Zarin TV was founded with a simple yet ambitious mission: to create a platform where Afghan stories could be told authentically, independently, and without fear.
The organisation focuses on community news, education, entertainment, and women’s issues, while highlighting perspectives that are often overlooked by mainstream media. The team works with journalists and contributors across multiple countries to provide reporting and storytelling that reflect the realities of life in Afghanistan.
“Our mission was to provide community news and entertainment, with a strong focus on education and creating pathways to, you know, shed light on women’s issues,” said Mariam Harris, Director of Development and Partnerships at Zarin TV.
But after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, independent journalism became increasingly dangerous. Reporters risked exposing themselves and their families simply by doing their jobs.
That challenge led Zarin TV to adopt HeyGen. Using AI avatars, the organisation found a way to protect journalists’ identities while continuing to share stories that might otherwise never reach the public.
Addressing safety risks faced by independent journalists
For Zarin TV, the challenge was never just producing content. It was producing content safely. When journalists report on stories that criticise the government or bring sensitive issues to light, the consequences can be severe.
“If we use our real journalists and the real people who do this work, their families get harassed back home,” Mariam explained.
In some situations, families could face intimidation, harassment, or even arrest because of a journalist’s reporting. As a result, many stories remained untold. Journalists had to balance the importance of sharing information against the potential risks to themselves and their loved ones.
“We really had to hide the identity,” Mariam said.
At the same time, Zarin TV wanted to expand its coverage of issues that were rarely discussed in public, including women’s rights, human rights, education, and everyday life inside Afghanistan.
The team needed a way to keep journalists safe while still preserving the trust and connection that come from video storytelling.
Using AI avatars to safeguard identities and share more stories
Mariam first came across HeyGen through members of her production team, who immediately recognised its potential.
The team started using HeyGen’s stock avatars to create multilingual news broadcasts, masking reporters' identities behind highly realistic AI presenters.
“We created these agents and developed characters based on their personas,” Mariam said.
Instead of showing real journalists on screen, Zarin TV could now present stories through AI-generated anchors that matched the language, audience, and style of each broadcast.
The organisation experimented with producing content in seven languages so the team could carefully select avatars that feel culturally appropriate for each audience.
The realistic nature of the avatars also helped audiences engage with the content in a natural way.
“Many people did not even realise it was AI,” she said.
By combining journalist-created scripts with AI presenters, Zarin TV found a scalable way to publish sensitive stories without putting contributors at unnecessary risk.
Widening access to news across languages and borders
Before adopting AI avatars, producing multilingual content was considerably more difficult and time-consuming. Now, Zarin TV can adapt stories for different audiences while maintaining consistency across broadcasts.
The team’s journalists prepare the reporting and scripts, while producers choose the most suitable avatar and language for each story.
This approach enables Zarin TV to reach audiences well beyond Afghanistan, while helping viewers around the world understand the realities of life within the country.
The platform currently attracts nearly two million visitors to its website every month, and it continues to grow its audience across social channels. The organisation also sees future opportunities to expand beyond traditional news programming.
AI avatars make those possibilities attainable while preserving the anonymity that remains essential for many contributors.
Enabling journalists to share stories safely and freely
For Zarin TV, the greatest value of HeyGen is not efficiency or production speed, but protection.
The platform enables journalists to report on sensitive issues, discuss difficult realities, and amplify under-represented voices without exposing themselves or their families to unnecessary risk.
“HeyGen has given us greater freedom,” Mariam said.
She added that the platform’s most important contribution is “the anonymity that we are able to provide our journalists.”
If AI avatars were no longer available, Zarin TV would most likely have to rely on audio-only reporting, obscured identities, or significantly reduced video production. Instead, the organisation can continue creating engaging, human-centred content that audiences relate to.
For a mission-driven media organisation operating under uniquely difficult circumstances, that capability is truly transformative.
By combining independent journalism with AI avatars, Zarin TV is creating a safer way to tell stories, protect reporters, and ensure that voices from Afghanistan continue to be heard across the world.
