Media in Nepal After Democracy Essay Example

Media in Nepal After Democracy Essay Example Media in Nepal After Democracy Essay Media in Nepal After Democracy Essay Media in Nepal after Democracy -Narendra Maharjan After the Restoration of democracy in 2046 B. S. a drastic change came in the Nepali Media particularly in the private sector. Liberal provision and guarantee of press freedom enshrined in the constitution opened up avenues for the private sector to involve on media sector. The 2046s democracy yielded by the Peoples Movement also established rights and freedom of the press. After the success of peoples movement, new constitution (Nepals constitution 2047 B. S. ) has guaranteed the press freedom and right to information to people. It was widely praised. Wide impact of this provision has been seen to the media sector. Political and other sectors have also been benefited by this freedom. This provision encouraged the media sector luring huge investment in media. Media became professional and it was accepted as the industry of the country. Political parties became free and Political activities sped up. Before this, people can not imagine television run by private sector. Television and Radio in private sector started and are going on. Off set press came into use and due to the accessibility of computer media became too advanced. So there was a favorable environment to develop professional journalism in Nepal. Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, the first broad sheet national dailies from private sector were published in 2049 Falgun 7th. Due to the popularity in the short time many other broadsheet dailies came out. Some of them sustained and some went out from the sight. During this period online journalism also came out and because of the computer it was possible to read the newspaper and to hear the radio in computer. Due to competition in media and development of technology, simultaneous publications were also started to get published. Nepal Samacharpatra started to publish from Biratnagar since 2058 B. S. , Baisakh. Likewise, Kantipur started since 2061 B. S. Ashar from Bharatpur. Newspaper publications were also stared from outside the country. For example Nepal Samacharpatra initiated its publishing from Doha, Qatar since 2062 Ashad, although it could not sustain for a long time. Now Kantipur and Rajdhani dailies have their weekly publication from Doha but not simultaneous. Newspaper publication in different languages was started and going on. Significant changes have occurred in radio broadcasting after 2047 B. S. and adio Nepal has started to broadcast the news service in 20 different languages. New wave of FM broadcasting from non government and private sector has become significant initiative in South Asia. Private channels in television came into the light. Channel Nepal, Kantipur TV, Image started their service. New debate on foreign investment in media and multi media ownership is on. The FMs expansion is significant in this period and it is going on in a new height. There seemed the very gloomy picture in Nepalese media during the Maoist Conflict, State of Emergency and during the period of direct rule by the king Gynendra. During the first State of Emergency (26 Nov 2001-29 Aug 2002), journalists were assassinated, some of them by the security forces and few by the rebels and few were arrested and tortured in various ways from both sides. Nepali journalism suffered a lot while it waged a massive struggle against the Kings direct rule. The Nepali press suffered worst form of suppression from the state and also did not remain aloof from the threats, obstructions and violence from the insurgents. Nepal was characterized as the worlds biggest prison for the journalists. The government enforced various restrictive and controversial ordinances that curbed press freedom as the peoples right to information despite the fact that the nations constitution guaranteed full press freedom. Private sector press was subjected to acute censorship and FM radio stations have been totally banned to broadcast news and current affair programs. Newspapers were asked by the government not to print any material on security operation or Maoist insurgency without scrutinizing the facts from the Army. Most newspapers outside Kathmandu have suffered intimidation or arbitrary suspension at the order of District authorities. Due to prohibition on news and news-based programs over private radio stations and strict censorship even on TV channels, several media managements either closed or curtailed programs and relieved staff members. People were completely deprived from right to information and other civil rights such as right to free movement inside the country and freedom of expression and of opinion. During Peoples Movement II, Nepali press played an important role against kings regime. It fought for the freedom of press and democracy. Due to its contribution to the democracy Nepali press is admired among the society and government itself also created the favorable atmosphere to exercise press freedom. After the restoration of Democracy in year 2062 B. S. ( 2006 AD), a historic year for Nepali politics, it is observed that the countrys media faced significant harassment and obstruction; however it contributed enough in bringing the country back to democratic path being a part of the 2006 April Uprising. Ever following the restoration of democracy and signing up of Comprehensive Peace Accord between the Nepali government and CPN (Maoist), a rebel force, Nepali media and media workers did not witness a sigh of relief and respite from the brutal attacks and blatant violation of press freedom perpetrated by the state, CPN (Maoist) including other agitating parties. The promulgation of Right to Information Act-2064, Working Journalist Act-2064 (Second Amendment) and constitutional guarantee of freedom of press and expression in the Interim Constitution-2064 have been the remarkable achievements yielded in Nepali press. During the Terai movement launched by Terai-based various agitating parties and groups, Nepali media witnessed another setback as it was manipulated and numerous incidents of attack and atrocity in the series of political confrontation and clash erupted in the Tarai region. In short, there is still need for Nepali Media to wage struggle for their professional and physical safety as well as to establish freedom of press and of expression in Nepal. Conclusion Nepals politics today stands at the cross road of history. Despite peace accord, interim constitution and Constituent Assembly election deadlock and political uncertainty prevail all around. The current political trend is far more hostile towards the media freedom and the principle of independent media as political actors are behaving in pre-peace accord period and seeking monopoly of power than common ground for conflict resolution, socio-economic reforms and timely promulgation of new constitution. The media is not only getting political, its getting identified with one or the other party or with one or the other polarized groups in politics and becoming weak in critical areas of civic education. In this context, how can they objectively report about many constitutional issues, federalism, integration of Maoist combatants in productive life of society, economy, judicial independence, autonomy of governance, foreign policy, land reforms etc and enable citizens to exercise their reasoned choice? The bottom line is Media should be neutral and unbiased. References : www. nepalpressfreedom. org www. martinchautari. org. np