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Daud Junbish

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Daud Junbish
NationalityAfghan
Occupation
  • Journalist
Years active1994 –
Known forMullah Omar interviews
Notable workOpen Jirga

Daud Junbish is a BBC journalist.[1][2] He is one of the few journalists in the world who has met former Taliban chief Mullah Omar, and has interviewed him on multiple occasions.[3] He is the author of What Is Really Happening in Afghanistan?, 24 Hours That Turned Afghanistan Around, and Red Army in Afghanistan.[2]

Life and career

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Junbish completed his PhD from Moscow State University in the area of journalism.[4]

Junbish joined BBC Moscow in 1994 as a reporter. He subsequently became a senior editor with BBC Radio for their Afghanistan service.[5] Currently, he works with BBC's Afghanistan service as a producer.[4]

One of Junbish's most notable meetings was in 1996, when he met the then Taliban head, Mullah Omar. Over the next few years, Junbish interviewed Omar multiple times for BBC.[3] In August 2015, the BBC program The Fifth Floor interviewed Junbish in a special feature, covering the range of interviews Junbish had held with Omar.[3]

Over his career with BBC, Junbish has written a number of books on Afghanistan, including What Is Really Happening in Afghanistan?, 24 Hours That Turned Afghanistan Around, and Red Army in Afghanistan.[2] He has also written two textbooks for Kabul University's journalism faculty.[4]

Open Jirga

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Junbish is the presenter for the BBC program Open Jirga,[4] a show featuring a panel discussion amongst notable personalities combined with audience questions.[6] The show is funded by the UK government's Department for International Development[7] and is jointly produced by the Afghan service of BBC, BBC Media Action, and Radio Television Afghanistan.[6] Junbish, who launched the show in 2012 as a weekly series,[8] has invited and featured prominent personalities like Sulaiman Layeq and Mohammad Mohaqiq in the discussion panels.[6]

The issues taken up by Junbish in various episodes have been praised by various international media.[9][10] BBC described the third edition of the show, hosted by Junbish, as including a "ground-breaking exchange".[6] The Junbish-hosted series became so successful that Hamid Karzai, then the President of Afghanistan, sought an invitation to the show (Karzai was subsequently invited and appeared therein).[8] Junbish's show is credited with influencing government and civil society action on various national and regional issues.[8] Le Monde reported that over 2 to 3 million people were regular viewers of the show, a high figure for a nation with a population of around 30 million.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Afghans Still Dispute Legacy of Former 'Bandit King'". Afghan Online Press. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Fahim, Zeerak (13 November 2015). "BBC journalist Daud Junbish's services acclaimed". Pajhwok Afghan News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "BBC World Service – The Fifth Floor, Meeting Mullah Omar". BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "BBC Media Action – Daud Junbish". BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  5. ^ Asia Pacific Media Conference (26–28 November 2014). "Reporting on Conflicts and Disasters: The Media Debates Its Role" (PDF). Hiroshima, Japan: International Committee of Red Cross. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d "BBC Blogs – BBC Media Action – Afghanistan's political parties: the future?". BBC. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  7. ^ "BBC Afghanistan's Open Jirga – Media Action". BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d "Des questions, des critiques et des actes". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Afghan TV show brings officials face-to-face with ordinary people". The Christian Science Monitor. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  10. ^ "En Afghanistan, la télévision affronte les problèmes de société". Le Monde. Retrieved 1 October 2016.