FROM: Ralph A. Kuiper, Chairperson Peninsula Chapter World Affairs Council of Northern California
SUBJECT: Report for the Peninsula Chapter Event on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 “Meet the International Press: Balancing Journalism in Developing Regions”
Speakers: Tayyeb Afridi, Radio Development Manager, Internews (Peshawar, Pakistan) Aela Callan, Freelance Correspondent (Yangon, Myanmar) Amie Ferris-Rotman, Senior Correspondent, Thomson Reuters (Kabul, Afghanistan)
Overview and Key Points This event continued the Peninsula Chapter’s annual tradition of inviting a panel of international journalists from the Stanford University John S. Knight (JSK) Fellows Program to share their cultural and regional perspectives and to discuss their research and focus areas. This year’s panelists included Tayyeb Afridi, Radio Development Manager, Internews (Peshawar, Pakistan), Aela Callan, Freelance Correspondent (Yangon, Myanmar), and Amie Ferris-Rotman, Senior Correspondent, Reuters (Kabul, Afghanistan) and Bureau Chief in Moscow. The JSK Program includes 10 international and 10 U.S. journalists who are selected through a rigorous process and who sharpen their skills and develop projects to improve the quality and delivery of news and information reaching their communities. The past few years have seen global political and economic adjustments in countries or regions in development or in which there was great unrest. Providing balanced journalism and communications in these regions is a major challenge. In some cases advanced technical means affords possibilities for advancing these objectives. The three journalists described the challenges and opportunities that they faced in investigating, reporting and communicating in the tribal areas in Pakistan, the emerging political environment in Myanmar, and in Kabul as the American presence diminishes.
The three journalists from the Knight Fellows Program gave insightful perspectives of the challenges of providing balanced journalism in regions where there are competing forces and unsettled political conditions. Their narratives were of striving for inclusiveness and openness in the countries where they have been reporting. Their major efforts are focused on:
1. Exploiting mobile devices and training new reporters to investigate and deliver local news to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan 2. Developing social media tools in Myanmar to counter the hate speech that is helping to incite and foster the violence against the minority Muslim communities 3. And training women journalists and creating a sustainable environment for them so that they can help inform the Afghan citizens on matters of importance to women and to improve the society in Afghanistan
Tayyeb Afridi Tayyeb Afridi grew up in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). After studying journalism at the University of Peshawar, he worked as a reporter on local radio and print media. He became a producer for Radio Khyber, which broadcasts in the Khyber Pass region. His broadcasts were the first radio bulletins of local news and they continued for two years despite the dangers from militants in the area. Two years ago he joined Internetnews Network, an international Media development agency, to organize training courses for local radio stations. He founded Tribal News Network (TNN) a news agency that empowers citizens in Northwestern Pakistan by broadcasting balanced local news coverage for the tribal areas and Khyber Puchtunkhwa on radio, on-line and through mobile platforms, http://radiotnn.com/. His challenge at Stanford is to develop a news agency system, rooted in mobile technology to provide news over all of Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Tayyeb stated in a brief history of the FATA that these areas evolved from the conflict with the British occupation and conflict that ended in 1947. The territories are governed by Pakistan’s federal government that imposes the leftover British laws established in 1901. These authoritarian laws were imposed in India to control the populations with no protection of human rights, no free press, no court system, and with collective punishment. About 3.4 M people, mostly Muslims occupy the FATA. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_Administered_Tribal_Areas)
Tayyeb noted that there is no local media news and that what news there is comes from the central Pakistan government. When he began working for an English newspaper everyone spoke Pashtun, which was also spoken in the area across the boarder in Afghanistan. He noted that in 2006 the militants used pirate radios and loudspeakers to disseminate the assertion that the “government was lying and US troops are killing Afghanistan people.”
To combat this propaganda the government thought it should have a radio station and Tayyeb was selected to be a producer. The station was to have entertainment music and recitations, basically like preaching, to do the same as the militants and bring the audiences back to the stations. Taking advantage of this, Tayyeb tried to introduce journalistic news programming to educate the people about local news.
He went further and mediated with Internews that was working in Pakistan to create a “news bulletin” with an emphasis on local news. He began including and training local reporters from Settled Areas. They broadcast stories about mosquito nets for pregnant women that had gone astray and about faulty bridge construction after which the contractor tried to bribe a reporter who wanted comments from the contractor.
Tayyeb found that slowly they were competing with the British media, but the militants listened to them more frequently because they were more balanced. However, they also developed problems with the militants, especially with respect to conflicts between the government bosses and the station management. This reached a critical point when in 2008 the Pakistani government bombed a group of transient civilians who were traveling between their summer and winter houses. About 60 people were killed in the attack and the government claimed that they were terrorists. When the reporters went to the hospital to interview the remaining victims they found that they were women and children, not terrorists. After the truth was reported the security forces apologized and the victims were compensated, all because of Radio Khyber. Unfortunately, Tayyeb was brought in for interrogation and was told it was not his position to tell the officer about right and wrong and he was sent off to learn how to become a good government employee.
After 7 months Tayyeb was allowed to return and to restart the station. This time he introduced Mobile phones into the media chain to disseminate the news more widely and to take advantage of the growing mobile phone usage. He noted that printed media is not as effective as radio as a communication tool because the literacy rate is low. The Tribal News Network station now employes 40 people including female reporters, producers, and editors. They receive funding from an Amsterdam based grant. Tayyeb is grateful that the Stanford program came along, as it will help him to strengthen the program that he helped to create.
Aela Callan Aela Callan is one of the first foreign journalists to live and work in Myanmar since the country’s political opening and hopes to help the country’s newly free media navigate the digital age. She began her career in radio and television in her home country of Australia where she received a Walkley Award for Journalism excellence for uncovering a political scandal. While freelancing in South East Asia she covered issues from Myanmar’s transition to democracy to Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. She produced acclaimed documentaries on Myanmar for Al Jazeera’s 101 East program and for “It’s a Man’s World” about gang attacks on women in South Asian countries (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2013/03/201335205155725918.html.) She was a finalist in the 2013 New York Festival International Film and Television Awards for “The People Smugglers,” shot in Indonesia. Her challenge at Stanford is to develop tools for social media to counteract the hate-speech and reduce the ethnic violence in Myanmar. (I want to highly recommend visiting her web site to watch a video she produced that discusses the ethnic violence in Myanmar, http://www.aelacallan.com/)
Aela noted that Myanmar and Burma have the same meaning and that they refer to the ethnic group living mainly in the center of the county. The British preferred Burma because it is easier to pronounce, as are the names of some cities and other landmarks in the country. In 1989 the military government changed the name to separate it from the colonial connections. The U.S. and Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) still use Burma. All signage and public references use Myanmar.
Aela found herself in Myanmar when she decided that the news stories in her home country were not “big enough.” She first went to Beijing as a freelance TV correspondent and covered the Olympics. She was then on to Hong Kong working for Al Jazeera English and to Bangkok at the start of 2009 when the Red and Yellow Shirts were in conflict. The colors designated rival factions protesting against what they believed to be an oppressive government, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9310_Thai_political_crisis.
While in Thailand, Aela she began observing rebel crossings at the Myanmar border. There she heard stories of suppression and hardships in Myanmar. She obtained tourist visas to travel to Yangon (Rangoon) with a fellow reporter and moved through Myanmar, documenting the oppression but also finding inspirational narratives about teenagers who were learning about civil societies and who wanted to engage with the military to effect change. The young people circumvented restrictions on Internet access and brought in western ideas. Aela was constantly aware of the Bangkok Special Branch of the police who followed tourists suspected of being spies.
In the 2010 elections the Myanmar military dictator, Than Shwe, handed over power to the parliament and to a hand picked appointed President, Thein Sein. Some people supported foreign engagement and more participatory government, but were disappointed although somewhat lifted by the passage of some progressive bills and the release of ASSK, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi.
Aela filmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit in December of 2011. The visit was prompted by the opening of the Myanmar government and the relief from sanctions against Myanmar that had been imposed because of its human rights violations. Aela was one of the reporters who were allowed to remain and report from inside the country. She documented the ethnic violence of the majority Buddhists against the Rohingya Muslims who live primarily in the Rakhine Province in western Myanmar. She was also able to interview officials in the newly built capital in Naypyidaw and discuss the challenges of establishing a free press. (Most of the foreign embassies are located in Yangon and will face a decision of whether to relocate to the capital, which is relatively remote. Since Aela applied to Stanford the ethnic and religious violence has grown dramatically. (I strongly recommend watching her recognized 25-minute documentary about the conflict, http://www.aelacallan.com/.) Even though the groups had lived together for decades, the military failed and perhaps did not try to put a lid on the problem.
She noted that the government stopped its censorship overnight and thus Internet access increased directly and subsequently the social media became a media for hatred against the Muslims. Aela’s project at Stanford is to develop ways to use the media to counter the hate speech. She is calling it “Panzagar,” meaning “Flower Speech.” She plans to use celebrities and other strong voices to help speak out against the violence. She notes that the opening of the country can lead to good and bad as it has in some Arab countries.
Amie Ferris-Rotman Amie Ferris-Rotman grew up on both sides of the Atlantic, in her native London and in the United States, thus encouraging a sustained interest in other cultures. She earned bachelor and master degrees in Russian Studies at University College London. She began working as a business journalist in London before joining the Reuters news agency in 2006. She reported from Moscow for five years and later became Reuters’ senior correspondent in Kabul where she focused on the struggles Afghan women face even after a decade into America’s longest war. Her challenge at Stanford has been to develop a sustainable training and mentoring program for Afghan women reporters.
Amie stated she had reported from over 10 countries including Russia and Afghanistan, noting that at one time the two countries were friends but became involved in a bitter war. Over time she has reported on diverse subjects including pipeline projects, Human Rights abuses, and conflicts in Chechnya in the North Caucuses, mainly under Vladimir Putin. She noted that in Dagestan, arctic tribes still thought that Russia was part of the USSR. Her experiences also took her to assignments embedded with the US Army in Eastern Afghanistan where she also covered the growing problems of heroin addiction in the Afghan population.
In a surprising contrast, she felt that the Afghan press had more freedoms than the Russian news media. The Russian population stands at about 142 million, but the press is not free and self- censorship is common. Reporting on Putin’s wealth or the wealth of other officials and corruption led to silencing from shutting down the news outlet, forcing the journalist out of the country, and even assassination. She recalled that in 2006 Ana Politkovskaya was killed in her own stairwell after reporting on Chechnya, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Anna_Politkovskaya. Amie noted that 56 journalists had been killed since 1992. In 2008 a local news reporter was savagely beaten after reporting on environmental issues in Russia. There is no access to officials unless one wants to report on something like an arts festival or theater production.
Amie also noted that only a week ago there were mass protests against the Russian actions in Ukraine. This demonstrated that while Putin’s popularity may have risen as a result of a nationalistic mood there were still major fractions of opposing public opinion.
There is a remarkably free press in Afghanistan despite some efforts by President Karzai to tighten the grip on the media over the last two years. About 9000 local journalists have developed for a country of 30 million people. A major shortfall exists in that only 2000 women journalists are participating, and none are working in the foreign news agencies, even after 13 years of a US presence. Efforts to recruit women have not been successful due to sexism, no perceived need to hire women, and the women need encouragement. Amie stated that correcting this would not happen on its own.
During the Taliban control alleged news stories and prayers were broadcast. Prior to that there were a few Russian newspapers. Literacy is a challenge in Afghanistan and stands at 40% for men and 12% for women. Today there is a lively media in Afghanistan, which Amie thought might be at least one achievement of the US intervention. (It should be recalled that literacy in this context is defined as being able to read and write in one’s own language for those above age 15. Dari and Pashtu are considered the official languages.)
Amie’s project is focused on training and sustaining women journalists in Kabul. She has named the project “Sahar Speaks,” which means “Dawn Speaks.” She is training 10 to 20 women journalists in Kabul and will provide mentoring support by pairing them with experienced journalists in the third stage of the project that will include publication of their stories. One of the stories illustrating the plight of women involved a women’s park where they could congregate and sell some of their crafts. The government shut down the park and converted it to a cemetery. She plans to highlight these events and provide reporting opportunities in the Afghan media. To accomplish these goals she is working with the International News Media Association, http://www.inma.org/.
Discussion Tayyeb noted that when the US toppled the Taliban controlled government in 2001, the Muslims felt weakened and disrespected and took a message from the Palestinian occupation. They don’t distinguish between US and NATO and they are resistant to empowering women because of religious beliefs. The Taliban exist in a volatile, geologically challenging area. The Pakistan Taliban have also said they would fight the Pakistan Army because the Army is supported by the US government. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
A discussion about the killing of the AP woman journalist who was reporting on the elections in Afghanistan offered no explanations for the violent shooting by an Afghan security person. There were some claims that the killer’s family had been killed in a drone attack. It seemed to have nothing to do with the fact that the victim was a woman.
ASSK is presently precluded from running for President of Myanmar because the constitution does not allow anyone to run who has a relative who is a citizen of another country. There is little chance that the constitution will be changed before the 2015 elections. Aela noted that the Myanmar transition is a top down event unlike the bottom up events of the Arab Spring. There seems to be much politics but little policy emerging, much internal fighting in the NLD party, and the young people are very disappointed in the lack of progress. Much of South East Asia including Thailand and Cambodia is controlled by militaries, and in Myanmar the law requires at least 25% of the parliament to be military.
Language can be a problem in being a journalist in these regions and it was noted that while the US has been good about protecting translators, they are still in danger.
Myanmar is probably opening up at least partially to remove the sanctions, but they also want to provide some protection against complete reliance on China for commerce. Aela noted they had complaints about the quality of Chinese products.
The violence in Myanmar is for economic as well as religious and ethnic reasons. People feel that the liberalization has not provided the expected economic benefits and so the majority is turning on the minority Muslim business owners. The justification has been nationalistic, asserting that the Muslims are really Bangladesh and that they are plotting against Buddhists.
In a broad set of issues it was felt that the people in Afghanistan perceive that the US has not been as helpful as the Russians in providing or helping to provide their physical needs. For example the Russians built roads and other infrastructure. There is also the feeling that the “surge” was not successful and that as time moves forward there is more pessimism about the long run success. Kabul and a few other major centers may be successful if managed properly.
Summary The three journalists from the Knight Fellows Program provided the attendees with an insightful perspective of the challenges for journalists to provide balanced journalism in regions where there are competing forces and unsettled political conditions. In the tribal areas of Pakistan there are efforts to use mobile devices and newly trained reporters to convey local news to the area. In Myanmar there are efforts to use social media to counter the hate speech that is helping to foster the violence. And in Afghanistan there are efforts to train and create a sustained group of women journalists to help convey their narrative and improve the society. Their stories were of striving for inclusiveness and openness in the countries where they have been reporting. The presentations were well received by over 90 attendees.
The Next Event The next event will be on Wednesday, May 21, at the Los Altos Youth Center with the doors open at 7:00 PM and the program from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. The event will be cosponsored by the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Red Cross and will feature a presentation by Professor Eric Stover, the Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley. He will be speaking on “International Humanitarian Law: Investigating War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.”