An Assessment of Post-Taliban Media Development in Afghanistan (2002-2017)

This research project constitutes the first of its kind in-depth baseline assessment of the growth and development of the Afghan media sector post-2001. The assessment utilizes the United Nations Media Development Indicators (MDIs) for this specific purpose.In doing so, this thesis project tests the assumption that despite pressures from both the government, the Taliban-led insurgency and other non-government actors in Afghanistan, and challenges related to financial sustainability and professionalism, the post-Taliban Afghan independent media sector is sufficiently robust, resilient and diffuse across Afghanistan and enjoys widespread political and public support that it will continue to survive and grow as a strong social and political force in the country, and thus contribute to the further entrenchment of democracy in Afghanistan, unlike all other past short-lived instances of media freedom in Afghanistan's history of struggle for constitutionalism and democracy going back to the 19th century.