A reminder about those who risk it all to report the news  Email not displaying correctly?
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A U.S military aircraft takes off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)

Before I started covering local media, I often wrote about international media issues. And something struck me hard each year when Reporters Without Borders released its World Press Freedom Index ([link removed]) and when the Committee to Protect Journalists released its Global Impunity Index ([link removed]) showing where journalists were killed without consequences.

The people losing their lives and being imprisoned were often local journalists — people who live in and cover their communities.

This week, American troops officially left Afghanistan ([link removed]) , and one of the vulnerable groups that remains is local journalists. In a piece Monday, The Washington Post’s editorial board wrote about those left behind ([link removed]) , which “appear to include many local journalists who worked for U.S.-supported media such as the Afghan service of RFE/RL.” USA Today reported ([link removed]) "thousands of Americans and Afghans stranded
([link removed]) in Afghanistan are at risk of Taliban retribution, but one group stands out: employees of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, ([link removed]) a federal agency funded by Congress that operates Voice of America and other media outlets dedicated to promoting American-style democracy around the world."

We don’t know what will happen to journalists or freedom of information in Afghanistan yet. CPJ reported last week that the homes of some journalists in Afghanistan have been raided ([link removed]) and some journalists were beaten by the Taliban ([link removed]) . Newsweek reported that at least two journalists were killed ([link removed]) while waiting to leave the country in the recent attack on Kabul’s airport.

On Wednesday, Farangis Najibullah reported for Radio Free Europe’s Gandhara on a local female reporter still working in Afghanistan ([link removed]) . The reporter said this of her future: “For now the Taliban says women will return to work, media outlets can function. I don't know if they will keep their promises and I'll be able to continue my job or whether I will be killed or arrested.”

The Pulitzer Prize Board gave a special citation to Afghan Journalists and media workers last week ([link removed]) — $100,000 to be administered by CPJ for emergency relief. The U.S. Agency for Global Media Employee Association is raising money to help Afghan colleagues who were able to leave the country ([link removed]) . And the International Women’s Media Foundation is raising money to support women journalists in Afghanistan. ([link removed])

There are stories to tell about the Afghan refugees that will settle in our communities. What resources do they have? What support do they need? What can we learn from past refugee resettlements? I hope the journalists who made it out of Afghanistan can continue their work here. We’re going to need their voices.

I don’t mean for today’s newsletter to be a call to action. I’m not sure what action we can take now. Instead, I hope it’s a reminder that there are journalists and media workers around the world who cover their communities, just like local journalists in the U.S., and who risk so much to do so.

The young woman RFE spoke with said this about why she was still working:

“I also felt it was my responsibility as a journalist to go out and report about what's going on. It's a journalist's duty to highlight problems in society, the wrongdoings of government, and people's issues. I can't solve people's problems but it's my job to become their voice.”

Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, walk through the terminal to board a bus after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
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While you’re here:
* My Poynter colleague Rick Edmonds reported that the Tampa Bay Times, which Poynter owns, sold land to a real estate affiliate of Alden Global Capital ([link removed]) .
* This is a cool idea. Berkeleyside held a contest and asked people to share their wildfire prep “go bag.” ([link removed]) A dozen people sent in photos. Here’s the winner ([link removed]) . The contest was made to drive people to Berkeleyside's wildfire guide. Check it out. ([link removed])
* Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network is hosting Global Fact 8, the world’s largest fact-checking summit, October 20-23.Register today ([link removed]) .
* Bklyner is closing ([link removed]) . I’m sorry to see this local newsroom go, hope it comes back and that the people behind it can get some rest.
* Dan Kennedy wrote about a documentary about the news in Denver ([link removed]) .
* Read Katya Bandouil for Poynter on 3 ways news organizations can improve accessibility ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* Thanks to Gabe Greschler for having me on the American Dispatch podcastto talk about local news ([link removed]) .
* Read ProPublica on “how we report on pain, death and trauma without losing our humanity.” ([link removed])
* Congrats to Tina Pamintuan ([link removed]) , the new CEO of St. Louis Public Radio!
* And meet the first group of 12 newsrooms in the LION-Facebook Revenue Growth Fellowship ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* Read Andrea Wenzel on The Philadelphia Inquirer’s work to transform its newsroom in the last year ([link removed]) .
* Whatever your job, this is great advice from NPR on how to write digital headlines ([link removed]) .
* Listen to LION’s latest edition of the News Guest podcast with Madeleine Bair on “how El Tímpano is turning its relationship with low-income audiences into a fast-growing revenue stream.” ([link removed])
* And this week I wrote an obit for the Tampa Bay Times about the second-generation owner of a local meat market that’s grown and changed with its community ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
That’s it for me, thanks for reading, and caring,
Kristen

Kristen Hare
Editor, Locally
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])

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