Bob Maier, right, with Nathan Hartle, who has helped editing and writing for Afghan news websites.

Davidson may be a long way from Kabul, Afghanistan, but it’s hardly out of mind for resident Bob Maier. Mr. Maier is in the midst of writing a five-part series of articles about conditions there for an English-language news website called KabulPress.org.

Mr. Maier, with help from fellow journalist Nathan Hartle of Davidson, has been conducting interviews and writing articles that paint a sobering picture of the situation in Kabul.

Mr. Maier’s first two articles are from an interview with an American in Kabul, Rosemary Stasek, who talks about conditions there – from traffic to water and electricity service, as well as the difficulties of traveling around the city. (Links below)

He says the news media – in the local language or English – has an important role to play, both inside and beyond Afghanistan.

“It is pretty grim on a lot of levels, but it’s really the story of most totalitarian states. The people don’t like their government, but they find it hard to do anything about it. The media is really the only thing they have handy,” Mr. Maier said.

Mr. Maier and wife Catheryn first gained an Afghan connection when their son, Evan, spent a year in the Army there digging up landmines. Mr. Maier traveled to Afghanistan in 2005, at the time working with several journalists who later had to flee the country out of fear for their lives.

Mr. Maier said Kabulpress.org is the most popular independent news site in Afghanistan, with about 5,000 page views a day, according to the web traffic counter, Alexa. On days when there’s a big story, traffic doubles. The website publishes information in both Farsi and English, the latter accounting for only a small percentage of the content. Said Mr. Maier: “We’re trying to grow it.”

After his return from Afghanistan in 2005, Mr. Maier began looking for ways to help his friends still in the country. At first, it was technical advice. Later, that grew into writing stories and arranging other help.

“I’m also trying to help two journalists in exile with legal/survival advice,” he said this week. “It’s amazing how hard it is without a permanent address, Internet, or legal residency. Sometimes a call from someone in the U.S. will get things moving, even though I don’t have any power.”

Many of the stories on KabulPress.org include information from people on the ground there, including some confidential sources, Mr. Maier said.

“I have several other people to interview about what’s going on in Afghanistan that isn’t being covered by the big media, so I’m looking forward to seeing where it all goes,” he said.

LINKS

Interview from Afghanistan: Rosemary Stasek, Part I
http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article1460

Interview from Afghanistan: Rosemary Stasek, Park II
http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article1504