KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - It's a familiar routine for local Afghan journalists: within seconds of a roadside blast or bomb attack, they get a boasting text message or phone call from the local Taliban information officer.
"They call right in to the radio presenter on the air," says Khan Mohammed Khadim, manager of Kandahar's Killid group of stations. "Much faster than the ISAF (western) information."
This is the front line in a different kind of fight in the struggle for Afghanistan. In their battle to win the hearts and minds of the local population, both the Taliban propaganda machine and Canadian information and "psyops" teams are ramping up their efforts.
"We've definitely put more resources into it," says Maj. Geoff Davis, in charge of Canadian information operations in Kandahar.
"It's grown progressively with every (troop rotation). It will continue to increase."
The Taliban clearly feel the same way.
"The Taliban has been remarkably successful in projecting itself as much stronger than it is," says a report released last summer by the International Crisis Group, a highly respected multinational think-tank. "The result is a weakening support for nation-building, even though few actively support the Taliban."
The insurgents exploit "the full range of media," the report says.
A website spreads statements from the leadership and lists battlefield victories, usually wildly exaggerated. A magazine airs issues within the movement. Videos are beamed directly to cell phones.
Local reporters hear often from Taliban spokesmen. Every Afghan "fixer" working with western journalists carries the number of one or two insurgent contacts in his cell phone who can be relied on for prompt Taliban comment.
And in a country where most are illiterate, the Taliban have proven adept at infiltrating popular culture. Lectures and battle reports circulate on DVDs and cassettes. Traditional, nationalist songs and poems are co-opted to convey a Taliban message.
Canadians fight back with that old standby -- the facts.
"The media here -- and the population -- have seen so much propaganda for so long, they don't believe in very much," says Davis. "We are very careful to watch what we provide is always factual."
Canadians are trying to work more closely with Kandahar's lively media landscape, which includes newspapers, radio and TV stations.
Local media outlets are invited to Kandahar Airfield to discuss the flow of information with Canadian officers. Afghan reporters say they're eager to get information from western sources on everything from security incidents to development projects as quickly as they can get it.
Canadian money, too, buys ads on all local media.
"Some of the small radio stations are only surviving because of our advertising," says Davis.
Canada even runs a Pashtu-language radio station. RANA-FM broadcasts local music, talk and phone-in shows 24 hours a day.
In the field, soldiers on operations are accompanied by psyops teams, which brief commanders on the local cultural landscape, says Capt. Shawn Stewart.
"They try to find out who they are, where they're from, what village ... We try to paint a picture of affiliations."
Such information is crucial to sorting out the good guys from the bad.
"We've had situations where people have offered up others as being insurgents, but it was actually a historical rift between tribes. They were taking an opportunity to inflict some retribution."
Canada now has two psyops -- psychological operations -- teams, up from one. By next spring, there will be a third. Even the Afghan Army is developing its own psyops teams and information officers.
Is it all working?
Maj. Jay Janzen analyzes stories appearing in local media. His studies suggest that about half such stories are positive for NATO and Afghan forces and about one-third are negative.
"The results are quite encouraging," he said. "There's work for us to do but at the same time, there's a level of comprehension and understanding of what we're trying to do here."
Although Canadians are increasingly getting their message out, it's not clear if it's having an impact on the overall attitudes of Afghans.
A national survey released this week suggested that 38 per cent of Afghans feel the country is moving in the right direction, down from 44 per cent in 2006. About 32 per cent felt Afghanistan was moving in the wrong direction.
In Afghanistan's southwest, which includes Kandahar, only 25 per cent of the population thought things were going well.
The survey did not measure attitudes toward western forces.
Still, the information war remains "mission critical," says Janzen.
"If the people here don't understand why we're here, if the don't have knowledge of the types of activities that are going on, they won't support us."
