Mission - Chitral Today

The mission of Chitral Today is to provide its readers with a healthy, objective, professional, impartial, and dynamic platform that fosters awareness of their fundamental rights, culture, history, traditions, and values. It aims to keep the people of Chitral informed about local issues and events that impact their lives.

Launched in March 2007, Chitral Today is a non-profit online newspaper run by a team of media professionals and citizen journalists from Chitral. Its primary goal is to ensure the free flow of information and exchange of ideas by removing barriers that have long hindered communication in the region.

This initiative is particularly vital for the Khow people of Chitral, helping them preserve and promote their centuries-old culture, traditions, and languages at both national and international levels.

Chitral, home to around half a million people, is unique for its rich linguistic and cultural diversity. The predominant language is Khowar, one of Asia’s Indo-Dardic languages, and about a dozen other smaller languages and dialects are spoken in various pockets of the valley. Unlike other districts in the KP province of Pakistan, Chitral has seen a remarkable rise in literacy – particularly among those under 40, including women – where the literacy rate in many sub-valleys now approaches 100 per cent.

However, the growth in education has not been matched by the development of local mass communication platforms such as newspapers. Consequently, residents often rely on state-run radio and television broadcasts from other cities—or even other countries—for information and entertainment. This lack of local media has contributed to a growing cultural disconnect among the people of Chitral.

As a result, people of Chitral have to rely on state-owned radio and TV channels being aired from Pakistani cities and even abroad for entertainment and information. Because of these media of mass communication, the Chitralis are fast becoming alienated to their own culture, traditions and languages.

Recognizing this gap, Chitral Today has emerged as a significant voice for the region. It has consistently covered local events, human rights issues, and sociopolitical conflicts in a professional, inclusive, and responsible manner. It was also the first news website from the area to actively engage readers in fearless, balanced debates on critical topics, including ethnic polarization, sectarian tensions, the alarming rise in female suicides, and the lack of basic facilities in the district.

Editor: Zar Alam Khan

Fellow, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).