BBC Pashto ( ps, بي بي سي پښتو) is the

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

-language station of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

. It was launched in August 1981, and reaches out to the over 50-60 million Pashto speakers in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, as well as the

Pashtun diaspora The Pashtun diaspora comprises all ethnic Pashtuns and their descendants who are living outside of their traditional homeland of Pashtunistan, a historic region that is today situated over parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Pashtunista ...

around the world.

Nabi Misdaq Nabi Misdaq ( ps, نبي مصداق) is an Afghan author and a journalist. He was the founder and head of the Pashto Section at BBC World Service in the early 1980s. In 2015, bspecial decree and under the 64th article of the constitution, Presid ...

was its first editor.

Radio

Initially, the service only broadcast radio programmes - mainly News and current affairs, however, it later expanded by introducing entertainment slots, long form, features, magazines, hard talk and interactive shows such as Stasy Ghag ''Your Voice'' which is still very popular among its audience.

Online

In 2002, BBC Pashto launched its web page ''BBCPashto.com. In recent years they have expanded their presence on the social platform. Now BBC Pashto is available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Soundcloud.''

TV

On January the 20th 2014, the section began its 15-minute daily news bulletins - Aired via its partner station in Afghanistan ''

Shamshad TV Shamshad Media Network ( ps, شمشاد) is based in Afghanistan and Dubai. Shamshad Media Network is a private and an Independent network based in Afghanistan which began transmission in 2005. Shamshad Media Network was established to represen ...

'', the bulletin soon became popular and had a weekly audience of around 1.5 million (2015). The transmission time was 1230 GMT/1700 Afg Time. Ismail Miakhail was the launch producer and Emal Pasarly is the editor. In 2015, due to its huge popularity, high demand and growing viewership, the programme was relaunched and rebranded as '' BBC Naray Da Wakht'' (BBC World Right Now). The new 24 minutes show goes live from London in peak time (18.00 Kabul time) on the same partner network ''Shamshad TV''. The new vibrant, hard-hitting live programme provides Pashto speakers with in-depth reporting, analysis and interviews. It also has a weekly interactive segment, Staso Ghazh (''Have Your Say''), containing live phone-ins, social media round ups, comments, video, pictures and audio content from viewers. The programme is presented by lead anchors

Sana Safi Sana Safi (ثنا ساپۍ - born 1989) is an Afghan broadcast journalist, currently working for BBC World Service Early life Sana Safi was born in Kabul and brought up in Kandahar, Helmand, in Nangarhar, and in other cities in Afghanistan. Saf ...

and Amanullah Atta. Based on a survey conducted by the BBC in 2015, BBC Pashto content reaches 6.5 million people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rest of the world (2015).

Female Editor

Safia Haleem was its first female editor. She was born in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, northwestern Pakistan, and graduated from Peshawar University. As a writer and historian Ms Haleem has authored several books in Pashto and English.

Programmes

* Stasy Ghag (Have Your Say) * Naray Da Wakht (World Right Now) * Da Malghalaro Amil (Art Show) * Wama Studio (Studio 7) * Nima Narai (Half of the World) * Jor Taza (How Are You) * Khaza Aw Nananai Naray (Afghan Woman Hour) * Global Newsbeat * Pilwazai (Art and Literature) * De Fekr Lari (The Path Of Thought) * Rogha Sata (Good Health) * Da Woonai Bahs (Weekly Debate)

Awards

* Sony Radio Award for Service to Public Health * 'Team of the Year' at the first BBC World Service Awards, 2007 * New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programme, 2007

Schedule

The section has over 3 hours of live transmissions - 01:30-05:30GMT, 14:00-17:00GMT and 1330GMT.

Journalists

Some of its most famous journalists are: #

Mirwais Jalil Mirwais Jalil (1969 – 29 July 1994), was an Afghan journalist for the BBC World Service near Kabul, Afghanistan. Jalil has been praised for being crucial in the BBC's coverage of the Afghanistan civil war and as a highly credible journalist. ...

# Gohar Rahman Gohar #

# Amanullah Atta # Safia Haleem # Jafar Ali Khan # Yaqub Kakar # Kamal Behzadi # Daud Junbish # Akhtar Kohistani # Ismail Niaz # Ahmed Omaid Khpalwak #

Abdul Samad Rohani Abdul Samad Rohani (1982 or 1983 – June 7 or 8, 2008) was an Afghan journalist who worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Afghan news agency Pajhwok. He was abducted in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on June 7, 200 ...

# Saeeda Mahmood #

# Yasmin Hussain # Ghulam Zarmalwal # Abdul Ali Arghandawi # Dawood Azami # Najiba Kasraee # Emal Pasarly # Wali Abdullah Narogh # Spin Tanay # Shir Aqa Karimi

External links

BBC Pashto Facebook

BBC Pashto Twitter

BBC Pashto Webpage

BBC Pashto Instagram

BBC Pashto Google+

BBC Pashto Youtube

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:BBC Pashto Pashto mass media Mass media in Afghanistan BBC Pashto-language mass media Pashto-language newspapers Pashto-language television Pashto-language television shows Pashto-language television stations British Pakistani mass media Pashto-language websites

Radio stations established in 1981