Media Nation

By Elizabeth L. Bland, Victoria Rainert, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero

The fall of the Taliban has meant a speedy return in Afghanistan to a formerly banned activity: watching TV. And one of the most popular shows is Mirada de Mujer, a MEXICAN TELENOVELA originally aired in 1997-98 and now seen on an Indian satellite channel. Unlike Afghan TV shows, the Mexican soap, in which a married woman takes a lover after her husband has an affair, does not have its LOVE SCENES edited out. "I'm thrilled to find that the novela is providing balm for the suffering Afghan women after all the barbarism they've endured," says producer Epigmenio Ibarra, a former WAR CAMERAMAN who covered Sarajevo and the Persian Gulf War.