Year: 2022

According to a report by the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC), the Taliban Directorate of Intelligence prison has released Mirza Hasani, former owner and editor of Radio Aftab, a local radio station in Daikundi province of central Afghanistan, after four months of detention.Hasan was arrested at a checkpoint in Herat city while trying to move to Iran for a safer life on May 24, when the agents of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) searched his phone. After seeing journalistic posts on his social media accounts, they suspected him of working as a reporter for the National Resistance Front (NRF) and transferred him to the intelligence agency’s prison in Kabul.He was released on Sunday afternoon, his wife Sakina Rahimi confirmed to AFJC via a messaging app.AFJC said: “We welcome the release of journalist Mirza Hasani, but we stress that he should never have been detained in the first place. If authorities had any grievances or found the reports biased, they could pursue the issue via the Media Complaints Commission, not by illegally detaining the reporters.”AFJC also called upon authorities to “release Journalist Khalid Qadiri who was sentenced to one year in prison in May for allegedly spreading anti-Islamic Emirate propaganda and committing espionage for foreign media outlets, and urge them to ensure journalists can do their work without interference, fear, or reprisal.”Based on the AFJC’s finding there have been a total of 245 cases of violations against media freedom in Afghanistan, including 130 cases of short-term detention of journalists during one year of Taliban rule.These detentions, which lasted from one hour to several hours and even some months often included physical violence, insults, and even torture of journalists.Photo: AFJC […]

Korean startup Spoon Radio Inc has shared its business results for the first three quarters of the year, registering a profit for nine consecutive months from January to September.The company earned 34 billion KRW ($23 million) in gross revenue and had an increase in operating profit of more than 23 billion won ($16 million) compared to 2021.Spoon is a social digital audio live streaming service which allows users to listen to streamers and even start their own live streams using their smartphones and web, without any other equipment. It provides services in four languages, including South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Middle Eastern and North African regions. It has an average of 1 million monthly users as of September 2022.Its growth has been helped by a steady increase in monthly in-app purchases and a rise in the number of high-income DJs in Japan.The company recently shifted its strategy from that of aggressive marketing until last year to strengthening profitability this year.The main driver of its earnings growth this time is securing high-income DJs. Compared to last year, the number of high-income DJs increased by more than 20 percent, from 840 to 1,030.In addition, it has focused on countries with high potential through selection and concentration in the global market. As a result, about half of the current total users are Japanese users. The payment amount in Japan is also increasing steadily enough to account for more than 50% of the total payment amount.Choi Hyuk-jae, CEO of Spoon Radio, said: “This achievement is meaningful in that it proved that it could break away from the so-called deficit growth strategy of the past, which prioritized aggressive marketing costs and created operating profit. We plan to focus on growing together, improving the quality of content, and growing sales.” […]