Afghan blogger wins free speech award

While many in the traditional journalism world wonder about the future of its industry, the emergence of new media has created innovative opportunities for reporters who want to go deeper into the stories that would otherwise go underreported. In recent times there have been a surge in journalists from countries where free speech is repressed getting their own blogs to challenge their governments and grow grassroots support.

Afghan journalist and blogger Nasim Fekrat was given an award for the freedom of expression by Information Safety and Freedom (ISF), which was presented to him in Italy last month. Fekrat founded the blog Afghan Lord “to highlight the problems of my society in an independent manner, without fear and in a non-partisan manner in regards any group or political interest in Afghanistan.” He is an accomplished freelance journalist who has been published in the Associated Press and BBC, and created an online newspaper, Afghan Press, in two languages, Farsi and English. He is also the founder of the Association of Afghan Blog Writers, which has created a community of Afghan young bloggers.

“Presenting Afghanistan through [the] digital world is a job for [the] new generation, not for those were involved in war, for those who were involved in massacres, those who plant opium but this the new generation that can tell to the world the reality what they believe and streaming in their live[s] daily,” Fekrat said. “They are the sources of truth and honest, they are tired of war, they are not the generation of suicide anymore.”