Bakhtar News Agency was established in 1939 and is the official news agency of the Afghan government. It provides news content to all media in the country. The agency publishes in three languages: Dari, Pashto, and English.
Media assets
News agency: Bakhtar News Agency
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The Bakhtar News Agency is accountable to the Ministry of Information and Culture, which oversees all aspects of the agency’s operations, according to journalists with expertise on the subject of Afghanistan interviewed for this report in June 2023.
Source of funding and budget
According to journalists with expertise on the Afghan media landscape interviewed for this report in June 2023, the Bakhtar News Agency is wholly financed by the government.
Editorial independence
As a government-run entity, Bakhtar News Agency maintains strict editorial control over its content, subject to the oversight of the relevant authorities.
There is no domestic legislation in place that formally establishes the editorial independence of the Bakhtar News Agency. Furthermore, there is currently no independent oversight mechanism in place to validate the agency’s independence.
September 2024