… of Nepal (obviously)!
It looks life Year 2006 will redefine the online media in Nepal. With the popularity of blogging growing in 2005 and Google Adsense giving a few bucks to the website owners (even there is rise in the online advertising), mainstream news sites are also trying to go up in competition.
On the eve of 2006, a few mainstream news sites were launched including promising NepalEyes.com and NewslineNepal.com. Both of them do not have the backing of any established print media as in case of newsofnepal.com or rajdhani.com.np or thehimalayan.com. The earlier two are nothing more than the online version of their print editions while the latter updates regularly. There are many more online sites of newspapers. But I would love to see Newsline and NepalEyes doing good because they offer fresh opinions and interviews or articles. In the case of news, I don’t think they can do much.
I didn’t mentioned Kantipuronline.com which has been newly re-launched as ekantipur.com. On the day of new year, ekantipur was re-launched but sadly it was the launch of design rather than content. With so much resources available with them, ekantipur could have left all other far behind, but that’s not the case. NepalNews.com contines to dominate the online media market.
Talking about blogging, 2005 was a year that saw blogs rising from a position of non-existent. Its good to see more Nepali language blogging than English language and I hope they will further grow to form a thicker and louder blogosphere. Currently, I believe there are around two dozens regular blogs operated by Nepalis. Its good to see citizens coming forward establishing participatory media but none-the-less I am not satisfied with the way they have focused on the disseminating current affairs only and they surely lack the personal ‘subjective’ touch which I feel is a most for blogs.
The most interesting development on online media in the new year though is the registration system implemented by Nepalitimes.com. The popular weekly magazine’s online version is now subscription service. For now, you can register for free for a year’s service. I see this as a step forward to establish a pay-online media. Surely, Nepali Times wanted to count on how many regular visitors they have and will surely be forwarding emails asking if they are ready to pay in coming days.
It looks like online media is taking shape in Nepal and the coming years could see more of such newsites emerging.
