RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN

The founder of an intrepid Afghan media company recalls its 20-year run as a source of independent news.

Mohseni was part of the Afghan diaspora fleeing Afghanistan after a communist coup d’etat in 1978. His father, a diplomat, moved the family to Japan, then to Australia, where the author grew up and became a banker before venturing back to his native country after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2002. He and his siblings hit on the daring idea to start one of the first independent radio stations in Afghanistan; they called it Arman, the Dari word for hope. Its launch in spring 2003 was followed by TOLO TV the next year. The parent company, which they named Moby, hired women for the first time, offered content of public interest, and aired entertainment that had been previously banned, all the while navigating the tricky shoals of growing corruption and sectarian violence in the country. Their forthright news coverage earned them harassment from the Hamid Karzai government numerous times, including a 2007 police raid ordered by the attorney general. In 2008 the author brought on board Tom Freston, formerly of MTV and Viacom. His connections, and the financial backing of Rupert Murdoch, spurred Moby to international heights. However, the “brazenly fraudulent election” that brought Ashraf Ghani to power as president in 2014 eroded any hope of democracy. In 2016 a Taliban attack on the Moby offices killed seven employees. America’s withdrawal and the return to power of the second Taliban regime in 2021 spelled the demise of many of the shows Mohseni and company had created, and he writes with sorrow about the loss of gifted colleagues and their programming. He was out of town when Kabul fell and hasn’t returned since.

A moving account of light brought to the Afghan audience, tragically eclipsed.