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Inside a news station in the capital of Afghanistan, a group of 50 dedicated people are risking their lives by reporting content that is designed for women, by women. The news station ZAN TV is the first and only news broadcasting station in Afghanistan made up of solely women that are dedicated to presenting news stories for a female audience. This station launched in May 2017 in Kabul, and covers topics from the hottest makeup trends to domestic violence.
ZAN, meaning “woman” in the language Dari, is comprised of women in their twenties who are striving to improve the lives of women in their country. Over the past 15 years, there has been advancements in Afghanistan, with more women pursuing higher education, running for office, and even representing their country at the Olympics.
Opportunities are rising as educational access is improving in urban areas, but it takes more than one generation to accept the legitimacy of female equality. Most girls and women are still kept home by their families, or sent off to marry. One third of Afghan women are married off before they are 18 years old, and a shocking 83% of the female population is illiterate. ZAN TV hopes to change this.
Shabana Noori is the 22 year old news anchor of ZAN TV and finds her inspiration from her mother, who is illiterate and is proud to watch her daughter on the news every day. “I know the situation is not good for us,” Noori tells Glamour Magazine. “I feel that whatever other women cannot do, I want to do—to be an example for those women, to be the voice of women who are unheard.”
Progress is rarely ever made without backlash, and ZAN TV is no exception. They have received a direct threat from the Taliban and consistently get threats over social media. Journalists from other Afghan news stations have also been targeted in the past. In 2016 the TOLO News bus was the target of a Taliban suicide car bomber that resulted in the murder of seven staff members and the injury of dozens of civilians on their commute home from work.
Despite these threats, ZAN TV continues forward in the most optimistic way possible. “I don’t know what will happen to me,” Noori told Glamour. “[This work] is a risk for my family. But I’ve taken this risk. It’s who I am.”