KABUL (SW) – A number of journalists and media workers say that after losing their jobs, they have had to do other things to provide for the needs of their families.
Mohammad Hasan Shirzad, a journalist with 10 years of experience working in various media houses, says that after the collapse of the Republic and losing his job, he was forced to immigrate to Iran, and after eight months and his return, he is now a taxi driver in Kabul city. He added: “I worked at Ariana Radio-Television, Killid, Tamna, Ayana, Tolo radios and with several international media outlets such as Turkey’s Anatolia Agency, and my reports have been published on the BBC. I have been doing all kinds of hard work for six months and currently I am a taxi driver.”
Shirzad regretfully says that he wishes to work as a reporter once again. “I had several accidents while driving because this is not my job. I wish to work as a journalist again one day.”
Moosa Talash, another journalist who now spends his days and nnightsas a worker in Iran, says that after losing his job as a journalist, he had to work in one of the fruit markets in Kabul to provide for his family’s needs. But the money he earned from this work was not sufficient for his life. He added: “I did different things; from shopkeeping to the fruit market. I gave my CV to several media houses, but no one heard my voice. Despite having so much work experience, they didn’t even accept me as an intern, so I finally went to Iran.”
Moosa Talash worked as a reporter for the Ayana TV channel for the last time, and he has been separated from the journalistic space after this TV stopped operations.
Ahmadzia Saeedi, another journalist who works at the fruit market in Kabul city these days, says that the bad economic situation made him do this. “I worked for Mashaal, Ayana aand the National Radio Television. After the arrival of the Islamic Emirate, I became unemployed. In some places, I tried, but I haven’t found it yet.”
Meanwhile, Zarif Karimi, the head (NAI – supporting independent media, says that the shutdown of more than 50% of the media in the past two years has caused many journalists to lose their jobs. “Unfortunately, there is no accurate statistics of journalists, but in the last two years, a large number of journalists have become unemployed, and the reason is the bad financial situation of the media and the closure f more than 50% of different media houses in Afghanistan.”
According to Nai’s statistics, by the end of 2020, nearly 12,000 journalists and media workers had a physical and active presence in Afghanistan, but after the collapse of the Republic, more than 65% of male journalists and media workers and 90% of female journalists and media workers lost their jobs.
ENDS
