About us

About Zan Times

Zan Times is a women-led, investigative newsroom that covers human rights violations in Afghanistan with a focus on women, the LGBTQ community, and environmental issues.

We are a group of mainly women journalists working both inside and outside Afghanistan to tell stories of the marginalized populations who rarely have a voice to shape and inform public discourse.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, women and other marginalized groups have faced systematic repression, violence, and the complete erasure of their social and political rights. Zan Times was born out of this moment of desperation, of anger, of us trying to speak our truth in the face of injustice, and brute violence suppressing us for who we are. Zan Times was born out of the need to reclaim our autonomy and self-determination, to seek ways to shape and define the future we want to live in, and fight for equality and freedom for all.

At Zan Times, we believe that change begins with awareness. Therefore, our vision is to build an independent, accountable, and professional newsroom for raising awareness and sharing analysis about the lives of disadvantaged groups in Afghanistan. As many of us worked as journalists in Afghanistan, we are aware of the challenges, dangers, and opportunities of working in the media landscape and are doing our part in making sure the stories of the country are told. To that end, we are building on what Zan Times created in 2022, when we produced more than 60 reports and 200 daily news articles in Dari-Farsi and English.

In 2023, we are focusing on producing in-depth and investigative reports on the lives of the most marginalized, while also supporting our team by building its capacity.

At Zan Times, we know it is the time of women and the time to ensure their voices are heard.

How we are funded

Trust is the core of what we do at Zan Times. Our aim is to empower women journalists to report on human rights situations in Afghanistan by providing unbiased and informative content to our readers. We stay true to this goal by being transparent with our readers and supporters, including about how we are funded.

Zan Times was started by personal savings and volunteer work of a team committed to report the truth about human rights violations taking place in Afghanistan. We are happy to inform our readers that we have received grants from Internews, Reporters Without Borders, and the International Women’s Media Foundation which made it possible for us to continue covering the human rights situation in Afghanistan. However, we still need support to cover our operation.

In the meantime, we want to assure our readers that we are independent in our editorial policy and the stories we cover. We do not allow any gifts, funds, or grants to influence our editorial decisions.

We are here to keep the world informed about what is happening in the only country on the planet that denies women’s basic human rights to education and work. Our colleagues in Afghanistan continue to report the truth with great risk to their lives and we hope that our work can inform the world in a way to inspire action in support of the marginalized populations in Afghanistan.

By remaining transparent about how we are funded, we hope to earn the trust of our readers and supporters and to provide you with fact-checked and high-quality journalism.