In the midst of the controversy regarding the decision to ban YouTube and Facebook, RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin visited Pakistan for five days to discuss media freedom. Mr Gedmin’s trip focused on Radio Mashaal (”torch” in Pashto) - RFE/RL’s new Pashto-language station in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Mr Gedmin visited the station’s Islamabad bureau and discussed Mashaal’s mission with religious leaders, members of parliament, military officials, and civil society activists.
“Since the launch of Radio Mashaal in January, the station has gotten off to a superb start,” said Mr Gedmin. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from listeners and have already increased our live programming from two to four hours per day.”
In Islamabad, Mr Gedmin also met with US government officials. US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has called Radio Mashaal’s commitment to professional journalism in the local language, “an important contribution toward peace, reconciliation, and democracy in the region.”
Radio Mashaal’s correspondents cover domestic and international news with in-depth reports on terrorism, politics, women’s issues, and health care, with an emphasis on preventive medicine. The station features regular call-in programs, roundtable discussions and interviews with experts and leaders.
Radio Mashaal was launched in January 2010 to counter a growing number of Islamic extremist radio stations in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. The station currently broadcasts via AM, FM and shortwave for four hours each day and shares a frequency with Voice of America’s (VOA) Radio Deewa. Online, Radio Mashaal’s website at http://www.mashaalradio.com/provides a live stream of its broadcasts.
Upon reaching nine hours of daily programming by September 2010, Radio Mashaal will complement VOA’s Radio Deewa to provide 24/7 coverage for Pashto-speaking people in Pakistan and the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
“Since the launch of Radio Mashaal in January, the station has gotten off to a superb start,” said Mr Gedmin. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from listeners and have already increased our live programming from two to four hours per day.”
In Islamabad, Mr Gedmin also met with US government officials. US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has called Radio Mashaal’s commitment to professional journalism in the local language, “an important contribution toward peace, reconciliation, and democracy in the region.”
Radio Mashaal’s correspondents cover domestic and international news with in-depth reports on terrorism, politics, women’s issues, and health care, with an emphasis on preventive medicine. The station features regular call-in programs, roundtable discussions and interviews with experts and leaders.
Radio Mashaal was launched in January 2010 to counter a growing number of Islamic extremist radio stations in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. The station currently broadcasts via AM, FM and shortwave for four hours each day and shares a frequency with Voice of America’s (VOA) Radio Deewa. Online, Radio Mashaal’s website at http://www.mashaalradio.com/
Upon reaching nine hours of daily programming by September 2010, Radio Mashaal will complement VOA’s Radio Deewa to provide 24/7 coverage for Pashto-speaking people in Pakistan and the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
