Father of Journalism’ Mahmud Tarzi published the newspaper Seraj ul-Akhbar (‘Lamp of the News’) from 1911 to 1918. Its readers were the literate elite in Kabul and it featured both national and international news. The paper promoted the modernisation of Afghan society and advocated reform. The first national newspapers to print domestic and foreign news were Anis (1927) and Islah (1929). Thereafter numerous specialised papers and journals were published by government ministries and provincial newspapers also flourished, forming an important propaganda vehicle for the reform programme of King Amanullah Khan (1919-1929).

Press freedom came under attack during the 1960s, when numerous privately-funded newspapers were closed after just one issue, on the pretext of various offences. Soviet-sponsored newspapers subsequently gained a following and were able to continue printing as they had strong support from pro-communist factions. Editorial freedom was restored during the 10-month rule of Prime Minister Shafiq in late 1972, but from the time of Prime Minister Daoud in 1973 control of the news was once more placed firmly in the hands of the government.

The relaxation of media censorship under the Interim Government has allowed newspapers and magazines to proliferate. At the time of writing it is estimated that over 170 newspapers and magazines are printed in Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai interview, May 2003). Today the main government newspapers are Anis, Hewad and Arman, each with an estimated circulation of between 5,000 and 8000, and the independent newspaper Erada, produced by the Afghan Media Resource Centre.

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