TRANSCRIPT:
The fall of Kabul could have meant the fall of the media.
As armed fighters entered a news studio in Afghanistan, it was clear that there would be a new approach to domestic media.
News channels like TOLO News are still broadcasting under the restrictions of the strict regime. Hundreds of other media outlets have been forced to close.
Hasht e Suhb - which translates to 8am media - is among a handful of news services still operating in exile - with journalists risking their lives to file reports critical of the Taliban.
"Right now still, we have human reporters working for us. The only difference is that they are not using their own names, because they will be followed. They will be persecuted. They will be arrested by the Taliban."
Executive director Parwiz Kawa now lives in Canada - with journalists filing from inside Afghanistan.
"It's a bit tricky, we know, and we are thankful to our staff on the ground. We know they file each report with a lot of risks and then send it to our editors. We have a group of editors who are outside the country, and they are processing that, and then it gets translated in various languages and published."
The Taliban is still blocking accessing to news.
"We know that the Taliban right now banned our websites so people cannot easily access our website. They either have to use VPN or just access the contents through social media platforms."
With Hasht e Suhb journalists using aliases - publicly, and within the organisation.
"They don't get into the system, our communication system, internal communication system, through their real names, their names have been coded. In some cases we have two reporters in one place, just to cross check and verify information. But they don't know each other. We are just trying to build this mechanism to safeguard them, to protect them, because we know if one is arrested, it might jeopardise the security and the safety of all other staff."
Offering some protection from the Taliban.
"Well, we have cases that once a journalist is arrested and just for working for a media outlet that operates from exile, from outside, then they're tortured. In some cases, they are put in prison, and we also have cases of journalists being disappeared."
