Over the past few months, the world watched as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, with media and free speech collapsing and journalists fleeing the country. 1TV was one of the leading television stations in Afghanistan, known for its hard-hitting news reports and high-impact current affairs programs, based on rapid, objective and factual reporting. The station was one of the leading privately owned commercial television stations in Afghanistan.
‍

A Lost Opportunity

Our collaboration agreement with 1TV was signed in March 2020 and specified that they would receive 61 of our WHY STORIES titles in a one year period. The first WHY STORIES film dubbed in Dari was broadcast that month, and the films Detropia, Miners Shot Down, Mumbai Disconnected, We Were Rebels and When I Walk were broadcast over the months following. Sadly, due to new management, the network stopped airing the documentaries in early 2021, and our contact has had to flee the country. 1TV signed off the air in August 2021 because of the Taliban takeover. Since September 2021, the network has been attempting to broadcast from Germany and through social media platforms, but reporting from the ground in Afghanistan is a major challenge.

Access to free and reliable information is not something to be taken for granted, and it is one of the reasons THE WHY exists. We are committed to assisting our partners in their mission to inform their citizens and will always support them however we can.