Pajhwok Afghan News
Encyclopedia
Pajhwok Afghan News is a news agency
established in March 2004 in Kabul
, Afghanistan
by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting
. It is Afghanistan's largest independent news service, providing broad-based coverage of news in English
, Pashto and Dari. The agency provides continuous coverage across Afghanistan, with reporters or stringers in nearly every Afghan province.
PAN's director, Danish Karokhel
, won the 2008 CPJ International Press Freedom Award. PAN's co-founder and then-deputy director, Farida Nekzad
, won the 2008 International Women's Media Foundation
Courage in Journalism Award.
The agency is supported by Internews
and the Open Society Institute
, with initial funding from the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives
(OTI) through the UN's International Organization for Migration
. The agency expressed a desire to the Office of Transition Initiatives to be independent very early in its formation and this was approved and completed in July 2004 with the local management takeover of PAN in January 2005.
Pajhwok has made a concerted effort to hire female reporters and editors in a bid to expand the range of women's voices in the Afghan media. Female Afghan journalists face particular challenges in a country where questioning authority is still rare.
Pajhwok, a Pashto word, meaning reflection or echo in both Pashto and Dari.
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
established in March 2004 in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Institute for War & Peace Reporting is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Uganda...
. It is Afghanistan's largest independent news service, providing broad-based coverage of news in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Pashto and Dari. The agency provides continuous coverage across Afghanistan, with reporters or stringers in nearly every Afghan province.
PAN's director, Danish Karokhel
Danish Karokhel
Danish Karokhel is director of Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan's leading independent news agency. In 2008, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The award is given for journalists who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks,...
, won the 2008 CPJ International Press Freedom Award. PAN's co-founder and then-deputy director, Farida Nekzad
Farida Nekzad
Farida Nekzad is co-founder, managing editor and former deputy-director of Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan's leading independent news agency, and former vice president of the South Asia Free Media Association for the South Asia Media Commission....
, won the 2008 International Women's Media Foundation
International Women's Media Foundation
The International Women’s Media Foundation , located in Washington, DC, is a network of thousands of left-wing women journalists working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created groundbreaking programs to help women in the media develop practical solutions...
Courage in Journalism Award.
The agency is supported by Internews
Internews
Internews Network is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard...
and the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
, with initial funding from the United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
(USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives
Office of Transition Initiatives
The Office of Transition Initiatives is part of the United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance....
(OTI) through the UN's International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
. The agency expressed a desire to the Office of Transition Initiatives to be independent very early in its formation and this was approved and completed in July 2004 with the local management takeover of PAN in January 2005.
Pajhwok has made a concerted effort to hire female reporters and editors in a bid to expand the range of women's voices in the Afghan media. Female Afghan journalists face particular challenges in a country where questioning authority is still rare.
Pajhwok, a Pashto word, meaning reflection or echo in both Pashto and Dari.