China Global Television Network

December 13, 2022December 7, 2022

AFGHANISTAN: STOP ON US GOVERNMENT RADIOS

The Voice of America is based in Washington. Classical-style building with Egyptian elements built in 1940 and named in 1988 after Wilbur Joseph Cohen, former Minister of Health and Education
Source

New Taliban crackdown after the March 2022 clampdown on foreign TV stations: BBC News, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and CGTN (China Global Television Network). Since 1 December 2022, the broadcasts of Radio Ashna (the local version of the Voice of America) and Azadi Radio (produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) have been banned. On 30 November 2022, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture stated that it had received complaints about the content of the programmes, but without giving details. VOA protested that a multi-year contract with the Taliban for the use of FM and mediumwave transmitters had been broken. However, the two radios, financed by the US government, continue to be receivable in the country on medium wave (972 kHz from Tajikistan) and short wave, the TV is receivable on the satellite channel Yahsat 469, and can also be received via digital platforms on the internet.
(Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini)

April 14, 2022April 11, 2022

AFGHANISTAN: NO PEACE FOR THE MEDIA

The Lockmat Times gives an overview of the situation after the Taliban crackdown on information. — The Lokmat Times gives an overview of the situation after the Taliban crackdown on the information.
Source

Since 28 March, the Taliban have banned the possibility of repeating foreign broadcasters’ programmes on Afghan territory. The first to stop broadcasting was the BBC, which asked for the decision to be revoked because programmes in Persian, Pashto and Uzbek are still only receivable by those with a satellite dish: 20% of the estimated six million listeners. Before the American withdrawal, the BBC also had dozens of FM installations in various parts of the country, including two in Kabul, on 89.0 and 101.6 MHz. The blockade makes no distinction and also affects the Voice of America, Deutsche Welle and the China Global Television Network.

Free speech in free fall

**Published every year since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states**
Source

According to a survey conducted by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in collaboration with the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), in four months (15 August to 20 December 2021), 231 media outlets ceased operations, putting more than 6,400 journalists out of work. And women are the hardest hit: four out of five have been ‘sent home’. And who knows how many positions Afghanistan will lose in the world press freedom rankings drawn up by the World Press Freedom Index, which measures press freedom in 180 countries around the world: in the 2021 report, Afghanistan was already in 122nd place.

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021

CHINA: Antenna war between Beijing and London

In a bureaucratic statement that does not go into detail, the Chinese broadcasting regulator (NRTA-National Radio and Television Administration) has decreed the closure of the BBC World News satellite channel on 12 February 2021. This is despite the fact that the television channel cannot be seen by most Chinese, because in China it can only be viewed in international hotels and some diplomatic compounds. The British public broadcaster condemned the decision and stated on its website that the Chinese government had criticised the reports aired on the coronavirus and the persecution of the Uighur ethnic minorities. London’s response was not long in coming and was symmetrical: Ofcom (the British regulator) revoked the licence of the state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN), which will no longer be able to broadcast its programmes in the UK. Separately, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) has aligned itself with the Chinese decision, stating that it will stop repeating BBC World Service programming in the region. This is despite the fact that the former British colony must retain certain rights and freedoms, including freedom of the press, until 2047, as part of a transfer agreement between China and Great Britain. More details can be read in the BBC News article available here.

The Chinese regulator’s press release

Pictured on the Chinese regulator’s website: an image of the national broadcasting conference held recently in Beijing
Source

This is a translation of the statement published on 12 February 2021 on the NRTA National Radio and Television Administration website: “After investigation, the content of BBC World News’ China-related reports seriously violated the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Administration of Radio and Television and the Measures for the Administration of the Landing of Overseas Satellite Television Channels, violated the requirement that news should be truthful and impartial, harmed China’s national interests and undermined China’s national unity. The State Administration of Radio and Television does not allow BBC World News to continue to operate in China, and will not accept its application to operate in the new year”.