INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Afghanistan moved 34 places down to No
156 on a 2022 international ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released on Tuesday.The media watchdog said the Islamic Emirate&s
rise to power in Afghanistan has had serious repercussions for the respect of press freedom and the safety of journalists, especially
women.It said that 43 percent of Afghan media outlets disappeared in the space of three months after the fall of the previous government.Of
the 10,780 people working in Afghan newsrooms (8,290 men and 2,490 women) at the beginning of August, only 4,360 were still working in
December (3,950 men and 410 women), or four out of ten journalists, the group said.RSF said that more than four in five women have lost
their jobs since the arrival of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), whereas only one in two men have (52%).According to the watchdog,
the deteriorating economic condition has also undermined the media and made journalism more precarious.RSF ranked 180 countries in the
global press freedom index.Norway holds the No.1 spot, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Ireland.Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, China, Turkmenistan, Iran and North Korea are among countries that are placed after Afghanistan on the
ranking.The post Afghanistan falls 34 places in World Press Freedom Index first appeared on Ariana News.
