Journalism has never been as necessary or as in danger as it is today. Free expression in all its forms is threatened by power and criminality, which try to bend or halt the testimonies of those who h...
Farida Nekzad
co-founder & EIC Wakht News Agency
Farida Nekzad is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Wakht News agency. The agency employs women journalists to cover a range of issues all over Afghanistan, including women’s rights.
Before that, Nekzad was a co-founder and News Director at Pajhwok Afghan News Agency, the first independent and largest Afghan News agency. Pajhwok is covering news with more then 20 reporters and freelance journalists. She has received numerous death threats due to her work with the agency.
In 2014, Nekzad was put in charge of the Independent Election Commission’s media commission, with the job of monitoring media impartiality during the Afghan presidential election campaign. Despite a climate of extreme tension, she spent several months investigating media violations of the electoral rules and complaints from the public about election coverage.
In early 2015, Nekzad has joined 59seconds, a platform that shall empower people globally to contribute news and state their opinion, with full data privacy protection, as South Asia Correspondent and Peace & Women’s Rights Ambassador.
She is the recipient of a variety of awards for her work, including the 2008 CPJ International Press Freedom Award.