News agencies
There are 14 operational news agencies in Afghanistan. Among these 14, one is the governmental and largest agency, Bakhtar News Agency, which operates under the Ministry of Information and Culture. The agency has offices in all 33 provinces with its headquarters in Kabul. According to the Ministry of Information and Culture the agency has 175 staff including 90 journalists. The source adds that 200 news reports and interviews are produced by the agency every 24 hours. Bakhtar News Agency is providing news and related information to all governmental media outlets.
Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) is an independent news agency that feeds all national and international media outlets through its subscription system. PAN has almost 50 journalists and is the biggest private news agency in Afghanistan. According to Altai, a French-based consultancy that researches media in Afghanistan, PAN has the biggest share of news dissemination market for media outlets.
Afghan Women’s News Agency (AWNA) is a Kabul-based news agency that covers only news that relate directly to women or issues that influence women’s lives.
Yet Afghan media still receive part of their information from international news agencies such as Reuters, AFP and AP, which have permanent correspondents in Afghanistan.