Three times in the past, I have tried to operate a photoblog of the smiling children and failed to continue. This time, I am reviving the project with new enthusiasm at www.nepalsmiles.com.
Please visit the site, and if you have any complaint or suggestions about it write to me. If you have photos to fit the site, please submit at nepalsmiles@gmail.com
Last week, Naya Patrika, a daily tabloid, printed main story on a sex video of a rising female movie star. The story became buzz of the town, albeit on whispers, and was loud on internet as the video, first available on YouTube, was available to download on many online forums.
The video, reported about six-month old, showed the female actress and model in explicit sexual act with a married DJ. A private video – but of course of ‘big news’ for the paper: big because it attracted more than 500 comments in less than three days on its website (the second most commented story on the site had 273 comments, printed two months ago).
Before indulging into what was right and what was wrong, let me look into similar incidents in Nepal.
There were at least two similar incidents when the debate of media ethics on publication of such materials emerged. The first was publication of the nude photo of a top actor by a monthly magazine and then publication of photo of an actress in sexual act by a weekly.
The first case ended after the publication apparently apologizing with the actor after long debate and in second case, the actress committed suicide.
This news case is different in at least one factor: first the media did not publish any photo that could be considered obscene –although there were photos from the videos. (But it’s publication of the news that such video existed was enough for thousands of people to search and download the video from internet).
We at our newsroom had a long discussion on was it ethical for media to publish such news. There were arguments for and against but the not a consensus. The nearest conclusion probably was that ‘it’s an issue, running it or not is a newsroom decision.’
For tabloids, such news is big; for broadsheet, almost nothing. (As in this case, no broadsheet has printed anything on it while many weekly broadsheets are not missing the follow-ups).
One thing for sure: the debate of ethics on publication of such news leads nowhere.
The video means the actress’ movie career is over; but more disastrous effect is the social embarrassment throughout her life. But can the media be held responsible for any effect on her life due to video?
No. Despite the fact that media should be socially responsible for the effect, it should not be held responsible.
The reason she suffered is not the media but the mistakes she committed: firstly, she had an illicit relations which our society does not perceive as moral behavior; and secondly, she let the act to be recorded.
Would the newspaper have published such story if at least one of the involved people was not a celebrity? No. Then why only chase celebrity? Because they are the one people follow. Was it right on their part to engage in such activities or record such activities despite knowing that they could be the ideals of many fans?
Being a celebrity also means some social responsibility.
Personally I think media in countries like Nepal should have refrained from publishing such materials primarily because it has a lifelong effect on those involved. Everyone commits mistake; the celebrities pay bigger price for it if they go public.
The political interests, and egos, that result in protests on various – most of the times either unnecessary or on absurd issues – is doing nothing good to the nation and us – the citizens.
Yet, the political parties, their sister organizations, and others continue protests. Protests are necessary at times – when the state leaves no other options – but the aching fact of protests in my country is: they begin with blocking traffic.
Citizens, as if we are thought as, face problems; everybody knew it. Closing down schools and colleges is no way good as the children are stranded – most of the times outside their school gates.
Whenever we studied about rights, we always read that while exercising rights, we should also ensure that we are not violating other’s rights. But that does not count during protest. (So I thought maybe we are not citizens after all).
For the protest organizers, protests are wars and everything is fair in war and love, isn’t it?
A lot of such protests are absurd because there are not even demands. There are people who simply enjoys troubling others [the locals blocking road because the driver ran away after hitting a boy; the college students blocking the road for their friend was found dead; and most weird of all, a family blocking a highway for their daughter ran away – all is true stories from Nepal].
At newspaper office, every now and then, the suggestion on putting a separate column for protests/blockade spring up – more in disagreement with it than for humor.
While trying to remember things to write in protest of protests, my heart aches and I know everybody – leaving a few heartless politicians and others – same happens.
So until when are we, the citizens of Nepal, supposed to suffer? Until when, are we going to tolerate? Until when, are political interests playing on our emotions and rights?
At 2322m, atop of a hill on the old Tribhuvan Highway, 80km from Kathmandu through winding/old/narrow road, Daman has nothing much if you do not stop. It could pass without you even noticing if you happen to be in the one of very few vehicles that plies on the almost forgotten highway.
But, if somehow you spend a few minutes looking around; you will fall in love with it.
I spent a weekend there with a few of friends and family members: the choice of time was not very good as there was only a glimpse of Himalaya peaks. But nevertheless, the journey was a worthy for without the white peaks too, the green hills were majestic.
The greenery and wavy landscape, with a few groups of houses afar and clouds moving all over and fogs convering everything now and then provided us a beautiful view from a View Tower at the View Tower Daman Resort: a budget place to spend a night (Rs. 1,000 for a room with attached bath /Rs. 600 for without attached bath with 33 per cent discount/no AC). The manager told me that the tower, with a eating space plus viewing space, was build 53 years ago.
If I had been there in season/got the clear weather, I would have seen mountains peaks on three side, from Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre on west to Mt Everest on east along with all peaks of northern side. The Lonely Planet Nepal says it’s arguably the best place to view of Himalayas: wow!
There is also a short hiking on offer. We walked some distance on road to a cemented gate to the temple of Risheshwor Mahadev. Thirty-minutes of moderate jungle walk brought us to a peaceful place [the temple is combination of natural big stones but considered holy].
On the way, seeing a small water fall, three of us deviated from the normal route to take photos; and on the way back, I slipped off a stone and fell into a small pool of water injuring my left knee. Lesson learned: never deviate from normal hiking route.
60 kilometers from there is Hetauda which is two-hour away from Sauraha, the tourist point of famous Chitwan National Park. If we had time, we would have gone there but we had to return through the same windy road with majestic views of habitats and slopes of hills.
Just as we left, I thought: I will come there again in September/October to view all the white peaks; to absorb the pious of Daman.
The latest buzz is social media connections but I wonder how can journalists use there effectively.
The rise of social networking and microblogging in the recent past has changed the idea of relationship, sharing and remaining connected to each other. In the virtual world of computers and waves, life is almost null without the connections – via web services – to people you know/may know/seem like known.
Friends not in social network or twitter follows are almost forgotten and everything is known about the people in your connection though never physically met or talked. Welcome to the virtual world that’s increasingly having affects on our personal lives in an unprecedented way.
It’s interesting to see how new web services are taken by whelms and people start searching a way to utilize that particular services for their benefits.
The latest buzz is all about social networking (facebook), video sharing (youtube) and microblogging (twitter) and it’s not surprising to find, on the web, articles with best use of these in various fields – business, fight for democracy, organizing protest, promoting events, literature and everything… including journalism.
Twitter, a service that can also be easily updated using mobiles (GPRS/sms), became a source of information for the world, including journalists, for the protest post-election of Iran. Blogs were atop the table during Iraq war and… Nepal’s fight for democracy, but the buzz of blogs seems subsidized for now.
Being in the developing world, for us, has a benefit of itself: watch everything before actual use. Same with social media; journalists in Nepal are hardly using facebook/twitter to aid their works [of course facebook updates are news, news and more news…].
How journalists can use all these connections effectively? That many are looking the answer for and some technology to facilitate. The use of social media connections to aid journalistic works – coined by Publish2 – is social journalism.
How can social connections be used for journalism? Of course, we can follow the updates on what’s happening [be audience first to gather and produce] or we can take the lead from such updates [that could happen, but not very frequently] and more effective ways, I have found, is use it as a tool of information gathering – small inputs from a few friends make it big.
Sharing is also interesting as an audience but many of the journalists hardly practice sharing in a level to help journalists.
For now, for us, the journalists in Nepal – a developing country – life is just connected without many aids to our work [internet still seems elusive to many of us] but the future of journalism – even here – is closely connected: to the social media, to the people we know/may know/seems like know.
I am not very clear on how this all could be done; and I am trying to find out via the social journalism network. If you have any experience, share it.
Height: 2194m from sea-level
Distance: 14km walk (mostly uphill) from Sundarijal, Kathmandu
Walking uphill, especially on stone steps till you reach the end of Mulkharkha, is not easy but the rewards you get then after – almost three more hours of walk through the jungle of Shivapuri Wildlife Reserve and the place called Chisapani on a hilltop – are lifetime experience.
The most important thing not to miss on the way is the Kharka [plain grazing land on the hills] just five minutes uphill from the last house/teashop of Mulkharka.
The plain, with greenery and beautiful green hills behind, is somewhat hidden from the hiking path but it’s walking on it was one of the best part of the hike.
During the uphill walk, the local life and the Kathmandu Valley down below are something to watch.
I saw no animal on the jungle walk but the peace it gives to soul made me forget the aches on legs.
Chisapani itself is not a big village, only a few houses – half of them lodges. No mobiles. But it’s cool – for the cool breeze, for the fog that comes and goes covering hills.
From Chisapani, though my team walked back, we could have walked six hours to reach Nagarkot.
“That’s nice of you, we all Nepali should see our own country,” a villager told us after knowing we hiked to Chisapani. And, I agree.
I am pretty sure that this is the first time a media house in Nepal has advertised vacancy for bloggers. Himal Southasian – a regional magazine published by the not-for-profit The Southasia Trust, Lalitpur has the vacancy for bloggers who can write for their blog.
The downside of the job is that it’s an unpaid assignment requiring a blogger to write twice a week exclusively for their upcoming blog.
The perks of the job, according to the advertisement, are: a platform and quality readership to gain experience and furnish skills as a writer; sharing the blog-space with distinguished and well-known writers, the individual will gain the opportunity to build a fine reputation as a blogger and artistic freedom to write on any/all subject that are not offensive in nature including literature, politics, culture, music, economics, society, etc., as they pertain to Southasia.
Deadline for applications is August 10, 2009. Here is the advertisement.
(This is the an excerpt from my post-graduation thesis – Sports Press in Nepal: A Survey of Sports Pages of the Daily Newspapers. See bottom of this post for more information.)
Sports journalism is defined as the collection, editing and disseminating the news about the activities of sports. (Acharya, 1998) When there is talk about the involvement of media in the development of sports, it is referred to its vital role in disseminating the sports events. (Shakya, 1999)
Sports journalism started getting importance only after 1985. At that time, there were only two broadsheet dailies, Gorkhapatra and The Rising Nepal. Not to talk of a separate page for sports in the newspapers of those days, even the coverage of sports events were very scant. (Shakya, 1999)
The history of sports journalism in Nepal begins with Sporting Times, a sports magazine published in 1956. (Acharya, 1998) Edited by Manindra Raj Shrestha, it was English fortnightly. (Shakya, 1999) It ceased publication after a few issues. (Acharya, 1998).
In 1960, Shyam KC began Sportsman monthly which also ceased publication soon. (Acharya, 1998) This publication played crucial role in enhancing sports journalism. (Gyawali, 2003) Since then a number of sports magazines were published but none of them were published on regular basis. (Shakya, 1999)
In 1967, Rangasala was published under editorship of Rajendra Bahadur Shrestha and National Sports Council published a sports magazine Khel Ra Kheladi a year later. Both of these could not continue. In 1974, NSC began a quarterly publication, Khelkud Ra Janajivan, which was also closed after three issues.
It’s debatable that why NSC, a government body, with yearly budget could not continue the publication. (Silwal, 2005) NSC also began sports programs in Radio Nepal and Nepal Television but that too were short-lived.
Subodh Giri began Khel Jagat in 1979 which irregularly continued till 1987. The sole cause of the irregularity in publication was source of funding as well as lack of trained sports journalists (Gyawali, 2003). Magazines under the flagship of Sports Nepal, Khelkud Manch and Khel Sansar were seen in the market in early 90s, but all of them have closed down now.
Historically, there has been frequent publication of sports magazine but all of them ceased publication after a few issues. The main reason for the closure of all these publication was financial instability. Lack of financial resources for the publication, lack of advertisements and small market caused the shutdown of sports magazines. (Silwal, 2006)
It was The Rising Nepal that has given priority to sports news from the day of its inception. (Silwal, 2006) Even so, daily newspapers didn’t have a separate sports page until early 90s. After 1990, national daily newspaper started separating a sports page which is continued till today. This is a positive aspect of sports journalism (Gyawali, 2003)
The current situation is that every daily newspaper has a separate sports page but still though they are not serious about the sports news. (Acharya, 1998) There were various problems for leading newspapers on sports reporting, one of them was irregularities and sadly, that continues in present context too. (Acharya, 2001)
Sports news has long been the ‘necessary fillers’ something that can’t be missed but also something that doesn’t hold much importance.
Electronic media have begun understanding the importance of events as they have started live broadcasting such events and giving good coverage. The AFC President’s Cup football tournament was not only broadcasted live on Nepal Television, it was also live on Kantipur FM.
Similarly, Nepal Television has bought rights of football and cricket for next four to five years paying a handsome amount. Live broadcasting of cricket or football matches is not new for Nepali television channels these days with NTV being the front-runner. Despite all that, electronic media have not yet been able to give importance to sports news. (Silwal, 2005) Continue reading…
The latest to join the fray is Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The much-hyped website is that of former finance minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.
The almost unknown blogger is former science minister Ganesh Shah.
The ‘Nepali Congress’ leader website is that of Narahari Acharya.
And, ‘coming soon’ is Gagan Thapa.
Probably most of these websites, these websites are not maintained by the politicians themselves but it at least proves a thing – Nepali politicians now understand the importance of online presence and the ‘archival / easy retrieval value’ of website.
Nepal, a Nepali weekly magazine, recently published an article titled “Celebrity Bloggers”.
Here are quotes from the politicians on why they maintain their websites:
“Website has fulfilled my desire to reach more people.” – Dr. Baburam Bhattarai
“People are only listening to me, now I want to hear what they say.” – Gagan Thapa
“I want everybody to know my opinion.” – Narahari Acharya
The possible outreach is the main attraction of the blog and the responses from visitors is something that they are interested in. In coming days, more and more politicians will join the fray and this will, let’s hope, good for us and them.
