When the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, Afghanistan had no functioning press. For most of its earlier history, Afghan media was state-run. Private press, even if allowed under the various regimes, was frequently censored by the authorities. Given this background, developments across the media sector in the last years have to be seen as a great success. There are seven private television networks, more than 50 independent radio stations and over 100 functioning newspapers and magazines in Afghanistan today. Radio, the dominant medium of access to news and information, reaches approximately 62 per cent of the Afghan population. While this prolific growth of media is an encouraging indicator of emerging freedoms of expression and public participation in social and political life, the Afghan media sector is still in its early stages and is buoyed by donor funds. While business development efforts have begun, most media outlets are far from achieving self-sufficiency in the immediate future. Freedom of expression is also regularly threatened by attacks against media workers and imprisonment of journalists. In Europe, Afghans of very diverse ages and social backgrounds access information about their home country mainly through the international media, generally unaware of the flourishing but struggling local Afghan media sector. They are also important consumers of Afghan culture but few channels exist for them to obtain local and traditional Afghan news.