Kabul weekly nearing its end
Kabul weekly nearing its end 
By FAHEEM DASHTYIn journalism, the most important or breaking news stories go on the front page. While this is a column, I wanted to share with readers on the front page my decision to close down the Kabul Weekly.Nearly nine years ago to the date the Kabul Weekly published its first issue. It was just a few weeks after the surrender of the Taliban regime and we were among the first independent media outlets to hit the newsstands. As editor-in-chief, I am not embarrassed but I am upset that we cant keep going on. Its a personal loss, and I know it will be one of my biggest regrets. I can confidently say that this paper is one of the few independent media outlets in the country. We have never accepted editorial instructions from any agency, group or entity. My colleagues at this newspaper can attest to this fact, and our long-time readers can too. We have always tried to stand on the side of the countrys national interests.The decision to stop publication is only due to financial reasons. We cant afford to keep printing, unless we accept special interest money from groups that would try to control our editorial policies. We have never accepted money with strings attached and we wont start now. In the past we were able to make due with modest grants and advertisement revenues. We have always published the names of our grantors with the aim of transparency. In early 2002, the British government gave us an equipment grant, which we printed on the front page. Likewise, we publicized donations received from Reporters without Borders, UNESCO and the Open Society Institute. Most recently OSI funded our provincial-based reporting teams. We chose to be accountable without waiting on! our rea ders or others to question our funding sources.Were able to cover 60 percent of our costs through subscription sales and advertising revenues, but we are not able to cover the remaining 40 percent. Revenues have declined in recent years, and I believe strongly that the reason is our vocal opposition to the current administration. Our biggest commercial advertisers were large Afghan corporations, including private banks and airlines. A look through our archives supports this view. The businesses and their owners who funded Hamid Karzais re-election campaign stopped advertising with us.. Most print media are not dependent on advertising revenues. If youve ever looked at the newsstands youll have noticed that only a handful of newspapers feature advertisements regularly. So how do these papers cover their overhead and other running costs? Its no secret that many media organizations, not just print outlets, are funded by individuals (wealthy businessmen or politicians), an agency, a group, a foreign country and in many cases, foreign intelligence agencies. Its easy to spot when a paper supports the policies of its donors, whether its Pakistan, Iran, the U.S. or U.K.I dont claim to be completely independent. The Kabul Weekly was originally founded 20 years ago by Afghanistans national hero Ahmad Shah Masood. We have tried our best to follow in his spirit. I know that some people still believe that the Kabul Weekly is dependent on a country or person, but this is not true. Weve been accused of being a puppet of Tehran because of the Dari terminology and expressions weve used. Those accusations dont hold water when you examine our archives. We have been critical of Tehran in many instances, especially when their policies have threatened Afghanistans national interests. Then there were allegations that our publication belonged to Marshal Fahim when he was in power(2002-2004). When he was dismissed, it was assumed that we were tied to Dr. Abdullah, the then foreign affairs minist! er. When Ahmad Zia Masood was vice president, still others assumed we were politically aligned with him.I can proudly state that we did not follow directions from any of these politicians, nor were we funded or owned by them. Sometimes supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed we were pro-West, and sometimes the West claimed we were supporting Tehran. I say to those who accused us of being puppets of one regime or the other, you were lying and you know it.This is not the last issue of the Kabul Weekly, but we will stop publication soon. The reason I chose to announce this now is because it coincided with our nine-year anniversary. I also want to give an opportunity to those who have made false allegations against this paper a chance to prove their claims while were still printing. I have learned some small, but important lessons from my late martyred leader Ahmad Shah Masood: defend Afghanistans national interests; stay independent even in the face of death, take pride in our national and religious values and be committee to national unity for all Afghans. I could point to several examples taught to me by Masood, but I want to share the most important one about national unity. I personally heard Masood make this statement several times: We believe that racial discrimination is equivalent to polytheism and Muslims best know that this is the biggest sin and the only unforgivable sin. Non- Muslims should also know this fact. As I said before, Im not embarrassed that the Kabul Weekly will come to an end because I know I tried my best to keep this publication alive and I put my trust in God. If God is willing this paper to be continuing we will be with you if not, what can we do?The Kabul Weekly was not just a weekly newspaper. Our newsroom was a school. More than 120 young Afghan men and women came through our doors and Im proud to say that most of them are now accomplished journalists working with other media outlets throughout the country. We did not provide media training because we wanted donor funding ! like som e other agencies that claim to be working for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We couldnt do much , but we offered on-the-job and practical training with few resources. The trainees who excelled were motivated. Our style was different too. In the past year we published more than 400 stories about national, provincial and Kabul-based issues. There are more than 400 media outlets in Afghanistan and I believe we were among the most prolific in terms of publishing original content.We never ran out of stories to tell even though the market is saturated with so many media agencies, including more than 100 radio stations, 30 television networks and several dozen daily newspapers and several news agencies.Kabul Weekly is also the only paper sold on street corners. People paid for their copy of the paper. I doubt people would like to pay for most of the TV channels that are on air right now.We provided reporting from many regions outside of Kabul, including Kandahar, Nimroz, Farah, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, Samangan, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Laghman, Kunar, Nangarhar, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Paktia, Logar and elsewhere. While we were a small publication, our reach was great, and while some television executives, including those at Tolo TV will disagree with me, I firmly believe we have been in more places than many of the leading networks.Our website garnered significant Internet traffic. At our peak we had 13,446t unique visitors on the site in one day. In 2010, we had 1.6 million unique visitors to the site.Im not trying to brag or be arrogant. Im trying to make the point that we covered many places and many stories, and I think we stand out in the crowd. I question media-support agencies and donor countries that have ignored us yet they claim to promote freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Afghanistan. The answer seems to be that no one is prepared to lend support without something in return. Afghan viewers and readers should be very vigilant. No outlet in this country supported by a foreign! entity is independent. They are either covertly or overtly pushing foreign agendas. A few weeks ago one such donor asked for a meeting. He asked if we needed funding. Given our financial struggles I responded in the affirmative. He said something interesting to me: Instead of setting up a new news paper, I figure its better if we cooperate with your paper. Why publish a paper if youre going to publish someone elses perspective? I wont accept editorial directions or any other conditions that would limit this paper. There is no reason for me to run a paper if I cant retain control over its content. President Karzais supporters have also approached us, but when I told them that we wouldnt publish flattering articles or do the administrations bidding, they disappeared. I have their names and phone numbers, in case anyone is curious as to these sources. Given these facts, I now feel that the Kabul Weekly is near its end, and its meant to be, unless God intervenes.
By FAHEEM DASHTYIn journalism, the most important or breaking news stories go on the front page. While this is a column, I wanted to share with readers on the front page my decision to close down the Kabul Weekly.Nearly nine years ago to the date the Kabul Weekly published its first issue. It was just a few weeks after the surrender of the Taliban regime and we were among the first independent media outlets to hit the newsstands. As editor-in-chief, I am not embarrassed but I am upset that we cant keep going on. Its a personal loss, and I know it will be one of my biggest regrets. I can confidently say that this paper is one of the few independent media outlets in the country. We have never accepted editorial instructions from any agency, group or entity. My colleagues at this newspaper can attest to this fact, and our long-time readers can too. We have always tried to stand on the side of the countrys national interests.The decision to stop publication is only due to financial reasons. We cant afford to keep printing, unless we accept special interest money from groups that would try to control our editorial policies. We have never accepted money with strings attached and we wont start now. In the past we were able to make due with modest grants and advertisement revenues. We have always published the names of our grantors with the aim of transparency. In early 2002, the British government gave us an equipment grant, which we printed on the front page. Likewise, we publicized donations received from Reporters without Borders, UNESCO and the Open Society Institute. Most recently OSI funded our provincial-based reporting teams. We chose to be accountable without waiting on! our rea ders or others to question our funding sources.Were able to cover 60 percent of our costs through subscription sales and advertising revenues, but we are not able to cover the remaining 40 percent. Revenues have declined in recent years, and I believe strongly that the reason is our vocal opposition to the current administration. Our biggest commercial advertisers were large Afghan corporations, including private banks and airlines. A look through our archives supports this view. The businesses and their owners who funded Hamid Karzais re-election campaign stopped advertising with us.. Most print media are not dependent on advertising revenues. If youve ever looked at the newsstands youll have noticed that only a handful of newspapers feature advertisements regularly. So how do these papers cover their overhead and other running costs? Its no secret that many media organizations, not just print outlets, are funded by individuals (wealthy businessmen or politicians), an agency, a group, a foreign country and in many cases, foreign intelligence agencies. Its easy to spot when a paper supports the policies of its donors, whether its Pakistan, Iran, the U.S. or U.K.I dont claim to be completely independent. The Kabul Weekly was originally founded 20 years ago by Afghanistans national hero Ahmad Shah Masood. We have tried our best to follow in his spirit. I know that some people still believe that the Kabul Weekly is dependent on a country or person, but this is not true. Weve been accused of being a puppet of Tehran because of the Dari terminology and expressions weve used. Those accusations dont hold water when you examine our archives. We have been critical of Tehran in many instances, especially when their policies have threatened Afghanistans national interests. Then there were allegations that our publication belonged to Marshal Fahim when he was in power(2002-2004). When he was dismissed, it was assumed that we were tied to Dr. Abdullah, the then foreign affairs minist! er. When Ahmad Zia Masood was vice president, still others assumed we were politically aligned with him.I can proudly state that we did not follow directions from any of these politicians, nor were we funded or owned by them. Sometimes supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed we were pro-West, and sometimes the West claimed we were supporting Tehran. I say to those who accused us of being puppets of one regime or the other, you were lying and you know it.This is not the last issue of the Kabul Weekly, but we will stop publication soon. The reason I chose to announce this now is because it coincided with our nine-year anniversary. I also want to give an opportunity to those who have made false allegations against this paper a chance to prove their claims while were still printing. I have learned some small, but important lessons from my late martyred leader Ahmad Shah Masood: defend Afghanistans national interests; stay independent even in the face of death, take pride in our national and religious values and be committee to national unity for all Afghans. I could point to several examples taught to me by Masood, but I want to share the most important one about national unity. I personally heard Masood make this statement several times: We believe that racial discrimination is equivalent to polytheism and Muslims best know that this is the biggest sin and the only unforgivable sin. Non- Muslims should also know this fact. As I said before, Im not embarrassed that the Kabul Weekly will come to an end because I know I tried my best to keep this publication alive and I put my trust in God. If God is willing this paper to be continuing we will be with you if not, what can we do?The Kabul Weekly was not just a weekly newspaper. Our newsroom was a school. More than 120 young Afghan men and women came through our doors and Im proud to say that most of them are now accomplished journalists working with other media outlets throughout the country. We did not provide media training because we wanted donor funding ! like som e other agencies that claim to be working for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We couldnt do much , but we offered on-the-job and practical training with few resources. The trainees who excelled were motivated. Our style was different too. In the past year we published more than 400 stories about national, provincial and Kabul-based issues. There are more than 400 media outlets in Afghanistan and I believe we were among the most prolific in terms of publishing original content.We never ran out of stories to tell even though the market is saturated with so many media agencies, including more than 100 radio stations, 30 television networks and several dozen daily newspapers and several news agencies.Kabul Weekly is also the only paper sold on street corners. People paid for their copy of the paper. I doubt people would like to pay for most of the TV channels that are on air right now.We provided reporting from many regions outside of Kabul, including Kandahar, Nimroz, Farah, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, Samangan, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Laghman, Kunar, Nangarhar, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Paktia, Logar and elsewhere. While we were a small publication, our reach was great, and while some television executives, including those at Tolo TV will disagree with me, I firmly believe we have been in more places than many of the leading networks.Our website garnered significant Internet traffic. At our peak we had 13,446t unique visitors on the site in one day. In 2010, we had 1.6 million unique visitors to the site.Im not trying to brag or be arrogant. Im trying to make the point that we covered many places and many stories, and I think we stand out in the crowd. I question media-support agencies and donor countries that have ignored us yet they claim to promote freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Afghanistan. The answer seems to be that no one is prepared to lend support without something in return. Afghan viewers and readers should be very vigilant. No outlet in this country supported by a foreign! entity is independent. They are either covertly or overtly pushing foreign agendas. A few weeks ago one such donor asked for a meeting. He asked if we needed funding. Given our financial struggles I responded in the affirmative. He said something interesting to me: Instead of setting up a new news paper, I figure its better if we cooperate with your paper. Why publish a paper if youre going to publish someone elses perspective? I wont accept editorial directions or any other conditions that would limit this paper. There is no reason for me to run a paper if I cant retain control over its content. President Karzais supporters have also approached us, but when I told them that we wouldnt publish flattering articles or do the administrations bidding, they disappeared. I have their names and phone numbers, in case anyone is curious as to these sources. Given these facts, I now feel that the Kabul Weekly is near its end, and its meant to be, unless God intervenes. 
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