Aug 06 2005
Building the media in Afghanistan
In 2002-04, as Country Director and Training Director for IWPR in Afghanistan, Schnellinger:
- Conceived, designed, and supervised startup of Pajhwok, first independent Afghan news agency, funded by OTI
- Designed strategy for nationwide journalism training program funded by OTI; recruited and trained team of 10 Afghan trainers
- Planned and co-managed $2.7 million budget, worked in cooperation with NGOs and international media, and supervision of staff and consultants
- Designed and supervised nationwide programs for basic skills, daily news coverage, news agency reporting and editing, and specialized reporting, including curriculum and materials, funded by OTI, UNAMA, UNDP, DFID, and UK National Lottery funds
- Created, designed and supervised nationwide elections coverage program of first presidential election, including survey of more than 3,000 voters by 100 journalists in 21 provinces, production of newspaper supplement (100,000 copies in two languages), eight-program radio package, and live coverage of elections week in eight regions
- Designed and supervised special coverage of Constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003, involving 41 print and radio journalists from three organizations, which produced 200+ daily print and radio stories and programs over one month.
She continued to advise Pajhwok after leaving Kabul.