Mainstream Media

Rethinking About Media Sources

Yesterday saw an event that needs to me considered by the media personnel. A group of people protested in front of Kantipur Complex, the building that houses the biggest daily Kantipur and Kantipur TV among others and curtailed it for more than four hours. Only after Kantipur TV representative read an apology and promised fair coverage, the crisis ended.

The case: Kantipur TV broadcasted news about death of a karate player wrongly. A police official shot him dead. The policeman said he was trying to loot him while the family and others were simply denying believing that version. Kantipur TV broadcasted news as they got it from police.

I am not going into who was right. I am neutral (meaning I don’t have sufficient proof to believe any story). The only thing I am considering on the case is use of sources by the media.

Traditionally, reports on crime are published as they are received from police. That is natural because they have more authentic information aided by the expert investigation. Same happens in many fields – in sports we believe what an official will say or more than that we believe players.

Theoretically, journalists should confirm any information they receive and the simplest way to do that is talk to the involved parties. If an office bearer says his officer is doing wrong, then we talk to his officer.

Police are neutral party and expert (that is UNLESS they are involved in the incident). In this case, the simple mistake done was that the journalists failed to understand that the police was one party involved in the case and in that case there may be biasness. As a journalist, it would have been great for everybody if the report was balanced (by using at least a quote from the second party – in this case the family of deceased).

That wasn’t done and that created the problem.

Kantipur Representative apologies. Photo via MeroSansar

Let Free Media Grow

Wrong! Wrong!! I have no other word to say about the incident. How fair it was to block a media house and restricting movement of the journalists in and out from the media house. Its not for the first time that Kantipur was targeted (it was vandalized during the Royal Regime) and this time too the chief reporter of Kantipur claims at least two of the people involved were royalists.

Kantipur is the biggest media house (being biggest isn’t easy). As a journalist working in other daily before I moved to The Kathmandu Post, I always got angry when the organizer would wait for a Kantipur reporter. That has probably gone down these days but there are still a lot of people who dislike Kantipur. For the leading role it played against Royal Regime, royalists are angrier than anybody else and they would look for any opportunity for planning out something against it.

For other, (who may be being used for wrong cause), let media be free and there are ways to get something out of media. Even talking to the media boss sometimes is good idea; if not then a delegation. Free media always looks for fair reports (they won’t tolerate anything against their freedom) but for other things they will go for truth.

Free media is power for freedom and democracy (already proved) so let free media grow.

It is always difficult to be in-charge of the state media as the person should be ready all the time to change the overall stance of the media anytime the government changes. Its probably the most undesirable task for the professional journalists.

Gorkhapatra, The Rising Nepal, Nepal Television and Radio Nepal are four state-run media and the changes can clearly be seen on them after the King reinstated the parliament. The most visible of the change is on the masthead as both Gorkhapatra and The Rising Nepal removed the motto ‘Dedicated to Nation, Patriotism, Crown and Democracy‘ from today’s edition. Both added the motto a few days after the King took over executive power on Feb 1, 2005.

I would call it a sad event. Nepal Samacharpatra, a national daily, published a cartoon on Sunday that explicitly accused Kantipur Publications, the leading publishing house in the country, of propaganda and yellow journalism.

The cartoon, published three columns on the front page, shows four members of the International Media Mission that recently visited Nepal to assess the media situation in the country looking amusingly at two on their knees. Even a layman in Nepal would recognize the two as the publisher and managing director of Kantipur Publication.

The two if portrayed saying: We are doing propaganda in the name of journalism, we have also gone to jail after being questioned by CIAA (Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority) but still the government provides no advertisements to us. Please, sirs, find the medicine of this ‘yellow’ disease when you are here. The banner behind reads: International Media Mission – Bhrantipur Publication and the observer on the right bottom saying: it’s all because of your own deeds.

Since I have worked in Nepal Samacharpatra before moving to Kantipur Publications, I feel so bad about it. I haven’t heard or tried to know the reactions among the corporate or editors here but I feel really bad about one media going against another media; that too in such a situation when there is a pressing need for the unity among them to fight for press freedom.

The government in Nepal have introduced strict press laws and tried to tame media in many ways including the one called One-Door Advertising Policy (ODAP). The policy means that only one government policy would distribute the government ads to only those media who register to the agency. Nepal Samacharpatra is registered while Kantipur isn’t. But the policy hadn’t affected Kantipur as much as other small newspapers relying mostly on government ads.

It’s sad that time and again media in Nepal fight against each other. Once, Nepal Samacharpatra fuelled an anti-Kantipur boss protest outside Kathmandu and covered it as if it was the biggest event needing regular follow-ups. Then they joined hands along with some other to protest the foreign investment in media directed towards The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post publishing full-page ‘nationalist’ ads frequently.

I believe newspaper should not refrain from exposing other media’s wrongdoings but all that based on the bias (be that political ideologies or other) is something media shouldn’t do. There could be difference on many things among newspapers (and they are the enemies when it comes to breaking news or market), but for the basic things like press freedom they should never let the unity break.

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. Continue reading…

A through look at today’s newspaper made me think: are media opening up a bit to defy the censorship? The obvious answer is: yes. Look at Rajdhani, Nepal Samarcharpatra and The Kathmandu Post.
Continue reading…

Neighbor India celebrated 56th Republic Day yesterday. Indeed it was a great day for them and as a neighbor it’s our duty to congratulate them. But how much big news is the celebration of the day for our newspapers? Well, seeing Annapurna Post, a vernacular daily with Indian investment, people would probably think it’s bigger for us than for them. And that, in my judgment is not because of their investment, but because of our approach.
Continue reading…