Afghan broadcaster won’t back down after Taliban takeover in Kabul, CEO says

Kabul-based independent news network TOLO News remains committed to its journalism despite the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the chief executive wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Wednesday.

Saad Mohseni is the chief executive of Moby Media Group, which owns TOLO News. He said the outlet is committed to its journalistic principles and providing a voice for women and girls throughout Afghanistan.

“We have a commitment to our citizens, especially the young,” Mohseni wrote. “Afghanistan has a median age of 18. These Afghans represent the gains of the past two decades. They’re not going anywhere.”

He cited the courage of many young women demonstrating on the streets of Kabul in the face of armed Taliban fighters.

Mohseni said TOLO’s reporters and colleagues from other news outlets are compelling the Taliban to be clear with its intentions and will hold it responsible to such.

“The Afghan media will be the world’s eyes and the voice for Afghans,” he said.

In a first for the country, a female presenter interviewed a Taliban official on live TV. Beheshta Arghand’s interview, where she asked pressing questions about Afghans’ fears and uncertainty, came as the Taliban are trying to project a more moderate self-image to the world after their blitz-style takeover of Afghanistan despite heavy skepticism.

Other female journalists have been on the streets, conducting their work in the days since Kabul fell to the Taliban.

“Our brave female journalists out and about in Kabul this morning,” Saad Mohseni, the head of TOLO’s parent company, said in a Tuesday tweet. Business Insider