Senior journalist Durganath Sharma, who off course holds the position of General Manager at the state-owned Nepal Television, asked many of my friends during a practical examination that I also attended. What should I have answered? Many had advised me before I went inside the viva-room that I should not denounce it outright.
However, he didn’t directly ask me the question. It comes to me in an indirect way. I had submitted a research report on Non-Political News on the Front Pages of National Dailies, which listed violence as the most prioritized by the national dailies. He asked me why not I have counted stories about Maoists as political one. And then, how you feel now since there is no news about the Maoists at all?
I told him, this is not good at all. Why? Because the functioning of media is based on the factor that it raise the alternative voices in an attempt to balance the authorities’ voice and there is no chance of writing about alternative voice. Such a situation can bring anarchy – not by others but by those in power.
But along it I also added that media should also feel their responsibility towards the nation and should not publish encouraging materials for the group that has been classified as terrorists by the nation.
So the viva went well, for me, but was he convinced with me? I have to wait until the result is published.
Feeling Sorry for Friends
After the exam, I talked with two of my friends who work as news staff in local FM stations. I asked them about their jobs. They said: “They are going to office as usual although there is nothing to do.” I asked them if the administration had told anything to them. They told me they had nothing but hadn’t paid their salaries.
They were really sad about the whole scenario and were hoping that the government would soon allow FM Radio to broadcast news so that they can get back to work. “Its very difficult to live without work,” one of them said. “And when you have no money, it becomes really really difficult.”
