publications can be every classes of the society.

By Sadia Hasanzada


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