In April, Nieman Fellows from the class of 2022 honored Rukhshana Media, an online news outlet in Afghanistan, with the Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. Founded by Zahra Joya in 2020, Rukhshana Media centers … Read more
In the five months since the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the situation in Afghanistan remains precarious. Billions of dollars in international aid, including from the U.S., have been suspended amid Taliban rule, placing the donation-dependent country on the brink … Read more
I can’t think about the horrific images of people in Afghanistan clinging to the wheels of U.S. military airplanes without thinking of the coverage of the Iraq war on April 9, 2003. It was the day an iconic statue … Read more
Sangar Rahimi, a current Nieman Fellow and reporter for The New York Times in Afghanistan, addressed the US delegation to the United Nations in New York on April 25. Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, introduced him, during … Read more
Jerome Starkey recently reported for The Times of London about a night raid on Feb. 12 in which U.S. and Afghan gunmen opened fire on two pregnant women, a teenage girl and two local officials -- an atrocity which NATO’s Afghanistan headquarters then tried to cover up. Now, in a blistering indictment of both NATO and his own profession, Starkey writes for Nieman Watchdog that the international forces led by U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal are rarely called to account because most reporters are too dependent on access, security and the 'embed culture' to venture out and see what's happening for themselves. Read more
Through the Lyons award and a teleconference with journalists in Kabul, the Niemans pay tribute to the work of Afghan reporters and hear about the difficulties they face. Read more
‘When the press started to feel empowered to show and tell the truth, it was only a matter of time before the military and government powers would retaliate.’ Read more
A reporter and photographer from a midsized newspaper in Arkansas spent a month in Afghanistan so their readers would know what was happening there. Read more