Change at Radio Television Afghanistan

Building a culture of public service broadcasting at Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA).

Start: 2002
Finish: 2007
Media types: Radio, television
Issue: Human rights and governance
Country: Afghanistan

We worked with Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) to build a culture of accountable, independent public service programming from 2002, when the interim Afghan government first signed up to the transformation of the state-run broadcaster.

In partnership with Deutsche Welle and Canal France Internationale, the BBC World Service Trust designed a detailed blue-print for change with RTA's senior management in 2006. A key part of this work was to advise on the development of a supportive regulatory framework, including the country's first Media Law.

In 2007 our work focused on putting in place the regulatory conditions for the realisation of this blueprint, and we worked intensively with local stakeholders to encourage broad public engagement in the continuing political debate about Media Law.

The media landscape

Afghanistan's broadcasting infrastructure was devastated by years of conflict.

Since 2002, a number of privately owned commercial radio, TV and print media outlets have been established. However, these are primarily entertainment-based and local in reach. Certain ethnic groups, language speakers and regions are excluded.

In the interest of national unity, there was a need to produce programming for and from the provinces, reflecting their distinct cultural and linguistic identity. At the same time, RTA had a key role to play in addressing issues of national as well as local interest:

"A few days ago when Ghazni flooded, RTA's Health Unit made public service announcements and broadcasts that really helped people. Other television stations did not bother to announce these things." Female listener, Qal-I-Wakeel, Ghazni.

RTA's future

The overall objective of our work with RTA was to help the organisation develop as a responsible public service broadcaster, with audiences at the heart of everything they do.

Working with programme makers, editors and managers, it was our goal to enable RTA to generate content that inspires, informs and educates people everywhere in Afghanistan.