Zan TV
Zan TV is the first all-female Afghan television channel, which delivers reports for women. Founded by Hamid Samar, a media entrepreneur, in Kabul in 2017, Zan TV is the only station of its kind with a staff of 50 women, primarily in their 20s.
Upon its founding, about half of the women hired for the station were already qualified, and the other half planned to learn on the job. This was because most Afghan media and TV companies would not historically hire women, so they had limited opportunities to develop media skills beforehand. Staff have included Nasrine Nawa, director of news programming, Yasamin Yarmal, host of the daily show, Khalida Rashid, a political reporter, Shabana Noori, a news anchor, and Mehria Azali, a journalist. Topics covered on the station often focus on the interests of Afghan millennial women, such feminism, reproductive rights, domestic violence, women in the workplace, family life, cosmetics, cooking, and sports. Interviews with Afghan female politicians and activists, such as Fareeda Kuchi Balkhi and Selay Ghaffar, are also included on programs.
Within three months of its founding, Samar reported that the station had 90,000 viewers for its morning programs. As written in the Guardian upon its founding, "It’s a radical initiative for a country where the television industry is run solely by men and where just 16 years ago, journalism and even access to education for women were banned." However, some journalists are worried for their safety, and some face criticism from their families and communities.
