Journalists: access restricted to timely information from interim govt

KABUL (Tolo News): Journalists complained about the lack of access to information, saying that the Islamic Emirate’s spokespersons are not providing information to them on time.

“When we want to contact the spokesperson, they first do not answer and if they answer they say that they are not aware about it. Thus, they don’t provide information,” said Toba, a journalist.

“We say to the Islamic Emirate that we face serious problems when we don’t have access to information to convey it to the people,” said Samiha, a journalist.

This comes as the head of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU), Masroor Lutfi, confirmed the challenges faced by journalists seeking access to information.

“If there is no serious attention paid to this, providing information to the people will be face serious problems,” he said.

However, the Ministry of Information and Culture said that the Islamic Emirate is committed to providng information to journalists.

“All of the governmental institutions and spokespersons are obliged to provide information on time and if there is any issue, if the spokespersons don’t provide information to the officials, the journalists can refer to the Ministry of Information and Culture,” said Mahajar Farahi, deputy Minister of Publication of the Ministry of Information and Culture.

Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Culture said that the mass media law and issue of access to information have been sent to the leadership of the Islamic Emirate for approval.