Final Presentation: Media & Entertainment in Afghanistan-Summary

[Laila Hart]

Below you will find  a summary of my presentation.

 

1. “Extra !Extra! Read All About It!”

• Siraj-ul-Akhbar was the first newspaper in Afghanistan.

• It was first published on January 11, 1906
• This was often referred to as the beginning of media in Afghanistan.
• The paper was published in Dari, which is spoken in Afghanistan. It is what I have been learning for the past two semesters.
• Siraj-ul-Akhbar means  the “Lamp of the News”
• The January 1906 publication was the first and last publication for a while shockingly
• It did resurface in October of 1911 when Mahmood Tarzi became editor and owner of the newspaper.
• Tarzi was known as the “Father of Afghan Journalism”

2. In 1919, King Amanullah Khan replaced Siraj-ul-Akhbar with the newspaper Aman-e-Afghan which means “Afghan Peace”

• King Khan is a very powerful figure in Afghan history
• He was the king from 1919 to 1929 and obviously changed the feel of the entire newspaper as he revamped it during the first year of his reign
• Khan’s rule led to independence over foreign affairs from the United Kingdom
• He also is credited with being the first to modernize Afghanistan and bring about political and social changes

3. There are 13 well-known newspapers in Afghanistan today. This shows how much more they’ve advanced and became independent. Most papers run out of Kabul City. I’ve listed a few of the most popular

4. “On the Radio”

• Radio broadcasting began in 1925 under King Khan

• The first transmitter was a 200 watt one , which is pretty weak, so it was the American equivalent of an AM station---we know how unpopular those are compared to FM stations.
• This transmitter was built in Kabul Palace, thus it was first called “RADIO KABUL”
• In 1929, there was an uprising against King Khan and the transmitter was completely destroyed, which cut off mainstreaming political speeches or any propaganda to a wide audience
• In 1940, a bigger, better transmitter was installed and 1940 is credited as the year that “Radio was born” to some.  As you can see there was a huge gap in radio availability, eleven years to be exact, so imagine that in the United States.

5. These are the languages that Rad