Photo © Gerhard Schoenhofer/Nepal Monitor

You've lived and worked for several years in the former Soviet Union. It would be interesting to hear about your early experiences.
Yes, I was living there for 14 years. I was 19 years old when I went to the Soviet Union. When I left Nepal, I could get information only through radio and newspapers. Since my family does not come from any scientific background, I decided to be a journalist, inspired by my father. Back then I studied in Padma Kanya College. I completed my certificate level and went to study to Russia in 1981.

As my father had encouraged me to do so, I went to a foreign language institute to study French, Spanish, German as well as some other languages. This is how I happened to learn the Russian language and got the chance to go there through the cultural center. It was not my primary interest. I don't belong to any political party. I am a creative and innovative person. I believe that ideas bring change in this world. I was that kind of person since my childhood. Once I went to Russia it was a great challenge for me, but I found many other Nepali friends there, so at least I was not alone. Before going to Russia I saw many of my friends going there. I asked myself: 'Why can't I be going to Russia?' I wrote a long letter to the director of the Russian cultural center telling him that I was aiming to be an expert in Russian literature after my return from the Soviet Union, all the while knowing that my primary interest was journalism. But once I was in Russia, it took me one year to switch to journalism, whereas all my Nepali friends who joined the state party changed their subject within a week or maybe a month. I worked at Radio Moscow and at a newspaper there. I published the organ of Nepali students studying in Moscow and wallpapers as well. These activities were all reported to the authorities. The only thing which let me go ahead was probably that I stood first in every semester and in most of the competitions organized by the university.

So you didn't face any problems with censorship in the Soviet Union?
I didn't face censorship problem because I was always busy and creative, thinking about what to do next. I was neither involved in party issues, nor in anti-party matters. If this country was inviting me to study there, why should I have to be against it?

You are an opportunist, right?
They were offering me a scholarship and the chance to see their country, why should I be against it. My neutrality, like I have it here in Nepal, was always something special. Equal to all, everybody should have their own political views. But in the former Soviet Union everything was restricted. None of us had the right to criticize the government; there were no means of private media. It was monotonous.

How were you able to communicate with the other Nepali students?
We were all in the same university, 160 Nepalis! We were invited by our embassy to celebrate Nepali festivals together. And besides that, every six months or so, the Soviet Union took us to a vacation to different places in the country. Of course, they had the mission to advertise Soviet socialism. But still we were paid a monthly allowance which was enough for us to survive. I travelled to nearly 25 countries in the world during my stay in Soviet Union. They usually didn't allow students to travel to the West, therefore we only received visa with great difficulties

Why did you decide to start your own college?
When I came back to Nepal I was unknown to everybody and although I wrote a PhD in Nepali journalism I did not get any suitable job. The college we started became the first one to offer a Master's program in Mass Communication in Nepal. Before us there was only one Government College running the Bachelor's degree for 22 years, and they did not feel the necessity to revise that course even once. How easy can it be for the teachers to teach the same courses every year? They don't have to prepare new handouts, study new books or consult any new materials. As a consequence, whatever you teach is accepted. The second thing is that they are engaging themselves in many INGOs and NGOs. For example, 'updated' teachers or faculty member from the UK or somewhere meant a threat to them. The students who join our college are mostly from private and well- known schools. They can debate with the teachers and interact independently.

How many graduates have the College of Journalism and Mass Communication produced so far?
The CJMC has unleashed about 400 students as human resource in the media market of Nepal. At the moment, there are 90 students enrolled in all levels. Most of them are already working as mainstream journalists and many of them are involved in different INGOs and NGOs. Please visit our website for further information.

In the course of my research I've heard the term 'corrupt' in connection with journalism education in Nepal. There are references such as 'structures are not changing, the power relation always remain the same..'.
Exactly! The problem of corruption is everywhere and not only in journalism. It is invisible. They didn't' want newcomers interfering with the existing power relations. By that time there were simply no PhD holders in journalism in Nepal. So I did not get any chance to be enrolled in the only government college to teach journalism, which was the U-turn in my life in order to start this college.

Do you think these difficulties arose because you are a woman?
No, not at all. It had nothing to do with me being a female. Professor P. Kharel encouraged me; he was one of the senior faculty members in the department. Nobody wanted me to start this college. People were calling me a mad lady who dared to start a college with no money. 'If you don't dream you will not do it'- Disney said that. I like his idea because I am also a dreamer.

I had only got the college registered without having any affiliation with a university. After downloading several international syllabi, I had a certain idea about what kind of media education should be provided in Nepal. Then I applied for an affiliation at a university. The Vice Chancellor said: 'What do you have?' He was referring to logistics and infrastructure. I said: 'Well, if you approve my ideas I will do it.' He said: 'You don't have anything. How can you do it?' 'Please, give me your approval and I will do it.'

And then they had a gathering. It's something very romantic now to think back at that time. Simultaneously, other colleges also held discussions to offer Master's programs. It caused a shock that somebody coming from Russia was going to set up a college in mass communication. The senior journalists formed a group and thought of starting a college somewhere else teaming up with a technical college. The VC joked: 'Manju, if you will be unsuccessful you have to go to prison!' I said: 'Sir, I'm ready to go to prison, and I know that if things go wrong, my two children are going to end up in an orphan house. I have nobody to take care of them, my husband is in Dubai, my loving brother is in London, my husband's family does not look after me, and my father does not want any contact with me. If I go to prison that means my children will go to the orphan house. But I'm determined to start a college.'

No risk no fun.
I say: No risk no gain. They asked me: 'How do you think that you will be able to run this college?' I said: 'I have no money, that is true.' But it is not only money that makes things happen. Finally, the VC answered: 'Ok, we will give you the affiliation.' I was approaching them for the last six to seven months. I got this affiliation for exactly five things: Determination, commitment, sincerity, my education and my family background. Immediately, I started contacting embassies for a scholarship. The embassy of Denmark in Nepal donated two scholarships and we got the money for two students at a time.

You could make good investments, right?
Yes, due to the scholarships provided by the Danish embassy I hired a flat with three rooms and bought five computers. I told the landlord that once I would get the admission fees from my students I would make the monthly payments. But unfortunately, landlord's partner did not want me to stay, so I was kindly asked to leave the rented flat. I was so disappointed that day and under big pressure, I could not sleep during the night. Fortunately, somebody else offered me a flat in a school. Finally, I had a regular place where I managed my office. In the same year the college got study materials from the Asia Foundation, the American Center and UNESCO also donated some books. I had to have patience. That's how I managed to initiate the Master's in mass communication and journalism before everybody did.

It was the first course like this in Kathmandu?
Yes, CJMC became the pioneer to start a Master's in Mass Communication in Journalism followed by other colleges and in the second year, it started Bachelor's and in the third year we were able to launch Master's in development communication. We became entrepreneurs with our new BA and MA programs and later established the college FM-radio station which we are running nowadays. The CJMC is a team, I believe in teamwork headed by one-person leadership. I will talk everything through with my team, I'll accept any feedback from them, and if I think that it is valuable, I'll apply it. I don't want to run +2 as it is not part of my dream. My dream is to establish an internationally recognized media college in Nepal. On behalf of the CJMC I approached the American centre many times requesting them to support us with international experts from the USA in order to teach in our college, but disappointingly, for the last 10 years, they have not paid attention to my requests. If the USA is a democratic country they should listen to these matters. At least, they call themselves the biggest spokesperson of democracy. If I was only educated in the US, the UK or Canada! Even though I'm not a communist, I am considered to be the product of Russia. I approached the Norwegian embassy in the same way. I spoke by heart: 'Why don't you support me?' This led me to the Norwegian partnership.

I would love to hear about the philosophy that guides your teaching today. What do you want to give the next generation of Nepali journalists on their way?
If you can dream, you can do it! The other philosophy which guides me is to do challenging and unique works that people often do not attempt to do. I am determined to abolish the old school of journalism in Nepal with the help of international partnerships in order to introduce a new area of media education in the country by establishing a university of mass communication for all South Asians.

So that's also what you try to impart to your students, I guess.
Yes, exactly!

Exchange is an essential part of the program that you offer to your students?
In the Bachelor's program we included subjects like human rights and democracy, conflict management and peace building, security and media organization. Tomorrow's media persons should know how to deal with army and police, regional conflicts as well as English literature. This course was designed by experts under the initiation of the CJMC. I shared it with my team, and they were always supporting it. For the Master's program in development communication I invited experts from several universities, from the UK, and some of the media professors here in Kathmandu. We are offering something new which nobody here in the media market offers.

Usually, mainstream journalists come to study at CJMC. Most of them here in the market that you may meet are the products of this college. We have international partners in Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, in Oslo such as the University of Life Sciences and the Oslo University College. In Asia, our parterres include the Communication University of China, the Dhaka University in Bangladesh as well as the Lahore University in Pakistan. We sent 32 students abroad. I doubt that any private media college has sent so many students abroad. We sent two students to the Communication University of China. The Chinese embassy managed somehow to give two scholarships for the college, although I had not approached them.

Our college is called College of Mass Communication and Journalism and they run the University of Communication of China. Maybe the name triggered something. One scholarship was given by the Pakistani embassy, so one of my students started his Master's in Lahore and returned back. I sent one student in 2001 for a month to Germany with an institute in Northern Germany. I sent 40 students to India under the SAARC exchange program for a ten-day tour, offered by the Indian embassy. I sent 13 students to Bangladesh under a Norwegian scholarship. But my hands are tied up. I cannot implement any new things in the syllabi. Under the existing affiliation I do not want to run any other media subjects. I proposed to the university in Northern Germany to run a joint Master's in photography and videography. My intention is to expand this college at the international level. Under the foreign affiliation, we will be able to launch various new multimedia subjects such as computer animation or courses about western media and how these work.

You seem to have a lot of ideas in your mind. How would you realize them?
That's why I've told you a lot of the things in order to promote them publicly, to go international and to make this college become the college I dream about. It is just the idea that has to be implemented. CJMC is internationally renowned and recognized; it has more than 12 partners. I want to see my students editing a monthly newspaper, making documentaries or participating in the South Asian film festival. As I mentioned, I proposed to my German partners to start a Master's in photography and videography. First, it will be like a landmark in Asia. I went through many websites of media colleges and none is focusing on a degree in this area. Second, geographically, Nepal is the best place for all the neighboring countries. Visitors from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan can easily get visas to Nepal. Such an international program can only be started with certain difficulties in India, because even if Nepalis do not need visa for India, for other nationalities in the region, it is difficult. There are conflicts all over the region. Nepal can be the best platform to announce international admission and the students in the neighboring countries can contribute to a project together. As a consequence, the students will understand the real value of media. Third, I will move to a bigger building where I can attract these students from the neighboring countries because I will have funding by that time. Fourth, if you speak about women empowerment, why does nobody support it? Benefit for both is the motto, one way benefit doesn't work. Internationals can put their effort along with my students such as going to field reporting and taking real pictures with professional cameras for organized photo exhibitions in Kathmandu, Afghanistan, and even Germany. Scholars will come to make a research documentary along with my students. This is what I dream about.

Talking about journalistic practices in Nepal, how would you rate the credibility of the country's media in general?
Credibility of Nepali media ... well, this question is a bit complicated for me. I trust Nepali media because I am informed through various channels. You get different versions stories same issue in different Nepali media. If we speak about the term credibility I want to say that Nepali media is doing its best to give information to the people but regarding credibility again, there are many kinds of misinformation, misinterpretations and manipulations from political parties and businesses. Additionally, each media house is also driven by their self-interests. So, in the present situation, unfortunately, I cannot say that Nepali media is 100% credible.

How would you define the relationship between media educators, like your college here, and the media industry in Nepal?
Ten years ago, we had the predominant attitude in this country that anybody could become a journalist. But after CJMC got started, it became obvious that in journalism we also need higher educational standards. What this relation looks like now is that all media educators and most of the media persons, who are degree holders of different colleges in mass communication and journalism, are related to media industries. They are working in many media houses such as Kantipur TV, ABC or Sagarmatha TV. There was the need for promotion, better qualification, learning and writing. The media industry started realizing that media education is necessary for working media persons. All the media houses want qualified people. Those people who work in different media houses, publications, channels and FM radio stations started giving priority to those journalists who have an education in media. It became a mutual support. If you don't have a degree in mass communication and journalism, but your colleague has one, he or she is likely to get promotion before you. A deeper link has developed between those two poles, education and media industry. We also need to be educated in this field, not only experts, because a journalist's pen can kill 1000s of people through wrong information and misinterpretation (which we can say happened during the conflict in our country a few years back), but a doctor may kill only 1% of his patients.

I found out that you are the chairperson of the Women's Journalist Association in Nepal. What is it that female journalists can accomplish that male ones can't? What are the advantages or disadvantages of being a female journalist?
I'm against feminism. All the feminist activists, at least most of them here in my country working in the name of gender, have married a man who already had a wife and children. Women in Nepal can never work together, I have never witnessed that. It only works maybe for a few years. Men and women can work together, if I had in this college only female faculty members, this college would never have come so far. It would have vanished years ago. A woman cannot see another woman being a vice principal and director for ten years. Maybe men can also work together, but for sure not women.

I was thinking about this issue especially in connection to journalism. What can female journalists do that male ones can't?
I feel that female journalists can accomplish everything. If anybody claims that media houses do not give priority to female journalists, I don't have anything to say. A media house cannot ignore highly educated female applicants. I am supported by men who are very sincere, earnest and dedicated. They all do whatever I request them to do for the sake of the college. If I ask them to approach the communication ministry for the expansion of the FM radio, they are with me. But none of the females would have ever been with me in such a way. I am not worth supporting just because I am a woman or I am doing good things. In the Bachelor's level here in the CJMC, we have more female students than male ones. In the Master's program it's almost 50-50. CJMC gave scholarships to two female students, so we are gender balanced; we are not giving scholarships to men, but to women in order to encourage female journalism. All the rest about gender and women empowerment you should discuss with somebody else, that is not my part.

How do you relate to new media, social media etc.? In what ways do you use Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook personally as well as to promote your college?
Social media has been very effective these days in Nepal. But I personally don't involve myself so much in them. In the morning I mail my international partners in a fresh mood if I have any good news. I simply try to inform them, for example about the Africa film festival that we are conducting in June. During the same time, I logon to Facebook. I go through it once and accept if there are some friend requests or comments but I don't use it a lot. It is just because I have no time to chat and to involve in all these things.

Ok, perfect, I think we're done with my questions!
Oh, I want to tell something about my mission. The mission of my life is to establish a university of mass communication in Nepal. Unless I establish such a university in Nepal, I'm not able to bring a drastic change in journalism education in this country. So, to end the old schooling of journalism education here, I am trying my best to establish a separate university where I will start a new era in journalism education in our country.

Related websies:
> http://www.cjmc.edu.np/
> http://www.nepalafricafilmfestival.org
> http://www.jfn.com.np
> http://www.cjmcfm.com.np

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Nepal's ranking has gone up eleven places in the world, 128 in 2010 to 117 in 2011.

Freedom House says that in Nepal, the score improved from 59 points in 2010 to 55 points in 2011 thanks in part to better access to information and a decline in censorship. The report notes that there were no journalists killed during the year, and fewer restrictions on the production and distribution of news.

The overview essay by FH observes: India suffered a two-point decline in 2011 because of a worrying attempt to extend content controls over the internet and the murder of a senior newspaper editor in Mumbai, among other problems. The score for Pakistan also declined by two points, as threats against the press from a variety of actors reached unprecedented levels. CPJ now considers Pakistan to be the deadliest country in the world for reporters. As a result of this danger, self-censorship has increased, particularly on sensitive topics like blasphemy laws and the role and reach of the security forces.

Regional rankings, from worst to better, for 2011 are as follows (those in brackets are for 2010):
161 (156) Sri Lanka - Not Free
144 (134) Pakistan - Not Free
127 (124) Bhutan - Partly Free
117 (128) Nepal - Partly Free
111 (112) Bangladesh - Partly Free
107 (102) The Maldives - Partly Free
80 (77) India - Partly Free

The 10 top ranking countries are Finland/Norway/Sweden, Belgium, Denmark/Luxembourg/Netherlands/Switzerland, Andorra, and Iceland/Liechtenstein, in that order.

> To read the full report, go here.
> For 2011 report, click here.

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At that date overall teledensity (fixed and mobile) stood at 60.34% (up from 56.46%), according to the NTA's latest MIS report, as fixed lines reached 849,786 (including 222,798 WiLL lines), compared to 845,542 and 227,116 lines respectively at mid-December.

Nepal Telecom (NT) added a net 249,054 mobile subscribers in the the months to mid-March to boost its total to 6.751 million (including 848,944 CDMA users), while fellow GSM provider Ncell reported 7.463 million connections, having added the single largest net gain - or 611,510 users - in the three months under review.

Meanwhile, the country's smaller players fared less well in terms of subscriber growth. United Telecom Limited reached 613,801 customers from 591,511 previously, Nepal Satellite Telecom upped its total from 111,905 to 146,319, Smart Telecom had 311,227 users, up from 203,040 at mid-December, and STM had 5,336 (5,263).

At the same date the NTA said the total number of data and internet subscribers stood at 4.437 million, up from 3.873 million three months earlier, with the overwhelming majority (over 4.106 million) arising from GPRS mobile internet connections. The number of ADSL connections topped 81,661 for NT, with cable modem, CDMA 1x and other (wireless, fibre-optic) reaching 17,036, 180,958 and 32,279 respectively.

> See the report here.
> Earlier Management Information System reports by NTA.

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Here are top-ranking 12 countries with unsolved cases:

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1. Iraq: 93 unsolved cases
2. Somalia: 11 unsolved cases
3. Philippines: 55 unsolved cases
4. Sri Lanka: 9 unsolved cases
5. Colombia: 8 unsolved cases
6. Nepal: 5 unsolved cases
7. Afghanistan: 5 unsolved cases
8. Mexico: 15 unsolved cases
9. Russia: 16 unsolved cases
10. Pakistan: 19 unsolved cases
11. Brazil: 5 unsolved cases
12. India: 6 unsolved cases
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Last year Nepal ranked 7th in the idex.

There has been some notable success in Nepal in two cases of journalists' killings, however, weak law enforcement and a culture of political protection creates the climate of impunity, says the CPJ Impunity Idex.

The following is the report by CPJ:

Getting Away With Murder

CPJ's 2012 Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and killers go free

Published April 17, 2012
NEW YORK
Deadly, unpunished violence against the press rose sharply in Pakistan and Mexico, continuing a dark, years-long trend in both nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index. The global index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population, shows that Pakistani authorities routinely fail to bring prosecutions in journalist murders, including several with suspected government links, while Mexican officials are yet to effectively combat the murderous crime groups targeting news media in vast parts of the nation.

"Impunity is the oxygen for attacks against the press and the engine of those who seek to silence the media," said Javier Garza, deputy editor of the Mexican daily El Siglo de Torreón. Gunmen have attacked his newspaper's Coahuila offices twice in the past four years and, though fatalities were avoided, no one has been arrested either. "These attacks made it clear to us that we can't trust the authorities for protection."

CPJ's index found improving conditions in Colombia and Nepal, along with a long-term decline in deadly, anti-press violence in Bangladesh that caused that country to drop off the list entirely. But the four worst nations in combating journalist murders--Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka--showed virtually no sign of progress.

The release of CPJ's index follows two significant international developments that take the fight against impunity in markedly different directions. In March, the Mexican Senate approved a constitutional amendment that, if adopted by the states, will federalize anti-press crimes and place national authorities in charge of such investigations, steps seen as crucial in fighting impunity in that country. But the same month, UNESCO's 28th biennial session failed to endorse a plan to strengthen international efforts to fight impunity after the proposal drew objections from Pakistan and two other member nations--India and Brazil--that have high rates of deadly, anti-press violence. The U.N. plan--which could still move forward despite the setback--would strengthen the office of the special rapporteur for free expression and assist member states in developing national laws to prosecute the killers of journalists.

In Mexico, coverage of rampant crime has been silenced in many regions as cartels and corrupt officials threaten and attack police reporters.

CPJ's annual Impunity Index, first published in 2008, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2011, and that remain unsolved. Only the 12 nations in the world with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been won.
Iraq ranked worst on CPJ's Impunity Index for the fifth consecutive year and, with more than 90 unsolved murders, its impunity rating dwarfs that of every other nation. Most of the murders occurred as Iraq was immersed in war, but even now, as authorities claim stability, they have failed to bring justice in a single case. Somalia, gripped by insurgency and crippled by the lack of an effective central government, ranks second worst with 11 unsolved murders. In Sri Lanka, ranked fourth worst, authorities have failed to win convictions in the murders of nine journalists--all of whom reported critically about President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration. Amid these conflict-ridden nations is a much different place, the Philippines, which is ranked third worst. Despite the Philippines' tradition of press freedom, the country's dysfunctional and corrupt criminal justice system has failed to bring justice in 55 journalist murders in the past decade.

Several countries' ratings remained largely static, underscoring how entrenched the culture of impunity can be. While Russian authorities have made modest progress in recent years in investigating journalist murders, the death toll grew in December 2011 with the murder in Dagestan of editor Gadzhimurad Kamalov, whose newspaper probed corruption, extremism, and human rights abuses. Brazil has seen a similar pattern: Even though prosecutors have won convictions in at least five cases over the last decade, recent journalist murders have kept the country on the index. Conversely, Afghanistan has made no progress in prosecuting journalist murders, but a slowdown in targeted killings caused its rating to improve slightly. The impunity rating for India, where successful prosecutions are rare, was virtually unchanged.

Not so in Pakistan, where the impunity rating worsened for the fourth straight year. Pakistani journalists face myriad threats "from murderous Taliban, violent sectarian parties, and intolerant religious and ethnic groups," said Najam Sethi, prominent editor of The Friday Times of Lahore, who himself faced such severe threats that he had to leave the country for a time. In addition, Sethi said, the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate "has shown unmistaken hostility toward journalists critical of the military's actions." Among the recent Pakistani victims was investigative reporter Saleem Shahzad, who was slain in 2011 after reporting on Al-Qaeda infiltration in Pakistan's navy.

Pakistani reporter Saleem Shahzad was murdered after reporting that Al-Qaeda was behind this May 2011 attack on a Karachi naval base.

CPJ research shows that deadly, unpunished violence against journalists often leads to vast self-censorship in the rest of the press corps. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Mexico, where unsolved journalist murders grew for the third consecutive year. Fear of retaliation has driven some journalists to report crime news under pseudonyms on social media websites. But even those sites do not provide refuge: In September 2011, the decapitated body of Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro, a Mexican journalist who used social media to report crime news, was found alongside a computer keyboard and a note from a crime group claiming responsibility.

In addition to legislation federalizing crimes against the press, Mexico has undertaken other anti-impunity efforts such as the establishment of a journalist protection program modeled on an initiative undertaken in Colombia. Colombia, historically one of the world's deadliest countries for the press, has seen evidence of an improving climate in the past several years.

"The fight to end impunity in crimes against the press is a long and complicated struggle that has involved many actors, including journalists, press freedom groups, and, obviously, the government," said María Teresa Ronderos, a veteran Colombian journalist who now serves on CPJ's board of directors. She noted a number of successful prosecutions of journalists' killers, including the masterminds in some cases. "And this is a positive development. But there is still a lot of work to do because the majority of the cases remain unsolved. While lethal violence has receded, the number of threats has escalated and the investigations into these threats have gone nowhere."

Nepal, buoyed by convictions of suspects in two cases, also saw its impunity rating improve in the 2012 index. And for the first time since CPJ launched the index, Bangladesh is not listed. While no convictions have been recorded in journalist murders there over the last decade, a seven-year absence of journalist killings led Bangladesh to be dropped from the index.

Among the other findings in CPJ's Impunity Index:
• Local journalists are the victims in the vast majority of unsolved cases. Only 13 of the 247 cases on the index involved journalists working outside their own country.
• Political reporting was the most dangerous beat. Thirty percent of the victims included on CPJ's index covered political news.
• Even in conflict zones, the targeted killing of journalists is common. About 28 percent of journalists on the index were covering armed conflict when they were murdered.
• Threats are a strong indicator of potential deadly violence. In more than 40 percent of cases reviewed for the index, victims received death threats prior to their murders.
• Killers often try to send a chilling message to the rest of the press corps. In one out of five cases in the index, the victims were tortured before being killed.

For a detailed explanation of CPJ's methodology, click here.

CPJ's Impunity Index is compiled as part of the organization's Global Campaign Against Impunity, which is supported by the Adessium Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Omidyar Network, and the Open Society Foundations.

The Index
Here are the 12 countries where at least five journalists have been murdered and governments have failed to convict a single perpetrator. The index covers the years 2002-2011.

1 IRAQ
No convictions have been obtained in 93 journalist slayings in the past decade. The pace of deadly violence has slowed since 2006 and 2007, when dozens of murders were reported amid sectarian violence, but journalists continue to be targets even now. In 2011, gunmen killed radio host and filmmaker Hadi al-Mahdi in his home in Baghdad. After returning home in 2008 after 18 years in exile, al-Mahdi denounced sectarianism and government corruption. He had been threatened in the months before his murder.

Impunity Index Rating: 2.906 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 1st with a rating of 2.921

2 SOMALIA
With 11 unsolved murders, Somalia ranks second for the third year in a row. The Somali press corps has faced an onslaught of attacks, most coming from Al-Shabaab militants. But transitional government forces have also menaced Somali journalists. In 2011, after covering a fractious session of the Transitional Federal Parliament, broadcast journalist Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan was shot in the head by a gunman wearing a military uniform. Unchecked violence against the media has forced at least 68 journalists to flee the Horn of Africa nation over the past decade.
Impunity Index Rating: 1.183 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 2nd with a rating of 1.099

3 PHILIPPINES
Even after the horrific 2009 massacre in Maguindanao province that claimed the lives of 30 journalists and more than 20 other victims, Philippine authorities have yet to effectively combat impunity. The prosecution of dozens of politically connected suspects in the Maguindanao attack has been marked by delays and marred by allegations of bribery and witness intimidation. The overall death toll grew yet again in 2011 when a gunman shot Gerardo Ortega, a well-known journalist who covered environmental issues and corruption, in a clothing store. In March 2012, a local court issued an arrest warrant for Joel Reyes, a former governor of Palawan province, on charges of ordering Ortega's murder.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.589 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 3rd with a rating of 0.609

4 SRI LANKA
The government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has failed to prosecute any perpetrators in the nine murders that have taken place during his time in power, first as prime minister and then president. All of the victims had reported on politically sensitive issues in ways that were critical of the government. In 2006, for example, Tamil reporter Subramaniyam Sugitharajah was slain weeks after he reported on the killing of five Tamil students. Sugitharajah's photographs revealed the students died of gunshot wounds--contradicting military accounts that they were killed by their own grenade. In recent months, government officials have issued brazen public threats of violence against their critics, an alarming development given that 60 percent of Sri Lankan victims were known to have received threats before they were killed.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.431 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 4th with a rating of 0.443

5 COLOMBIA
As prosecutors have won a handful of convictions and the pace of journalist killings has slowed, Colombia's impunity rating has improved each year since 2008. But the nation's ranking remains unacceptably high, a legacy of its deadly past and its continued shortcomings in prosecuting open cases. At least eight journalist murders in the last decade remain unsolved. Among them is the case of Guillermo Bravo Vega, an award-winning investigative journalist who had exposed government corruption. Nine years after a gunman broke into Bravo's home and shot him in the head, the case remains unsolved.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.173 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 5th with a rating of 0.241

6 NEPAL
Weak law enforcement and a culture of political protection created the climate of impunity in Nepal, where five journalist murders remain unsolved. Maoist leaders, for example, have tried to block an investigation into the 2007 abduction and killing of journalist Prakash Singh Thakuri. Even after the Supreme Court ordered the Thakuri probe to go forward, authorities have produced no results. Nepal did achieve some notable success in two other cases, however. In 2011, two suspects were convicted in the killing two years earlier of Uma Singh, who had reported on sensitive issues such as women's rights and communal violence.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.167 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 7th with a rating of 0.205

7 AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan's rating has remained largely static. While there have been no convictions in five journalist murders over the last decade, neither have there been any targeted killings since 2008. Among the unsolved cases is the 2006 murder of Zakia Zaki, founder of an independent radio station in Parwan province. The station was known for its coverage of local politics, women's issues, and human rights.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.145 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 6th with a rating of 0.235

8 MEXICO
A banner seeks justice for photographer Luis Carlos Santiago, whose case is among 11 unsolved murders over the past decade. (Reuters/Tomas Bravo)

The web of drug trafficking, crime, and official corruption that has fueled violence in large portions of the country has also had a devastating effect on the press. At least 15 journalist murders have gone unsolved in the past decade. But with 11 journalists reported missing during the period, and numerous others killed under unclear circumstances, Mexico's record is probably much worse. Vast self-censorship has taken hold as a result, prompting numerous news outlets to abandon coverage of crime and corruption. Gun battles in the streets of large cities such as Reynosa have gone uncovered, CPJ research shows. Journalists and citizens have turned to social media to exchange news of criminal activities--only to find peril there as well. The 2011 murder of Nuevo Laredo reporter Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro was the first case documented by CPJ worldwide in which a person was killed in direct relation to reporting done on social media.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.132 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 8th with a rating of 0.121

9 RUSSIA
Russia's rating is unchanged, with 16 unsolved murder cases. The most recent victim was Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent Dagestani weekly Chernovik, who was gunned down while leaving work in December 2011. The newspaper had received frequent threats for its coverage of government corruption, human rights abuses, and Islamic radicalism. Authorities have made modest progress in some cases: Several suspects were indicted last year in the 2006 killing of Anna Politkovskaya, but authorities have yet to bring the case to trial or identify the mastermind. "The impunity the masterminds enjoy--this is the main part of the mechanism, which breeds new murders," said Sergey Sokolov, deputy editor of Politkovskaya's newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.113 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants
Last year: Ranked 9th with a rating of 0.113

10 PAKISTAN
With 19 unsolved cases, Pakistan's rating has worsened considerably in recent years. Intelligence and military officials are suspected to have played a role in a number of cases. In the months before he was murdered, for example, reporter Saleem Shahzad told friends and colleagues he was being threatened by the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. But the case, as with others, has not been credibly investigated by the government. After intense domestic and international outcry, Pakistan's government ordered a commission of inquiry into the Shahzad killing--but the resulting report was widely criticized for shying away from an examination of the intelligence service's possible role.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.109 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 10th with a rating of 0.082

11 BRAZIL
New attacks have set back Brazil's anti-impunity efforts. Courts have sentenced perpetrators in at least five journalist slayings in recent years, with authorities winning convictions of masterminds in at least two cases. But two murders in 2011 underscore the grave, ongoing risks facing provincial journalists who report on corruption, politics, and crime. In 2011, newspaper publisher Edinaldo Filgueira was shot multiple times after running a poll on his blog that reflected dissatisfaction with the local government. Five suspects have been arrested in the case. In all, CPJ research shows five unsolved murders in Brazil in the past decade.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.026 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 12th with a rating of 0.026

12 INDIA
With six unsolved murders, India retains its place on the index. All of the victims were print journalists who reported on crime, corruption, or politics. Despite India's status as the world's largest democracy and its tradition of having vibrant news media, its leaders have shown little political will to address impunity in attacks on news media. In March, India led opposition to the U.N. journalist safety plan that included anti-impunity efforts.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.005 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants

Last year: Ranked 13th with a rating of 0.006

Methodology
CPJ's Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population. For this index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2011, and that remain unsolved. Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on this index.

CPJ defines murder as a deliberate attack against a specific journalist in relation to the victim's work. Murders make up more than 70 percent of work-related deaths among journalists, according to CPJ research. This index does not include cases of journalists killed in combat or while carrying out dangerous assignments such as coverage of street protests.

Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained. Population data from the World Bank's 2010 World Development Indicators were used in calculating each country's rating.

The full report is available here.

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In 2011, the country ranked 131st with a score of 2.97 among 138 countries. A year earlier it ranked 124th with the score of 2.95 among 133 countries. There were 9 countries after Nepal.

Last year, Nepal led 7 countries (Zimbabwe, Angola, Swaziland, Bolivia, Timor-Leste, Burundi, and Chad). This year it led 14 countries with the lowest scores- Syria (2.85), Ethiopia (2.85), Nicaragua (2.84), Timor-Leste (2.84), Lesotho (2.78), Madagascar (2.73), Burkina Faso (2.72), Swaziland (2.70), Burundi (2.57), Chad (2.55), Mauritania (2.55), Angola (2.49), Yemen (2.41), and Haiti (2.27).

China ranks 11th in the world with a 5.48 score, followed regionally by India ( 69th, 3.89), Sri Lanka (71st, 3.88), Pakistan (102nd, 3.39), and Bangladesh (113th, 3.20). Last year India ranked 48th with a score of 4.03, China (36th, 4.35), Pakistan (88th, 3.54), Sri Lanka (66th, 3.81), and Bangladesh 115th, 3.19).

According to the report, Sweden ranks first among 142 economies, followed by Singapore and Finland; the Nordic countries lead the ICT revolution. The United States, ranked 8th, benefits from strong ICT infrastructure, but weaknesses in the political and regulatory environment hinder its overall performance.

However, ICT readiness in sub-Saharan Africa is still low, with most countries showing significant lags in connectivity due to insufficient development of ICT infrastructure, which remains too costly, and displaying poor skill levels that do not allow for an efficient use of the available technology. Even in those countries where ICT infrastructure has been improved, ICT-driven impacts on competitiveness and well-being trail behind, resulting in a new digital divide.

The networked readiness index has been an annual feature of World Economic Forum since 2002. This 11th edition of the Index focus especially on the transformational impacts of ICT on the economy and society.

The report says that ICT readiness and usage remain key drivers and preconditions for obtaining any impacts. Despite ICT becoming increasingly universal, the question of access and usage remains important--especially for developing countries, given their need to narrow the digital divide. Even within developed nations, the need to provide high- speed broadband to all segments of the population has acquired importance in recent years. Despite recent improvements in overall competitiveness rankings, the BRICS, led by China at 51st, lag behind more advanced economies.

The report says that the advanced economies lead the emerging countries by a significant margin in terms of access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and thus its economic and social impacts. The digital divide is the widest with sub-Saharan Africa, and smaller with Developing Asia and with Latin America and the Caribbean. The divide is particularly deep in terms of infrastructure quality and digital content accessibility. In sub-Saharan Africa, the shortcomings in terms of skills and affordability--two critical areas of ICT readiness--are just as serious.

This poor preparedness in turn contributes to explaining the region's dismal performance in terms of usage. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the world's least-connected region. Only 13 per-cent of individuals in sub-Saharan Africa use the Internet, 8 percent of households in the region own a personal computer (PC), and less than 4 percent have access to the Internet at home.

By comparison, in Developing Asia 20 percent of individuals use the Internet, 22 percent of households own a PC, and 14 percent have access to the Internet at home. In terms of differences across developing regions, Developing Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean are very close in most dimensions. Exceptions are found in the affordability pillar and government usage pillar--that is, the leadership role that governments undertake to develop and leverage ICT in society, where the former outperforms the latter. In fact, Developing Asia has almost closed the gap with advanced economies in this latter dimension.

The Networked Readiness Index uses a combination of data from publicly available sources and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the Forum in collaboration with partner institutes, a network of over 150 leading research institutes and business organizations. This survey of over 15,000 executives provides insight into areas critical for networked readiness.

The presentation of the NRI rankings is followed by contributions by academics and industry experts, exploring the drivers and consequences for individuals, businesses and governments of living in a hyperconnected world.

The report contains detailed country profiles for the 142 economies featured in the study, providing a snapshot of each economy's level of ICT uptake and economic and social impacts. Also included is an extensive section of data tables for the 53 indicators used in the computation of the index.

The entire document is available here.

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A large number of people, including media workers and entrepreneurs from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Ilam as well as civil society members and ordinary people gathered at the last rites of the slain jouralist Yadav Poudel, perfromed this afternoon at Kankai river in Jhapa, reports Gyanendra Niraula from Jhapa.

Photo © Yadav Poudel/Facebook




















The Jhapa chapter of Federation Nepalese Journalists has condemned the killing of journalist Yadav Poudel who had been working with various news outlets based in the district.

The president of FNJ Jhapa chapter Ganesh Pokhrel and secretary Dipenwala Rai issued today a press statement calling for an immediate arrest of the killer(s) and stern punishment.

A delegation led by the eastern region coordinator of FNJ Mohan Kaji and chapter president Pokhrel reached the District Administration Office today and submitted a press statement to chief district officer Narendra Raj Sharma. The statement said the killing of journalist Poudel involved serious conspiracy and it called for an immediate action against the culprits.

The statement also called for the formation of a investigation committee, the security of the media fraternity, and appropriate compensation for the family of the slain Poudel.

Responding to the delegation's call, the CDO promised that efforts will be focused on arresting the culprits as soon as possible and to bring justice to the victim and his family members. He also tried to assure the journalists disclosing that the police were close to solving the case.

Meanwhile, police have arrested 16 people suspected of their involvement in the incident. Those arrested for questioning include the former president of Jhapa Hotel Entrepreneurs Association Yuba Raj Giri, the proprietors of Purwanchal Sekuwa Corner Som Dhakal and Manju Dhakal, as well as Gopal Yokten, Yogesh Ranapaheli, Roshan Ranapaheli. The names of others arrested have not been made public.

Police have said that they are close to gathering the facts and will be releasing the details soon.

The last rites of journalist Poudel were performed around 4:30 pm today at the river Kankai. A corner meeting was organized following the last rites. The meeting was addressed by district president of Nepali Congress Uddhav Thapa, UML district chair Rabin Koirala, district in-charge of UCPN (Maoist) Jhalak Singh Darlami and the eastern regional coordinator of FNJ Mohan Kaji.

Speaking at the corner meeting, leaders of political parties emphasized that the killers must be apprehended and punished. FNJ eastern regional coordinator Kaji expressed dissatisfaction on the deteriorating security situation for journalists in the district and emphasized that the government must take the responsibility of providing security to journalists.

A large number of people, including media workers and entrepreneurs from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Ilam as well as civil society members and ordinary people gathered at the funeral procession today. Rallies were held in Birtamod and other parts of the country calling for action against the culprits and improved security for journalists.

The 38-year-old journalist Poudel was killed last night at around 1 am near the new Bus Park at Birtamod by an unidentified group.

Poudel, originally a resident of Sijuwa-9, Morang, had been working as a journalist in Jhapa since the last five years. The district police office have said that Poudel was attacked by a sharp weapon. He was deeply wounded in his neck, face, and head. Police had reached the spot of the incident at 1:30 am last night.

A district correspondent for Avenues TV and for Rajdhani daily newspaper, Poudel also worked as the executive editor of New Mechi Times, a local daily published out of Birtamod.

Police had found Poudel's body in front of Purwanchal Sekuwa Corner at the new Bus Park, at the eastern part of the city. His motorcycle was lying near his body and his shoes remain missing. Police have suspected that Poudel's body was dragged to the place where it was lying after he was killed somewhere in the vicinity of that spot.

Poudel is survived by his wife Sonam, his son Kshitiz, daughter Bitisha and his elderly mother. His father passed away years ago. The only son to his parents, Poudel has four sisters.

Shocking incident
The killing comes as a shock to many especially because security conditions for journalists in the whole region spanning the Mechi Zone had remained fairly good. The worst case scenarios were threats to journalists on phone from disgruntled people and cases of violence were virtually non-existent.

The incident comes after two years of a relatively peaceful intersession for journalists in the country, since the killing of Uma Singh (January, 2009) and media entrepreneurs Arun Sighaniya of Janakpur (March 2010), Jamim Shah of Kathmandu (Feb 2010). As many as 13 journalists have been killed in Nepal since 2002. Media watchdogs and rights groups have repeatedly noted widespread impunity in the killing of journalists in Nepal.

Bhola Poudel, one of the uncles of the slain journalist told reporters that he saw no signs of untoward incident when he had met Yadav a couple of weeks ago. He was telling me that he was doing well as a journalist and he was not facing any risks or threats for his works, the elderly Poudel said.

In fact, unlike some journalists who depend on multiple jobs for sustenance, Yadav was giving his full time to journalism working for multiple news organizations.

Killed for his reporting?
The Jhapa FNJ branch has suspected that Yadav was killed for his reporting works. It is learned that in recent times, Yadav had been doing investigative pieces on prostitution in the new Bus Park area in Birtamod and it must have earned him enemies among the illegal business operators.

Police have said that Yadav had been reporting about the burgeoning prostitution trade in the hotels around the new Bus Park area in Birtamod and the fact that he was killed near a hotel leaves room to relate the incident to his journalistic work.

A report by the Dhulabari-based Sargam FM radio, quoting the editor of New Mechi Times, Tirtha Sigdel, said that Yadav had not been coming to his office since the past two days, and he was reportedly working with the former president of Jhapa Hotel Entrepreneurs Association Yuba Raj Giri and some others in preparation for the launch of a new daily newspaper on April 13, 2012.

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Photo © Gerhard Schoenhofer/Nepal Monitor

First, could you share with us your current engagements? And how did you end up being the editor of Kantipur?
Currently I am the chief-editor of Kantipur national daily, the largest selling daily newspaper in Nepal. I am in this position for almost four years now. I was with Kantipur publications for five years already as an editor and assistant editor (for one year) of the weekly newsmagazine Nepal, a sister publication of Kantipur media. Before that, I was also with another news magazine, Himal and other print media. I'm in this profession for 19 years now; and with Kantipur publishers for more than nine years. I started my career from a vernacular weekly, then I switched my work focus to news magazines and now I am busy with the daily newspaper.

What kind of education did you choose for your career?
Actually, I studied science and then I switched to humanities. For this profession I have not taken any formal or specialized course. I learned this job via learning by doing.

How do you describe the reach of Kantipur these days in the Nepali mediascape? And its influence?
Kantipur has a certain history. It is the first newspaper that started after the political change in 1990. Before, we had an autocratic type of rule. When we got a democratic system, Kantipur was started as the first large-scale private sector newspaper. Before that, there was only one government newspaper, Gorkhapatra. They had a huge circulation those days. But after a few years, Kantipur and its sister publication, The Kathmandu Post, became the number one newspaper in Nepal. Before Kantipur was established, the mainstream media of Nepal were the weekly vernaculars. But gradually, the daily papers, mainly Kantipur, took over that kind of role. Kantipur's circulation is more than 250 000 copies per day. We have several editions, from Kathmandu; it's the capital edition, and then we have regional editions from Bhiratnagar, from Bharatpur and from Nepalgunj. We also have a weekly edition being published from Doha, Qatar. We also publish other newspapers and magazines; we do have a radio and a television station as well. In the initial phase we had only Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, so now we have an extended family. We call it the Kantipur Media Group.

I can give an example for what type of influence we have: Some leaders, who should have been responsible to complete the peace building- and constitution making process in time, were recently going on a two-week trip to Switzerland. ´We published their photos and just now, before you came here, the UML decided not to send their leaders to that foreign trip. Also the Maoists and other parties made similar decisions. It means that the Nepali society listens to what we write and what we are saying. We earn a very high degree of credibility from our readers.

And obviously you also have a high degree of political influence.
Yes, and we have become a part of our democratic movement as well. Because our profession and our newspaper can only survive in a democratic system, we are now in a transitional process, just like our country. Our declared agenda is therefore to strengthen the democratic development.

What can you tell us about the contents? What is the share of coverage in terms of politics, culture or sports, etc?
Due to the current phase of political transition, most of the front page news is political. We also cover non-political issues on the front page, but it depends on the type of situations in our country. We also consider the public sentiment, their demands and their needs. A lot of things determine the type of news we cover with priority. Two thirds of the newspaper is political. We also carry the news from outside the valley. Then we have our city page, general news and the two-page Op-Ed section. In this section we do not only publish political commentaries but also other different types of opinions, also non-political ones. And we have an art and entertainment section next to our international news section. The four-page section of business & economics comes next, leading towards the final section, the sports page. This shows that content is diverse and mixed and if you count the number of the news items, then you will see that the non-political news prevails. In the front page, though, is full of politics.

How would you define the relation between Kathmandu and the rest of Nepal in terms of spatial concentration of media, as all the big media houses are located here in the capital city? Some have even called this phenomenon "Kathmandu-centrism"?
A lot of Nepali media are Kathmandu-centric. Physically they are present in Kathmandu, their headquarters are here, but the content also is very Kathmandu-centric. But we are an exception, because we are the only media company which has a country-wide network. We have more than 100 reporters outside the Kathmandu Valley and it is only us who have the strength of such a wide network. Other newspapers lack such reach. This is also a reason for our success. We also publish news from Jhapa, it is an eastern district, as well as from the Mahakali region, in the far west. We offer diversity of news content, so we are a complete newspaper. There is a predominant focus in Nepali media to cover only Kathmandu-based events, but we do cover the country-wide, national news. Our paper also more pages compared to other newspapers, so we have relatively more space to cover those issues. We do have a wide reach, from the Kathmandu elites to the Kathmandu middle class to ordinary people outside the valley.

The term inclusion has become a major policy agenda in recent years in the media. How do you see the Nepali media covering or representing minorities like Dalits, Madhesis, Janajatis, women or children? How does Kantipur access and cover news about these groups?
As I told you earlier, we are also part of the political change, so we support these issues of inclusion, overall state restructuring and the constitution making agenda. We also give a lot of space to issues related to these groups and ethnic issues in general. It becomes visible in our news content and we leave some space in our Op-Ed page for further debates as well. Many interesting debates have grown and continued in our Op-Ed pages. We also taken the initiative to moderate some round table discussions on important contemporary topics and then published the outcome. We are very positive towards inclusion and minority issues.

Some critics have said that Kantipur has become some kind of monopolistic news outlet in terms of media production and ownership. Kantipur is big emporium and it has so many outlets, so it's pretty easy to gain a dominant position in the Nepali media, and some might even call it monopoly. What do you think about this term?
I don't want to use that word monopoly. But I can say that we have a very large influence in the Nepali society due to our reach and our success. Some people do ask questions about our superior presence in print, radio and television. Our management can give a proper answer concerning this issue, I can say only this: We have newspapers-- print media--, television and radio, and these are under our government's rules and regulations. These are operating under the proper rules and they are legitimate media.

The commercial interests have become pretty dominant these days in the media. Do you see that Nepali editors are losing their editorial independence? What kind of experience have you had as an editor here in Kantipur concerning commercial influence?
The main reason for Kantipur's success story is its editorial freedom. There is no interference from publishers or the management team in the editorial content. In the four years of my editorship, there hasn't been a single intervention from the publisher to stop publication of news or to censor news. But we faced very strange behaviors when we did not compromise on editorial content. I can give you an example: When we criticized some of the issues relating to India, our neighboring country, their Nepal policy, and the behavior of their diplomats here in Kathmandu, there were strange reactions. For example, the previous Indian ambassador Mr Rakesh Sood would get involved: Here in Nepal we have many multinational joint-venture companies from India with huge business networks. They are the major source of advertisement in Kantipur media. Mr. Sood emphatically instructed those Indian multinational companies not to advertise in the various channels of our media house. As a result, those advertisers stopped advertising in our publications for almost two years. The envoy wanted us to compromise with him on editorial content. But we didn't compromise and finally, after two years, when his term ended and he left Kathmandu, the next day those companies resumed advertising in our outlets. If commercial issues or agenda were our priorities, then we would have compromised, but that was not the case and we didn't do it. Our newsprints from Canada and South Korea were blocked for a month at the Indian port of Kolkata, in transit. Financially, that was a big loss for our company. Things like this happen, and we have experienced such things, but there is editorial freedom for me and m my team and there is no interference from the management side.

Did you face any similar issues with China?
Well, compared to India, China does not have that level of political penetration here. Yes, it may happen in the future, but not yet.

What does media professionalism and media ethics mean to you, and what overall role do they play at Kantipur?
We are only a medium to help make news accessible to the larger society. We are doing that under certain ethics developed over the years by Kantipur itself and also by our concerned authority. We have an internal code of conduct, but we also follow the code of conduct made by the Press Council as well as the government rules and regulations. I can't say that we haven't made mistakes. We have instances, some three to four cases, in which we not only took actions against those particular reporters who broke the code of conduct but also asked them to leave the company. Recently, one of our reporters was involved in plagiarism, and this was substantiated by our internal investigation. We asked for clarification and finally he left the company as we asked him to leave.

What exactly happened in this case? Some social media users portrayed it as a very extraordinary case of ethical lapse.
He was a coordinator of one of our supplements. His column was on technology issues. He copied some examples from a column in The New York Times. We found him guilty and initiated disciplinary actions against him.

Do these kinds of events harm the credibility of Kantipur?
Well, as an editor working for Kantipur I have to take the responsibility, but that was done by one particular reporter. In general, we have to trust our reporters. If somebody makes mistakes we are ready to investigate. I think the issue of plagiarism is widespread in the Nepali media, and I think it was the first time that we initiated this type of action. It was the first issue like that in Kantipur and we didn't compromise or took a lenient approach. That's not the case with other media houses.

But if these cases happen on a regular basis, it is kind of a negative factor for the credibility of the Nepali media in general. What can be done against plagiarism in order to prevent them in the future?
We took that incident as a lesson and we organized several discussions within our team and with our office-coordinators, the main responsible staff on the ground level. Everybody is now very aware about the importance of avoiding this kind of incident. We are very cautious that this type of issue shall not happen again.

Journalists might simply be too busy and there's also the issue of the lack of manpower in this sector. Some part of the responsibility to improve standards may also rest on journalism education, colleges or schools. How helpful do you think have training organizations or colleges been in developing media capacities in Nepal?
Previously, we had only few institutions that offered journalism courses such as the Nepal Press Institute. In the government university there was the RR-College, but there were only a few institutions these. Today, there are several private sector institutions. I can't tell you for sure but my impression is that the majority of these institutions are not so capable to offer some proper training. The quantity has increased but the quality hasn't. So we are thinking of establishing a separate training wing within our company. The training can be given by independent trainers from here and from abroad.

Is there already something like refresher courses, fellowship opportunities, cash incentives, awards or training being offered to staff?
Yes, we have cash incentives and also refresher trainings, but that is done by our own network and manpower. We also launched regional workshops for district reporters. But a proper way of training is still necessary. Occasionally, our reporters are also getting an orientation from different European and American institutions. Some are currently enrolled in academic and non-academic courses. Yet, we still have no proper mechanism for training. Until now, we either had to approach the private sector institutions for training possibilities or we had to make our own unit for training; so we have chosen the second option.

So that is also something you wish to have for your team? Do you think it would improve the overall quality of work?
Yes, definitely.

In the course of your work you must also have a lot of contact with the young and upcoming journalists. What would you state as the special strength of this new generation of journalists? What do they lack? What kind of qualities can they offer that perhaps the older generation is missing these days?
The new generation has energy. That is a very good thing, energy to do anything, in particular risky reporting. But they have no passion. They want to be a star within a few months. For six months we can see that their energy is very encouraging but it doesn't last long, it does not continue for long. It doesn't mean that the new generation is not capable; it's due to the new generation that our media is where it is today. We have also some drawbacks, that's a fact. But overall, the new generation is very promising.

Maybe this lack of motivation, of passion, comes from the increasing commercialization of the media in Nepal?
Maybe, yes.

What kind of effect has the work from you and your team had on the people here in the Kathmandu Valley? What is the implication for the people in terms of public opinion making? In what ways are these implications different here in the valley compared to somewhere in the mountains? Political discussion on new media such as Twitter and Facebook is now an essential factor also for the public opinion making, as the plagiarism case here in Kantipur one month ago demonstrated. Many people just take part in this discussion which is not possible somewhere in the villages where you don't have access to the Internet.
One good thing is that our newspaper is available in every district headquarters as well as smaller urban centers. Through that network we have a big reach in several remote villages. Kantipur is brought from the district headquarters to these villages and people there read week-old editions with interest. They have a kind of curiosity in our newspaper even when it is from days back. However, it is true that due to its size and the limitations in circulation we don't have full access to every part of our country. Still we are trying to expand the network. My feeling is that we are trying to be a bridge between the ruler community or the Kathmandu center and the people. Let me tell you what we recently did: We carried a long feature about one 18-year-old werewolf girl. She lives in a remote village in the Dolakha district. One side of her face was totally hairy dark, with fur growing all over. When we published her photo and the story about her, one of the hospitals in Kathmandu offered her free plastic surgery service. Five hours surgery, and now the girl is fine. This is only one recent case. This kind of social work continues, parallel with other types of reporting. It is true that not only media but our whole system is mainly focused and concentrated on Kathmandu affairs. That is the drawback of the Nepali media. But we are trying to break that trend.

How do you look at the consumption of news content produced in Kathmandu by Nepali migrants living, for example, in Malaysia, Kuwait or Qatar? Does it happen mainly via the Internet? Do you think people, although they are abroad, feel the need to stay in touch with the news in Kathmandu?
Yes, most readers read through the net. A huge chunk of Kantipur goes to Hong Kong daily. Also in Malaysia and other parts of the world, but in the Middle East we have a separate weekly edition of our newspaper. We publish a weekly Kantipur newspaper from Doha, and I am also the editor of that edition.

Is the content in those editions different from what you publish in Kathmandu?
The content is different. It is in a 16-page format and gets published on Friday. From Doha, we distribute it to the gulf region. In Europe and the USA, the Nepali readers access Kantipur through the Internet. We feel that the number of people accessing Kantipur through the Internet is increasing.

So Internet is becoming a big factor for accessing news and media?
Indeed. We have separate news portals in Nepali and English. Besides, we also have e-papers. Many readers access Kantipur through e-papers because they can read it on their mobile devices.

How do you personally use and access social media like Twitter? How does it contribute to your job as an editor? How do you use it as a communication tool?
Personally, I use Twitter (@sudheerktm) only, I have no Facebook account. Our news portal also uses Facebook and Twitter. I think we have to be alert about what is going on in the social media. We have to be responsible, like the recent plagiarism case showed. It was heavily discussed on Twitter and so I personally answered some of the issues concerning that case through Twitter.

Did you also post something on your personal account to help explain that?
Not only that but I also announced that we had taken disciplinary actions against that particular reporter. I posted that type of issue through Twitter. That was the first case because we had no experience to share our official matters through social media. We had to do that because we felt a very huge pressure through social media. For personal issues and also for our media house, I think social media makes Nepali media much more responsible as it is a totally different platform. We are now learning how to use and to connect social media with the print newspaper.

It's a new area now that somehow I can imagine. I guess you have much more possibilities to interact with the readers of your newspaper. If you post on a Twitter account, your message pops up immediately...
The direct interaction with the reader is definitely increasing through the social media. Before, we had only one-way access. Sure, some readers responded through posting letters but these days we are in direct exchange through social media.

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This is reported in a global survey of perceptions of media freedom 2011 carried out throughout the same year in 133 countries.

To the survey question "Do the media in this country have a lot of media freedom or not?" more Nepalis responded with the response "Yes" (46%). Fewer responded with the answer "No" (29%), or "Don't know" or refused to answer the question (25%).

In terms of the positive "Yes" score, Nepal's ranking for 2011 is 114 out of 133 nations.

In 2010, Nepal was 89th out of 112 countries. The responses last year, in 2010 were as follows: Yes (48%), No (25%), Don't know/refused (26%). In 2010, the world median was as follows: "Yes" (67 percent), "No" (23 percent) and "Don't know"/"refused to respond" (6 percent).

In South Asia, Indians led the other countries in their perception of free media, with 69 percent saying that their country had a lot of media freedom, as compared with Pakistan (66 percent), Sri Lanka (65 percent), Bangladesh (58 percent), and Afghanistan (51 percent).

Globally, this year, on top on the list were Finland (97 percent), Netherlands (96 percent), Australia (94 percent), and Ghana (93 percent). As many people in Germany (92 percent) perceived their country had "a lot of media freedom" as those in Sweden, Cananda, UK and New Zealand.

Last year, Netherlands was on top of the list, followed by Denmark, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Germany. The research data for this survey in Nepal was collected between April 17-May 4, 2011. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in Nepali language with 1,000 individuals. The margin of error was 3.9 percent.

In 2011, countries with the least perceived media freedom included Belarus, Gabon, Armenia, Mauritania, Congo Brazzaville, Palestinian territories, Congo (Kinshasa), Angola, Zimbabwe, Chad, and Iraq. To the question if media in the individual "country had a lot of freedom or not?", responses in the "yes" in these countries ranged from 23 percent to 38 percent and responses in the "no" ranged from 46 percent to 71 percent. The survey was conducted throughout 2011 in 133 countries.

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Gallup Event: Measuring Media Freedom Worldwide: The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Gallup held an event on March 28, 2012, at Gallup's world headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss how the world's populations perceive media freedom in their countries. Gallup and BBG also announced the details of their new global research project to better understand media use around the world. WATCH THE VIDEO
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In 2010, countries with the least perceived media freedom included Chad, Haiti, Armenia, Belarus, Mauritania, Palestinian territories, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ecuador. To the question if media in the individual "country had a lot of freedom or not?", responses in the "yes" in these countries ranged from 27 percent to 38 percent and responses in the "no" ranged from 45 percent to 72 percent. The survey was conducted throughout 2010.

The global median for the "Yes" response was 65%. This remained essentially unchanged from the median of 67% found in 2010. A report by Gallup says these views still vary worldwide, ranging from a low of 23% in Belarus to a high of 97% in Finland.

The report further says that the countries where perceived media freedom is lowest span multiple regions, including the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and former Soviet Union countries. Fewer than 4 in 10 adults in 11 countries, including Gabon, Armenia, Palestinian Territories, and Iraq, say their media have a lot of freedom -- despite legal or constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of the press or speech in most of these countries. Independent media evaluators, such as Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, also rate these 11 countries poorly on their freedom of the press indicators.

The Gallup report says that people's perceptions generally compare with experts' assessments, such as the Freedom House annual reports. Freedom House assesses the political, legal, and economic environments of each country and evaluates the extent to which the countries promote or restrict their media. Freedom House rates each country in these three categories and assigns it a value, with the higher numbers indicating less freedom. Freedom House then uses these scores to rate each country's media as "free," "partly free," or "not free." Resident perceptions of media freedom using Gallup data highly correlate with Freedom House scores.

However, the report pointed out that opinions in several countries indicate that people perceive a level of media freedom that is higher than independent, external evaluations would suggest. For example, in Botswana, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Liberia, 80% or more of residents report to Gallup that their media are free; however, Freedom House does not classify the media in any of these countries as "free."

Given the general lack of assessments that directly ask the public about their views of the media, the Gallup survey findings have important implications for policymakers seeking to gauge public opinion. In their report, Lee Becker, a Gallup senior research adviser, and Tudor Vlad, a Gallup senior research adviser write that traditional measures of media freedom have relied heavily on external assessments. While these evaluations are highly informative, the perceptions of people living in these countries are important for policymakers to consider in the ongoing discussion about freedom of the press. Gallup's ongoing worldwide survey research also enables tracking of how these perceptions are changing over time.

Details on methodology and data collection going back to 2005 are available here.

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The public needs to take action against corruption. Common people need to file complaints against corrupt officials and if the authorities fail to act promptly, then one must go to the media and the civil society for support. What is needed in Nepal is a mass movement against corruption.

"Ghus linya ra dinya dubai deshka thula satruhun"
"Both bribe takers and givers are the worst enemies of the nation"- King Prithivi Narayan Shah

This stringent attitude towards corruption was expressed by late King Prithivi Narayan Shah, founder of new Nepal 250 years ago. The following generations did not learn from him. Although Nepal has modernized and became a Republic in 2008, corruption has become a widespread phenomenon. Government promises to established good governance, rule of law, development, peace and prosperity have gone unheeded. The subsequent governments have announced a 'zero tolerance' policy on corruption but have brought no substantial changes.

The annual report of Transparency International (TI) on the perception of corruption index has listed Nepal 154th out of the 183 countries around the world it has assessed. Nepal was ranked 121st in 2008, and is the lowest placed South Asian country after Afghanistan. Nepal scored only 2.2 out of 10 where below 3.0 is considered a high percentage of corruption. Earlier this month, the Prime Minister shamelessly admitted that corruption is rampant in Nepal. The Auditor General's Annual Report for 2011 brought to light the extent to which money laundering takes place in the government sector. According to the report, from the total amount of Rs 29,91,4,000,000 collected from the tax some 1,26,95,00,000 (Approximately US$ 15, 868,750) was not deposited in the state coffer during the last fiscal year 2010/11.

The frustration with the failure of the state and the legal mechanism in place to curb corruption is deeply rooted in the people. On many occasions I have heard people express their frustrations by saying that "this land is cursed by a chaste widow, so nothing good can happen here". Nepalese people believe that the widow of Bimsen Thapa cursed Nepal. Bhimsen Thapa was a great reformer of Nepal, who committed suicide after falling prey to a political conspiracy. He cut his throat with a piece of glass in jail when he heard that his wife was being paraded naked around Kathmandu city.

Historical events lend support to this superstition, because Thapa's demise was followed by the 104 year-long rule of the Rana Oligarchy (1846-1953). Rana rulers infamously used the state coffer as pocket money and kept the people in the darkness of illiteracy, poverty and religious dogmas. During the reign of Rana the gap between the elite and the poor expanded and a number of communities were marginalized. In those times, corruption was hidden from the public. At present, corruption cases are brought to the attention of the public through exposure in the media. In present day Nepal, people are frustrated, because the impunity which protects the corrupt is apparent.

Corruption is a criminal offence in Nepal, but Nepalese are forced to bribe government officers if they want to receive official services. Corruption and bribery are crimes committed by high profile officers and powerful political leaders and it's difficult to raise one's voice against them. Corruption happens at all levels of government - from the smallest units such as the local Village Development Committees all the way to the top Ministries in Kathmandu.

Recently, Commission for Investigation of Authority (CIAA) has said that dozens of corruption complaints are lodged against the five sitting ministers including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar on charge of amassing money and property in transferring high profile officers in plumy posts. Health Minister Rajendra Mahato, Physical Planning and Works Minister Hrydesh Tripathi, Irrigation Minister Mahendra Yadav and Forest Minister Wakil Musalman are among the others against whom the complaints are filed.

What took place on February the 29th in 2011 is only one example among many. On this day, the personal assistant to the Forest State Minister was caught red handed taking bribes from the poor people of Mugu, a remote district in Nepal. Later the police seized a recorded phone call made by the Forest State Minister himself where he was directly demanding a bribe from Mugu people. Another case of corruption took place a few months back in the village of Sitapur Village Development Committee (VDC) in Siraha district. Here the villagers staged a hunger strike to denounce the corruption committed by the VDC Secretary. Despite their hunger strike and written complaint, the Chief District Office and Local Development Officer were unwilling to investigate the case and did not take action against the guilty. Instead he was merely transferred to another VDC. More than 160 high profile corruption cases are pending before the Supreme Court. Summarizing each individual case would fill up volumes of books.

However, a few high profile corruption cases which have made the headlines within the last few weeks should be mentioned here. On March 2nd2012, a newspaper published the news that the Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Nanda Kumar Dutta was involved in the illegal export of betel nut to India of the estimated value of 900 million rupees1 . A few days later, Under Secretary at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board Murari Nepal was arrested on the charges of embezzling NRs 40 (US$ 50,000)while he was serving as a Local Development Officer in Bara district 2.

The Sudan scam is another black smear on the face of Nepal where a number of high profile police officers, including the Inspector General of the Police, were convicted and sent to jail on charges of corruption amounting to almost NRs. 290 million (US$ 36million). The corruption happened in connection to a procurement of Armed Personnel Carriers and logistics for the personnel deputed for the peacekeeping mission under the United Nations flag in Darfur, Sudan3. However, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) did not file case against the then Home Ministers Bhim Rawal, Bam Dev Gautam and Krishna Prasad Sitaula and the then Home Secretaries Govinda Kusum and Umesh Mainali, despite the parliamentary committee's recommendation and huge public pressure. The investigating committee reported that they had been threatened, while investigating the case but did not disclose who had threatened them. It is still not clear to the committee and the Nepalese public why the then Home Ministers and Secretaries have not been prosecuted.

Politicization of Crime
When politicians are held accountable they protest and claim that they are being targeted for their politics. The corruption case against a former minister serves as an illustration. Recently, the CIAA caught a big shark in its net. In 2002 the CIAA filed a corruption case against the incumbent (now former) Minister for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta. In a controversial verdict passed in 2007 the Special Court acquitted him citing "insufficient evidence". The CIAA appealed to the Supreme Court.

Overturning the verdict of the Special Court, the Supreme Court on the 21st of February 2012 found Gupta guilty of having "accumulated money and property from unknown sources while holding public offices in different capacities since 1992". The Supreme Court ordered him to be fined NRs. 8.4 million (US$ 100500) and to be sent to jail for 18 months.

After the verdict Mr. Gupta tried to ascribe his crime to political circumstances. He stated that: "This is not punishment for me but for the movement that I have launched" referring to the political nature of the Madhesi movement. He further said that "I have been penalized for what I did in the past and what I have been doing now is for the Madhesi people and to forward the Madhesi cause". Gupta claimed that he was being sentenced for his political activities and not for the crimes he committed.

Gupta's party has decided that Gupta will remain the Chairperson even after his conviction. The party supported Gupta in his claim that the sentence was politically biased. They argued that the sentence was "biased and ill-intended" and that the verdict should be "corrected".

General Secretary of Gupta's party MPRF-R Atmaram Sah commented that "The apex court's anti-Madhes sentiment reflects since the verdict on the oath of the Vice-President, voters' registration, integration of Madhesi youths in the national army, citizenship and postal road to Gupta´s case". Such comments, made by a national political leader, provoke racial hatred among the communities of Nepal. There were also reports of Gupta's henchmen chanting against the verdict and in support of the corrupt Gupta. Such demagogic tactics are dangerous, because they appeal to the emotions of the people and pressurize the government. Criticizing and chanting against a court decision in public comprises contempt of court. Such acts should be prosecuted in order to discourage such acts in the future.

The accusations that Gupta levelled at the Supreme Court were mirrored in an earlier case from 2011.In this case the Supreme Court fined the ex-minister Chiranjivi Wagle with NRs 20.3 million and an 18 months jail sentence. After the sentence was passed he termed the verdict unconstitutional and said that "I will not take up arms or leave the country, but tolerate the injustice and fight a legal battle to defend myself". He also indirectly indicated that the Apex Court's verdict was unjust and he was being wrongfully incarcerated. Talking to media Wagle's daughter claimed that the action against her father was "unjustified as everybody in power has amassed wealth". Her logic is a perfect example of the general thinking of the Nepalese people.

So far Chiranjivi Wagle is the only big shark that has been caught in the CIAA's net after the political changes of the 1990s. The net of CIAA is truly magical in that it only catches small fish, while the bigger fish easily make their escape.

Ineffective Measures against Money Laundering
To fight corruption, Nepal has passed several anti-corruption laws like the Corruption Prevention Act2002, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act 1991, the Good Governance Act 2007, Civil Service Act 1993, Impeachment Act, 2002 (IA), Military Act, 2003 (MA), Judicial Council Act, 1991 (JCA), Money Laundering Control Act, 2007 (MLCA) and the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007. Likewise, Nepal has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in March 2011.

With the aim of curbing corruption Nepal gave constitutional status to the CIAA. In total, there are 12 state level anti-corruption agencies to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption cases4 . Among them the CIAA is the main institution with the power to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.

But under Article 120 (1) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal from 2007 the CIAA cannot investigate the Constitutional Officials and military officers. Constitutional Officials can only be removed if two third of the parliamentary/Constitutional Assembly members pass the motion of impeachment and the military officers can be investigated and prosecuted only by three member committee headed by the Deputy Attorney General and the other member being officers from Defence Ministry and Legal Department of Nepal Army. Furthermore, the CIAA can only prosecute the person in question after retirement or removal from the post. As already mentioned most of the high profile corruption is committed by ministers and high profile government officers, therefore the CIAA has to wait until their removal by impeachment or retirement. This provision has bound the hands of the CIAA and they are unable to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption cases against constitutional officers, judges, military officers and other high profile officers as long as they are in office. But delayed action on recommendations to pass impeachment has hindered the justice system. For example, Justice Ran Bahadur Bam who is facing corruption charges was recommended by the Constitutional Assembly Chairman in August 2010 to pass impeachment against him but his case is still pending before the CA.

Several cases of corruption and bribery go unreported. A research paper on "Criminal Justice Response to Corruption in Nepal" states that "The success rate of the corruption cases is quite low and 60 percent of the corrupt activities are out of the scope of the law and among the cases registered in the courts, around 60 percent result in conviction. In the absence of physical presence of CIAA in the local level and no sensitization on people, the common people generally do not know where to report the bribery cases" (Parajuli, 2008).

The government of Nepal seemingly averted international obligations and national pressure by establishing a Special Court and a powerless CIAA. Due to several legal loopholes, political pressures and government's indifference the anti-graft bodies have failed at holding the rampant corruption in check.

Special Court in Controversy
Nepal established the Special Court in 2009 under Section 101 (2) and Section 3 of Special Court Act-2059 to hear corruption cases filed by the CIAA under State Cases (Crime and Punishment) Act 2046 relating to the cases to be prosecuted by the government of Nepal and for the cases to be defended by the government of Nepal, and the Money Laundering Control Act - 2064 (2007)5.

But immediately after its establishment, the Special Court came under fire. The Special Court acquitted a string of high profile political leaders, government officers and high profile police officers. The cases filed by the CIAA before the Special Court did not lead to any punishment and the public reacted with outrage. The Special Court gave clean chit to many high profile politicians, including Gupta, ex-ministers Khum Bahdur Khadka, Govinda Raj Joshi and police chiefs on purely technical grounds which led people to suspect foul play on behalf of the Court. A source close to Chief Justice Bhupdhoj Adhikar states that "He used to influence the then chief justices and gave clean chits to corrupt politicians, chiefs of the security forces and bureaucrats on technical grounds".

In the case against Gupta the Supreme Court gave orders to take action against the three Special Court Judges who acquitted Gupta in 2007. However, this court order is yet to be implemented. In a similar case from 2010 where the Supreme Court ordered that action should be taken against a group of judges who committed a "grave mistake" while handling a corruption case against the former Defence Secretary Chakra Bandhu Aryal, the judges are still in limbo.

It is worrying that the judges entrusted with passing verdicts against corrupt officials are themselves facing inquiries by the Judicial Council on the Supreme Court's order. Overall, there are more than 200 complaints against 60 judges and in most of the complaints the judges are accused of indulging in financial irregularities. The list includes the names of the Chief Justices of the Appellate Court judges.

Government Unwillingness
The unwillingness of the government to enforce the decisions made by the courts has fostered impunity and encouraged criminal activity. The Nepalese people have lost all faith in the law and do not believe that justice will be carried out. The courts' verdicts are not implemented and this leads to impunity. Data collected from courts across the country show that 100,000 court verdicts have not been implemented and the Chief of Judgment Execution Directorate (JED) has stated that "The exact number of convicts enjoying impunity could be more than 300,000 as most of the verdicts have more than three convicts".

At present, Nepal has got the largest Constituent Assembly of 601 members and the biggest cabinet of ministers of 49 ministers in its history. Among the people in power many are involved in corruption, bribery, misuse of authority, smuggling and other illegal activities. When the majority of ministers and lawmakers are involved in corruption and bribery and there is no anti-corruption body which can investigate and prosecute them, how can they be held accountable?

The CIAA has no authority to prosecute and cannot take prompt action against corrupt ministers and constitutional officers. The government is in on the game and is easily corrupted. In Nepal it is common that a corrupt minister will donate a percentage of the profits from corruption to the party in order to cover party and election expenditure. The leaders of the parties are thereby protected from criticism from their own support base.

Even worse, the government has not appointed a Chief of the CIAA in the last five years. In the absence of its head the CIAA cannot function swiftly and effectively. The CIAA must be given special powers, enough manpower, sufficient funds and modern equipment in order to check the rampant corruption in Nepal. The CIAA should also ensure that the complaints made by the public are heard on time. Ideally, the CIAA should also ensure easy access to anti-corruption agencies by erecting hoardings with information on what legal actions one can take in order to curb corruption. It should establish a hotline, erect complaint boxes and let the public know which actions are being taken against the corrupt officers at the local level. Furthermore, as no one is to be trusted with regards to corruption, a small special unit should be granted the authority to monitor the CIAA.

Lack of government action on dealing with corruption and money-laundering is damaging the reputation of Nepal in international forums. Just recently, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, threatened to put Nepal on its black list if it did not endorse bills on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating and Financing of Terrorism. Fearing the consequences of being black listed by the international financial market Nepal ratified the UN International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the UN International Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. But Nepal failed at passing three separate bills; Bill on Controlling Organised Crime, Bill on Extradition and Bill on Mutual Legal Assistance. At a FATF meeting in Paris Nepal was given a two months deadline to endorse these bills. But a hardliner faction in the ruling party UCPN-M is in opposition and term the bills "anti-national".

So far the City Bank and Washington Bank have suspended their relations with Nepal by requesting that the Nepali Embassy moves its account to another bank. Though the actual cause behind this move has not been disclosed, experts take it as the result of Nepal's inability to comply with FATF recommendations. If Nepal continues on this path the result will be that Nepal loses its status as a FATF member state. This will have serious consequences for Nepal and will hamper its ability to conduct international financial transactions, business and other international financial services.

A survey conducted by the Central Department of Public Administration at Tribhuvan University in Nepal found that the parliament, the political parties, the central government, CIAA and the police insitutions enjoyed a low level of trust. 83.2% of the participants in the survey thought that corruption in Nepal was caused by the lack of political commitment.

What's next?
A weak CIAA cannot control the raging corruption in Nepal. Only if the government institutions and the general public take action can Nepal be rid of corruption and bribery. Especially the Election Commission should take on a more active role and punish corrupt political leaders by not nominating them for election. It should also lobby for the passing of a strict code of conduct where people nominated for the parliamentary election have to meet certain standards and be of good reputation. In the past it has committed the serious mistake of accepting nominations of political leaders who were on trial on charges of corruption. It should also ensure a strict implementation of the election law in order to control the election expenditure of the political parties.

A weak governance system, the absence of the rule of law, respect to human rights, the inaction of the anti-graft agencies and political apathy are some of the major causes of corruption in Nepal. Nepal can only prosper if it rids itself of the scourge of corruption, bribery, nepotism, favouritism and foul political power games. Only then can we hope for a Nepal where development, rule of law, respect of human rights, peace and prosperity is the order of the day. Corruption is an invisible plague that is haunting Nepal. Every year Nepal receives millions of dollars in foreign aid, but only a small percentage of the money reach the people in need. The corruption that takes place at all levels of Nepali society has led to inefficiency, injustice and inequality.

It is important that Nepalese people know that no curse was cast on Nepal, but if they do not fight corruption, surely Nepal will be cursed. The public needs to take action against corruption. Common people need to file complaints against corrupt officials and if the authorities fail to act promptly, then one must go to the media and the civil society for support. What is needed in Nepal is a mass movement against corruption.

Article 27 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 guarantees people the right to information. People should make sure that the government and its institutions respect this right and conduct their economic affairs in a transparent and responsible manner. Establishing a right to information help desk, an anti-corruption help desk and hotlines could become powerful tools supporting people in their fight against corruption. The passing of a strong anti-money laundering law and ensuring pro-active anti-graft bodies will help solve the problem of corruption. A Nepal free from corruption is not a distant dream, but an actual possibility if people continue to fight corruption courageously.

This article was originally published at the Asian Human Rights Commission. The author has been working as a human rights activist in Nepal for the last 4 years and has closely followed the developments in the political situation of the country.

References:

1. According to Siddharthanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), it received an order from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) to issue a certificate of origin (CoO) for 3,000 tons of betel nut of unspecified origin and owned by the trading firm Excel Trading Concern.
2. CIAA found that the former LDO was involved in doling out money to local politicians and consumers groups without following government guidelines and embezzled development budget and budget for Parliamentarians' Development Fund.
3. Ex-IGPs Om BikramRana, Hem BahadurGurung and Ramesh Chanda Thakur were sentenced a 2 year jail term each and fined Rs 170.6 million, Rs 64.8 million and Rs 40 million respectively.
4. After his seizure of power on the 2nd February 2005, the King Gyanendra established The Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) which arrested many political leaders on charges of corruption. Yet on the 13rd February 2006 the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional and it was scrapped immediately.
5. The report by Asia/pacific Group on Money Laundering has done a research on judiciary system and efforts to curb the crime of money laundering. Please visit: http://www.nrb.org.np/fiu/pdffiles/Mutual_Evaluation_Report_of_Nepal,_2011_20680821.pdf

When you listen to a radio station and the announcer says, "You are listening to 96.1 FM" what the announcer means is that you are listening to a radio station broadcasting an FM radio signal at a frequency of 96.1 MHz. MHz means "millions of cycles per second," so "96.1 MHz" means that the transmitter at the radio station is oscillating at a frequency of 96,100,000 cycles per second. Your FM (frequency modulated) radio can tune in to that specific frequency and give you clear reception of that station. All FM radio stations transmit in a band of frequencies between 88 MHz and 108 MHz. This band of the radio spectrum is used for no other purpose but FM radio broadcasts.
In the same way, AM radio is confined to a band from 535 kilohertz to 1,700 kilohertz (kilo meaning "thousands," so 535,000 to 1,700,000 cycles per second).

Common radio frequency bands include the following:

The system of frequency allocation is fairly archaic, and tradition dictates much of its design. The lower frequencies are allocated to the oldest services, such as maritime communication and navigation, aeronautical communication and navigation, and AM radio. Many regions of the spectrum, such as those devoted to radio navigation, have been technologically supplanted (in this case by GPS, the global positioning system, a satellite- based global navigation system). Huge portions of the spectrum are wasted on television broadcasts, and even more have been recently allocated to allow for 535 kHz - 1.6 MHz: AM Radio stations.

• 535 kHz - 1.6 MHz: AM Radio stations.
• 54 MHz - 72 MHz: Television (channels 2-4).
• 76 MHz - 88 MHz: Television (channels 5-6).
• 88 MHz - 108 MHz: FM radio.
• 174 MHz - 216 MHz: Television (channels 7-13).
• 470 MHz - 806 MHz: Television (channels 14-69).

What is funny is that every wireless technology you can imagine has its own little band. There are hundreds of them! For example:

• Garage door openers, alarm systems, etc. -Around 40 MHz
• Standard cordless phones: Bands from 40 to 50 MHz
• Radio controlled airplanes: Around 72 MHz, which is different from...
• Radio controlled cars: Around 75 MHz
• Air traffic control radar: 960 to 1,215 MHz
• Global Positioning System: 1,227 and 1,575 MHz

The system of frequency allocation is fairly archaic, and tradition dictates much of its design. The lower frequencies are allocated to the oldest services, such as maritime communication and navigation, aeronautical communication and navigation, and AM radio. Many regions of the spectrum, such as those devoted to radio navigation, have been technologically supplanted (in this case by GPS, the global positioning system, a satellite- based global navigation system). Huge portions of the spectrum are wasted on television broadcasts, and even more have been recently allocated to allow for simultaneous digital and analog transmission during a transition phase to an all digital television system. But it is difficult to reclaim these regions of the spectrum because residual uses remain. Partly as a consequence, it has become extremely difficult to find unused radio spectrum for new services. Cellular telephony, for example, has undoubtedly had its growth constrained by the shortage of available bandwidth. Hence radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource.

Cellular mobile communication is one of the major branches of wireless communication which gives mobility and service to the user. The main technologies that are currently being used are GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).GSM technology works in the frequency bands of 900MHz and 1800MHz while CDMA technology works in 800MHz. In Nepal, NTC and Ncell have adopted GSM system, while Sky phone use CDMA technology.

Although both GSM and CDMA divide their available frequency band into channels, the main difference between these two technologies is GSM uses certain number of frequency channels in a cell and each user get their own frequency channel, while CDMA uses only one frequency channel in a cell with proper allocation of PN (pseudo-random) code to each user. PN code is a special set of numbers which is mixed with the modulated signal during transmission and transmitted message can be decoded only with the same PN code.
Spectrum can neither be created nor be destroyed.

It is the use of spectrum, which can be regulated so as to maximize its usage, given its capabilities and constraints. Thus, the process of spectrum management or radio regulation is different from other regulations in general parlance. An evaluation of the interference potential to and from a new station is an integral part of radio regulatory mechanism requiring an in-depth analysis services. Since the 1930s, spectrum was assigned through administrative licensing. Limited by technology, signal interference was once considered as a major problem of spectrum use. Therefore, exclusive licensing was established to protect licensees' signals. This former practice of discrete bands licensed to groups of similar services is giving way, in many countries, to a "spectrum auction" model that is intended to speed technological innovation and improve the efficiency of spectrum use. During the experimental process of spectrum assignment, other approaches have also been carried out, namely, lotteries, unlicensed access and privatization of spectrum.

The electromagnetic spectrum is in demand, not only for traditional uses but also for traditional uses such as broadcasting but also, increasingly, for new forms of mobile communications. How should governments decide who has right to use the spectrum? Four methods have been used:

● Administrative process
● Lottery
● First come first served
● Auction

Out of four methods auction works better than of technical characteristics of the station and its environment.

● Are transparent and fair
● Generate revenue for the government
● Assigns licenses to firms quickly and economically

However, as for Nepal, above methods of spectrum allocation might not be suitable for all the operators
operating wireless communications. Hence some variable spectrum pricing/mixed spectrum pricing would be better to be employed rather employing a fixed pricing. It could be a matter of debate and NTA( Nepal Telecommunication Authority) should look upon this matter.

As spectrum is a scarce resource, its equitable allotment for systems using different technologies seems to be the solution. The government while formulating its spectrum policy should try to create a flexible and technology neutral regime to allow new technologies equal access to spectrum. Also try to bring about transparency and openness in the spectrum allotment process so that this scarce natural resource (radio frequency) is put to it optimal use in a more efficient manner.

The author is associated with the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation. The original article is from 8th Annaul Souvenir of NTC.

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Telecommunications/ICT is not only a catalyst for the overall development of the country but also an industry in itself. A monopoly market is invariably regulated by the government. Under such circumstances, the government is a policy maker, the regulator and the operator. In the context of Nepal, before the liberalization and introduction of the private sector players, the telecom sector could not really make significant progress. Rural telecom could not take off despite the fact that the government made some kind of policy level commitments through its successive five-year development plans and annual policies and plans. It has been an international best practice that the governments interested in promoting a vibrant telecoms sector would seek to build a strong and independent regulator to ensure that national development goals are also met.

Through the promulgation of telecommunication Act 1997 and telecommunication regulation 1997, the legal and institutional framework for telecom regulation was established. Pursuant to the provision made in the Telecom Act, Nepal Telecommunications Authority was established in March 1998. The constitution of the Authority shows that it is an autonomous body. Many people even presume it to be independent. It looks like independent for the reasons that the Chairman and the members of the authority are appointed by the government -there is no government representation in the authority.

All are independently selected. They require to possess certain qualifications-academic as well as experience - as prescribed by the Act itself. They are not fired before they complete their 5 years tenure unless under special circumstances. They can create appropriate organizational structure as needed. The terms and conditions and qualifications of the employees are fixed by the Authority-no approval is necessary from the Government. They are independent in formulating their own annual plans and programs and approve the budget-however it should be based on the government's plan and policies- but it has never in its history of more than 13 years of existence ever been questioned by the government regarding its plan and program and budget vis-à-vis the government's five year plan and annual programs. It can appoint advisors and formulate different committees to carry out its special and even regular tasks.

Many people who have some information and little knowledge about the telecom sector feel that Nepal Telecommunications Authority has got some kind of indemnity from its responsibility and accountability even for the sector regulation. During the last 13 years, NTA has grown in its size-organization structure has dramatically changed. During this time many decisions have been made with long term impacts and consequences so far as sector growth as well as organization is concerned. However the media has shown its interest in the activities of the authority recently after the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee started its study on spectrum, licensing and VoIP issues.

Functions, Duties and Powers of NTA
As prescribed in the Act, NTA broadly has the following jurisdiction in terms of its functions, duties and power:
• Government advisor on telecom sector
• QoS benchmarking and regulation
• Licensing
• Competition regulation
• Tariff regulation
• Spectrum management and new technology management
• Human Resource Development in telecommunication sector
• Consumer interest protection
• Universal service obligation ( RTDF Management)
• Dispute settlement
• Law enforcement

If an entity does not carry out any work or function, it will hardly make any mistakes. If it works and that too in a technologically fluid and rapidly transforming sector, it is likely to make mistakes due to a number of factors- due to proper lack of information on the subject in which it is making decision, due to lack of the ability to analyze and synthesize the information to arrive at the right decision, lack of its ability to see the future and more dangerous of all when it makes decision to cater to the whims and fancies and vested interest of one player in the sector-sometimes by mere political or other pressure, sometimes due to personal interest of the decision makers.

Critical issues in the telecom sector
Since the main objective of this article is to bring out some of the pressing, urgent and very controversial issues of importance in the telecom sector regulation, the author feels that the following issues need special attention.
• Issuance of the Mobile License through competitive bidding
• Issuance of Limited Mobility License for basic service licensee
• Authorization of Roaming between Limited Mobility Licensees
• Cellular Spectrum Assignment for basic and rural telecom service providers
• Jurisdictional expansion of rural service providers either by the amendment of the license or by the award of limited mobility license
• Development of scientific basis for Spectrum allocation, assignment and pricing • Liberalization of VoIP /IP telephony and control of growing grey market through call bypass
• Development of proper policies and programs for RTDF disbursement and management
• Enforcement of QoS standards -particularly in mobile service
• Enforcement of proper interconnection regime
• Maintaining level playing field

The list continues but the discussion is limited to some of the critical issues that will pose difficulty even when there is a unanimous desire and commitment among the stakeholders to go forward-they will be elaborated one by one.

Issuance of the first Mobile License through competitive bidding
If we look into the historical evidence of the chronology of the entire licensing process-we come to know that the first notice of international tender was published in 7 April 2000.The last date of submission of the Application was 5 June 2000. Out of 21 companies who purchased the Request for Proposal Document , 8 of them submitted the Application. Six of them were technically qualified for financial bidding. Financial bidding was conducted on 1st November 2000. Letter of Intent was given to the Khetan Group Pvt. Ltd. to operate GSM900 MHZ based mobile service on 3rd November 2000. The basis for awarding the LOI was the total amount it quoted to get the license-that included the sum of license fees plus the renewal fees to be paid after 10 years for renewing the license and the royalty for 10 consecutive years. The license fees quoted was 210 million, the renewal fees as 20 Billion and the total royalty in 10 years was 3 Billion 900 million and 700 Thousand. After this date, a number of activities and changes occurred. Khetan Group Pvt. Ltd. entered into joint venture agreement with Spice Cell Pvt. Ltd. India and thus Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd was registered in 21 June 2001. And finally Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd got the license to operate mobile service on 1st September,2004. It seems that NTA overlooked certain conditions in the tender document and also during subsequent process- for example, renewal of any license is normally optional but in this process, as the renewal fees is the determining factor in getting the license, license renewal is mandatory for Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd. Normally Letter of Intent could not be issued on an open ended basis-that is without giving a deadline to award the license. This lapse has been adequately misused by Khetan Group Pvt. Ltd. It took almost 4 years to award the license after LoI was issued.

The negative impact of this delay in the development of mobile telecom is tremendous. More serious issue that this license has created is 20 Billion Rs renewal fees. The issue is not limited to the renewal of now Ncell but that of the government owned incumbent Nepal Doorsanchar Company Ltd. Nepal Telecom was awarded a conditional mobile license on 12 May 1999. It agreed to accept all the terms and conditions regarding the license fees, royalty and the renewal fees that would be quoted by the company through a global tender for the award of the mobile license . Nepal Telecom paid the license fees as quoted and paid by Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd. However royalty was not paid as quoted and the major issues arose during the payment of the renewal fees. It asked the intervention of the government for a review of the license fees, royalty and renewal fees showing its inability to pay due to its financial health and revenue status. Nepal Telecommunications Authority, in an interesting way, " provisionally" renewed its license by just taking 90% of the license fees as an advance upon the further condition that Nepal Telecom has to pay the remaining dues within 3 months time after the payment of the renewal fees by Ncell. This ad-hoc decision of NTA addressed the demand of the NT employees unions but has raised a number of questions on the regulation and enforcement of license conditions. Another very important thing to be noted in this context is that Nepal Telecom has to renew its mobile license for the second time before the first renewal of the Ncell mobile license. The important questions here from the perspective of effective and efficient regulations are:

• Are the government, regulator and the operator ( Ncell ) aware that Ncell's mobile license renewal is not optional but it is mandatory because that was the only condition which qualified Khetan Group Pvt. Ltd among the applicants to receive the LoI and hence the license to Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd. This is in general not in agreement with the existing laws. In general, renewal of any license is optional. The obvious question would be-what will happen if Ncell opts not to renew its mobile license?

• Was this 20 Billion Rs as the renewal fees a reasonable amount quoted at the time of financial bidding? Did NTA ever think about the viability of this proposal and still issued the license?

• Is that same 20 Billion Rs is applicable for the subsequent renewal which happens to be every five years after the first renewal or it is just the 90% of the license fees for the subsequent renewals?

• Why not the government and the regulator did entered into discussion and study about Nepal Telecom's request for review of the royalty and the renewal fees? And still provisionally renewed the mobile license without paying the full renewal fees?

Issuance of Limited Mobility License for basic service licensee
United Telecom Ltd was awarded the license to operate Basic Telephone Service based on WLL Technology in September 2002. Upon the recommendation of NTA the government opened Limited Mobility as a new telecommunication service in the gazette on 26 January 2004. A writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court against this gazette notification. Hearing the writ petition, the Supreme Court initially issued an interim order and finally gave its verdict in the favor of the writ petitioner and the gazette notification to open the limited mobility service was quashed. However, upon further recommendation of NTA with more elaborate study and details the government again issued a gazette notification to open the limited mobility service on 6 March 2006 and UTL got the Limited Mobility license for Kathmandu valley on 24 March 2006. Finally UTL was allowed to provide roaming facility among its limited mobility service areas on 24 August 2007. Limited mobility and roaming between the limited mobility service areas made UTL a de facto mobile operator. One important thing to be noted here is that the additional legal facilities given to UTL however did not involve the allocation of additional scarce resources such as spectrum. The major issue that has drawn attention from the perspective of the sector regulation and completion is -

• Level playing field between the mobile operators such as Nepal Telecom and Ncell and the limited mobility operator with roaming facility such as UTL.

Issuance of Rural Telecommunication Service License
Was this 20 Billion Rs as the renewal fees a reasonable amount quoted at the time of financial bidding? Did NTA ever think about the viability of this proposal and still issued the license?

Is that same 20 Billion Rs is applicable for the subsequent renewal which happens to be every five years after the first renewal or it is just the 90% of the license fees for the subsequent renewals?

Why not the government and the regulator did entered into discussion and study about Nepal Telecom's request for review of the royalty and the renewal fees? And still provisionally renewed the mobile license without paying the full renewal fees?

NTA has so far issued two rural telecommunication service licenses -the first one to STM Telecom Sanchar Pvt. Ltd in 2002 and the second one to Smart Telecom Pvt. Ltd. in 2008. They were both given the license to operate basic telecom service in the targeted VDCs of the given geographical areas. In the similar fashion, Nepal Satellite Telecom Pvt. Ltd. was given a nationwide license to provide telecom service in the targeted rural areas and all over the country in a phase wise manner. Unlike UTL and Ncell (the then Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd.) the licenses to these three operators were issued pursuant to section 23 sub section 2 of the Telecom Act. STM Telecom and Smart Telecom were given license based on the least subsidy amount they quoted from among the qualified applicants whereas Nepal Satellite Telecom was awarded license based on the beauty contest selection criterion. The original geographical jurisdiction of STM Telecom Sanchar was increased by the amendment of its license to cover the rural areas of Central, Western, Mid Western and Far Western development regions. STM Telecom Sanchar and Smart Telecom are also allowed to operate Limited Mobility Service which is naturally not confined to the geographical boundaries of their respective original licenses whereas the Basic Telecommunications service license of Nepal Satellite includes limited mobility service as a built in facility not requiring separate limited mobility service licenses for every district as other operators need. Obviously for operating any kind of limited mobility services, operators need cellular spectrum. Unlike UTL who operates limited mobility service on the same spectrum assigned to it for basic service, rest of the three have been granted cellular spectrum to operate limited mobility service. The issues raised from the perspective of the regulation and competition are-

• Level playing field between the mobile operators such as Nepal Telecom and Ncell and the limited mobility operators
• Same Spectrum assignment criterion for all operators irrespective of whether they are operating mobile service or rural telecom service with limited mobility as separate service or basic telecom service with limited mobility as a built in service

Spectrum Assignment for operating telecom services
Enforced by NTA and later endorsed and approved by the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee, the spectrum assignment criteria for telecom service providers treats all the six voice operators as equal. Same subscriber base and/or revenue criteria for getting spectrum are being enforced by NTA. The obvious issue here is -
• Do all the operators stand on the same footing, despite the fact that they are all different licenses having different terms and conditions and brought in the telecom sector with different objectives and priorities?

Conclusion and the Way Forward
Compared to other infrastructure and service sectors, significant progress has been made in the telecom sector in Nepal after Jan Andolan II. Overall teledensity including mobile has crossed 50%. The access to Internet-both fixed and mobile- has increased, the over- all data penetration is more than 13%. Investment has increased and telecom service providers ranked first among the tax payers for many consecutive years. The policy, legal and regulatory as well as institutional frameworks are in place.

These frameworks seem to have been unable to cope up because of the tremendous changes in the technologies and the convergence towards which technology and services have already moved to, and due to very specific development need of the country like ours challenged not only by geography but also by the overall socio-economic indicators. The successive governments tried to address these challenges through certain policy, legal and regulatory interventions. Such interventions produced certain tangible results as well so far as availability and access to services, reduced tariff due to competition etc. and their applications for socio- economic sectors such as education and health, agriculture and government service delivery are concerned. However, along with these seemingly positive consequences such interventions have been proved to be critical challenges in ensuring level playing field among the service providers, enforce effective competition in the sector and moreover ensure a transparent, objective, professional, efficient and independent sector regulation. We cannot afford to delay in addressing these critical issues unless we are heading towards a disastrous future in telecom sector.

This article appeared in the 8th Anniversay Souvenir of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation, during December-January 2011-2012. This was written by the author, a director of NTA, in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority.

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Photo © Gerhard Schoenhofer/Nepal Monitor

You graduated in 1976 from the Tribhuvan University on Nepali Culture, History and Anthropology. How could you connect your knowledge that you gained in these subjects with your work today as a journalist and editor? How did it prepare you for the tasks you're busy with today?

Indeed, I graduated in 1976 and I think it was my primary education. Before that I was already in journalism, editing and publishing a monthly political journal Bichar and literary magazine Swatantrata. I had already decided to join journalism, so I was already in that field. When I formally joined university classes, I was already involved with the Gorkhapatara Corporation. My engagement with them was as a rural development reporter. It was all about visiting remote villages and writing pieces on people and running a column. So I think this knowledge helped me to apprehend wider and more expanded opportunities. In a way, it pushed my career. But studying history, culture and anthropology also helped me to understand the Nepali society. Observe intensely.

Particularly the study of anthropology was very fruitful to enhance my carrier as a journalist. I learned how to read the people; they cannot hide their real opinions like politicians, business people or even journalists. The masses were the silent! You have to understand their feelings, their emotions, just while reading their faces. That was exactly the situation in Nepal at that time, and more or less that has not been changed till today. Certainly, education and qualification is required to be a journalist, and to be an editor, because both are very responsible positions. People care less for educational standard or standard education! They just go through the courses and try learning some tricks to pass the exam.

Do you think that's particularly the case in Nepal or do you think this particular low standard of education happens to be a general phenomena in the realm of journalism and media studies?

It's a South Asian phenomenon. India as well as Bangladesh are better though, but Pakistan and Nepal, also parts of Northern India ... shall I use the term corrupt? Yes, these areas suffer from a corrupt education system!

So you can buy your degree, more or less?

[Laughing] It should be hard-earned. Like you are doing for it!

Do you think it is important that scientists from different fields involve in the study of media and society?
Yes. Especially today media is intervening in the people's daily life. You cannot live without media! If you are alone at home you're using Twitter and Facebook to relate to people.

Exactly, it has transformed human relationships!

... And the political ones, as well. All the recent events (e.g. the Occupy movement) were mostly inspired and prompted by or through Facebook. So, new media is a very powerful tool. When I started journalism, it was a limited circulation media, only newspapers, an extremely limited and heavily censored broadcasting system.

There was no Nepali TV broadcaster at that time?

Only in 1985 Nepal got television.

So basically journalism or media was only the written word at that time?

It was written and 'major' media were all government media.

So it was certainly regulated in a way?

Heavily regulated and heavily censored. But after 1990 the situation changed rapidly and the people became aware. By the end of 20th century transformation was still going on. Now is the time to standardize journalism. To establish media particularly as a scientific discipline is very necessary now.

I was thinking, for example, of these incidents in 2001 when the whole royal family was murdered.

Yes, they all were killed.

Do you think it is important that social scientists like anthropologists or sociologists reflect on these processes? The way media does not cover these incidents made me particularly curious because many people nowadays still don't know what really happened that day.

Yes, that is a very crucial question. First of all, you have to understand the legacy of this royal family. There are links with history, the construction of the family, cultural links with concepts such as the patronizing Hindu religion. If you want to relate to these things in the course of your research, you have to study the whole royal family as a clan. It's a very new thing for a royal family, and the incident was very extreme. Something like that is very rarely happening.

A lot of myths were created around it. Maybe even because there was no real media coverage, as I read in one article about this phenomenon the term self-censorship was partly used by theorists.

No, I would not call it self-censorship or something like that. I reported on the royal family just before the incident. I had written a slightly prophetic cover story in a daily newspaper that very soon something would happen in the royal family. The report was published on Sunday and the incident took place on Friday or Thursday. The gap was only a couple of days. It was in Naya Sadak Daily, the first mass circulating tabloid I was editing back then. Nepali Times reproduced it later, if you google it, you will definitely find that link. Or you can contact me and I'll send you the copy, perhaps.

Did you face any insulting comments on that? For example, "'Mr. Nepal, how could you know? Are you involved in this?"

No. Later, many people realized that it was supposed to happen. I sensed something beforehand. The crown prince, Dipendra, was accused. The Royal Family was very closed and secretive. The state protected their secrecy. Only 'good news' was published about them. And people were scared to talk about them. Even the gossiping was secretive. But, in public, Dipendra was a very joyful and hearty person. People talk about his drinking habit. He used to drink a little heavy. But he was a very calm and quiet man in public. I met him in a small restaurant in a hotel. It was a quiet place. He was there for coffee. And he called me: "Kaha? Where are you going? Come, have coffee with me!" We talked for about 10 to 15 minutes. He was very friendly. It was only my second encounter with him. I asked him: 'Why aren't you married? It's time now to get married and to keep the legacy going on". He was just laughing. Then he stopped the conversation and I left.

But you know, something haunted me. While I was talking to him and I picked up the issue of getting married, he suddenly became very sad and pathetic. So I investigated and started to collect information. But how should I write about this? It was very difficult. You could not say that particularly this would happen. I was sensing something may happen. This man could delink himself from the royal family. The tragic incident of that scale was not in my mind. I came up with an imaginary plot: The people are worried that their crown prince is still not married, what will happen to this country ... things like that... It was a different experience of writing you know [laughs]. It was very different from regular journalism but still it was powerful. Then in the last paragraph I lined out, that the lord Pashupatinath bless our royal family and protect them. Anything could happen if the crown prince remains unwed...when the news came out, the people were just scared. 'What is he writing?' [giggles]. They could not support or denounce me. It was a very tricky situation; the government was also under pressure. So they simply tried to ignore it. But then the incident happened. On the next Friday, the shooting took place in the palace. That's why I was using the word prophetic.

What are you busy with at the moment? What kind of projects are you currently involved in?

I am editing a tabloid, Shukrabar, that's Friday. Nepal Republic Media launched it just ten month before. Although we're running it just 10 months now, it is already a grandly successful project! We have successfully established the brand. I am also launching for the company a monthly magazine as well as writing a column on Sunday, in Nagarik. I'm also occasionally doing television works such as producing television programs in the villages. Though, those programs are not regularly happening anymore. Television is very expensive! But in case money and resources are available I am available for that [laughing].

... the next question relates to your TV-production MAT-ABHIMAAT. You were focusing, in this one on grassroots journalism...

I was always interested in this rural scenario; since the last 30 years I am working on villages, the rural population. It gives me strength and freshness. All my contemporary journalists are either retired, or they joined the teaching profession. I'm still actively writing! I am making the people my prime motto, my prime target. So I'm writing about them. I would like to tell you a bit about the background of that time when I started MAT-ABHIMAAT. The political conflict had just started intensely in the mid-western and far-western region of Nepal. At that time, Rajendra Dahal was the editor of Himal Khabarpatrika. I asked him to commission me on the reporting of the conflict. He was happy about it and he gave me some money so I went to Dailekh. One day, I saw a small kid, about 12- or 13-year old there, standing in front of a police office with a person who must have be 45- to 50-years old. The kid was a little Maoist and he was punishing the much older man physically for drinking while shouting out: "This is an alcohol-free zone. You should not drink here! Either you pay 500 Rupees as fine or you have to accept this punishment."

I suddenly realized that there was no law. After returning back home, still this scene in my mind, I thought: "a journalist should dare to go in those places to collect people's voice, their feelings, their emotions and their legacy." I approached Nepal Television, but they were not autonomous enough to provide me airtime for this kind of program. As a consequence, I approached the Prime Minister. We sat for about 15 to 20 minutes and he immediately ordered his communication minister to open the door for my television program and me. It happened due to my reputation and credibility. The PM could not simply ignore my proposal.

And, a matter of good networking strategy; is that so?

I always had a good following. In my 40 years of journalism career I helped to produce maybe 250 to 300 journalists. So all these people came to my MAT-ABHIMAT network and they helped me. But it was a very difficult time. No journalist was writing anything on violence at that time, although people were suffering from it. So I decided to compensate this; it went smoothly for a few weeks, but then I was facing very hard time as I had to face confrontation with Maoists and the government Army. I reported some of the incidents but largely ignored others, as it was in my opinion, a professional hazard that should be coped with by a journalist.

So you had a lot of difficulties with that kind of journalism?

Yes, I visited 75 districts and at that time 180 villages. That makes more than 250 TV-shows. And that program somehow started to play a role in the peace process.

It was an essential tool for building up the peace process?

It was the pressure from the people. [The parties in conflict] were nothing more but savages between two armies, the king's army and the Maoist army. MAT-ABHIMAT was able to put a lot of pressure. All these personalities and political actors realized that this conflict was really happening. Such processes of making things visible can help to create an environment of peace. After the 100th episode, I wrote a book called "Under the shadow of Violence", it was a critical survey of that time and reflected the national mood.

After the new revolution, or people's movement, whatever you like to call it, I continued the program for one more year and for another year in a post-conflict format. But I was getting tired, because I was continuously working in the villages for four years. So now I do occasional episodes.

So it was mainly a matter of making people's voices visible, of people who lived in the remote villages?

My sole aim was to establish the rural agenda in the center. The ruling class always looks at the periphery as their private property or fiefdom. That program was transforming peoples' thinking. Now their voices can be heard.

Do you think it makes sense to combine this grassroots media work with some kind of study up approach?

That is the argument. You have to. There is no other way. Because the elite, the ruling class always tries to dismantle things. They obviously want to grab power just in order to rule, not for establishing welfare. So, to change this mentality, there should be a common and powerful type of union. That only could be demonstrated through television broadcasting. That's how the agenda could be established.

That's an interesting transition to my next question: What kind of role should media play in the Nepali society? What you just said sounds in a way a bit like journalism could play the role of lobbyism in order to connect certain groups of the population here in Nepal.

It's not just certain groups. You have to include the people as a whole. It has nothing to do with political, social or ethnic groups. I'm against that. Only the people, the nation, should have priority. Now the elite or the government are prioritized. They perceive themselves as ruling center or something like that. So, that is the issue, the attitude of the ruling class should be changed. For me, that means restructuring the state as well as resetting the mind.

So that's the mission of journalism nowadays in Nepal?

Journalism has become more and more business and money-oriented. There is no more any position for the editor. There are now people as the editorial managers who are very closely related to the company management. The managers have replaced the editors. It's not very effective. I'm very much sad to say that the media is not playing their role. They are either leaflets of political parties, or they are just serving the people the leftovers of politicians. I'm not happy with this. All are divided, between parties, between ethnic groups, between different interests. So it's very disgusting...

That's a strong word.

It's a strong word! I want to use this word and I'm using this with you and with other people as well. It's a real disgusting scenario in the market of media. We lost the agenda. What are we doing? We don't know. The media scenario in Nepal is very miserable, it's a very sad fact. Nowadays, there are two things that inspire the media: One is donors' money, all donors are putting money in the media and in return, they are putting pressures to impose their own agenda, their own vision. This is very incorrect, unjust and uncultured. And on the other side there are political parties, who want to infiltrate media with their money and power. Media is trapped in between these ruling manipulators. That's the problem. Everybody has an interest. There is too much personal interest involved. Nobody is working for Nepal's development. It's their agenda, their interests they are working for. First, you have to realize that every nation shares the national interest first. We have that understanding that these people are just helping us out to push our nation. But that's not what is going to happen. What is happening in Afghanistan? You see ... [laughs]

You mentioned that when you started journalism it was mainly the printed word and not so much about television. Do you think that the growth of television channels has changed the moral and ethical standard of journalism and media coverage in Nepal?

Television hasn't been able to expand. It's an effect on the mass level, because the program is telecast by the Nepal Television. If the big business houses stop advertising, all the television companies will collapse. That's the thing. Not even Kantipur TV will survive. They are all depending on business house! One example: Our media plays ads of these 2-minute noodles, 1-minute noodles. These are called junk foods. According to WHO Standard, they are not healthy for children. The government policy does not support junk food. But even the governmental media is still heavily depending on these 1-minute noodles! If these junk food manufacturers stop advertising, the television stations will go bankrupt. As there is no capital investment, there is no hard money to run the system.

So, in your opinion, a system of guidance is required?

Not to control the thoughts but to just give them a quality blending. Media should be responsible to society. Especially, on the larger issues of social interests, media shall not be fence sitter. Nothing else. It shall be voluntary. Self-imposing. No regulation. I am the last person to regulate freedom.

During my research I also found out that you have also been engaged in political counseling in a certain way. Is that correct?

Not exactly. I am an independent journalist. Just a journalist! I served as a press advisor to the Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Battarai. Actually, Battarai was my mentor since my early days. The principals of democratic socialism always connected us. Up to 1990, one could still feel the charms of the politics of idealism; it was not commercialized like today. I was in journalism, successfully doing my job and not promoting my personal political opinion in the news and columns. I worked for Reuters, an international news agency. I worked for several other media companies in India and Europe. As a citizen, I do have a political idealism. I support democratic socialism, I am against communism, extremism, I am against violence ... all these things. And this is not the case only today, but I have been like that since the last 45 years!

But how would you define the relations between journalism and politics?

Well, it depends on how you handle the professional role. How do you keep your independence? How credible you are? If a prime minister or a political person trusts you in personal level, it is a plus point. Walter Lippmann, the great US journalist, was the friend of US Presidents. You can cite several examples. If I have access to important political personalities, what is wrong with that? I can serve people with first-hand information. I am not depending on second-hand information. Do open journalism! Very open journalism!

But it's difficult! The line is a very thin one, isn't it?

You have to take care of that. You should be fearless. I can write, I think, for example what this and that person in the government does is very wrong for the society. But when somebody is doing his party works, why should I cite him? Each and every political party is corrupt. That has become universal in the politics of Nepal [giggles]. So, criticizing these parties is a senseless thing for me. If you keep that belief in good intentions, then you are easy with everybody. I was once very critical about one of our politicians, but I am still maintaining my personal relation with him.

If you compare Nepali media with Indian media or Pakistani media, what makes it distinct from the other countries' media cultures?

Throughout my career, I had the chance to study comparatively all the media cultures. The format of content is the same, everywhere. There is no standard, like Nepali media is less standard than others, or The New York Times is of high standard, it's not like that [giggles]. It's the society, the standard of society that counts much. This is the media behavior! Their behavior is irreversible! It's across the globe! You cannot particularize or classify it. That is a very underdeveloped mentality, in my opinion.

Media follows the same rules in every country?

It is not the rules; it's the working standard of a journalist. I have not set any rule but still I have a huge following! You, for example are doing this research now about South Asian mediascapes, particularly the use and access of media amongst the civil society in Nepal, but next year I am sure several students will follow you and your ideas.

Well, the people read me because of my credibility. They say that my political commentaries are in-depth and independent. People love me, because I report about the rural scenario in Nepal. I don't limit myself on this valley, Kathmandu city or the political and economical elite. I go to the masses and I have direct connections with thousands of people. They know me by my first name! Sometimes they just put the red powder on my head, performing a Tika ceremony and giving me blessings [giggles]. I am satisfied with that!

It would be interesting to know about what makes the media situation, the mediascape in Nepal so special in comparison to other South Asian countries?

Nepali Media is trying to commercialize itself. They want to form a big corporation like The New York Times or Times of India. But they don't have the necessary financial and intellectual input. They are treating the nation like a neighborhood and they want to control the editorial section, just in order to make money and to satisfy them. The young journalists who are aspiring for a career and want to earn some money are just compelled to work for them. It's a compulsion. You are out from the school, with a degree, and you should have a work. Otherwise, how will you marry, how will you satisfy your girlfriend? That is your worry also [laughs]. So there should be an investment-friendly situation. We have only two well-organized media houses, Kantipur and Nagarik.

Pretty murky situation then so to say?

Nagarik is coming up, but it is suffering, not because of the lack of investment, but because of the editorial guidelines. That's what I see. And Kantipur is suffering from that monopolistic syndrome, its monopolistic attitudes. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, Kantipur came up in a big a way and it broke the monopoly of Gorkhapatra, the government publication and became number 1. Now, Kantipur wants to establish its own monopoly. Monopoly is the number one enemy of democracy.

So, in a way, they aim to dominate Nepali mediascape?

This is present, real and true position.

How would you define professionalism in the realm of journalism, especially in the context of Nepal?

I'm a professional! You look at me, the whole behavior, my family, my values, my budgets...

Ok! That's a pretty clear answer, yeah?

Because I'm the longest serving journalist! I've been working for the last 43 years, so the people in the journalism area, in the area of communication and information, love me as an icon, an icon of Nepali journalism, so I'm the definition! [laughs]

How much do you access or use new media such as Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn?

I'm into both, Twitter and LinkedIn, but I'm not updating them very regularly. I like Twitter very much but even then I am not able to express myself with continuity. Sometimes I do it regularly for a week or 10 days, especially when I'm out of Kathmandu. And I am also on Facebook but I don't like the attitude of Nepali Facebook users. They just access it for ventilating their egos and catering their personal news! What they eat or wear, you know ... things like that! It is not very interesting for others! So, I am not regularly using Facebook, I stopped using it.

Yeah, Facebook is pretty much designed to show off you identity, who you want to be. etc.

But that kind of media is really helpful to promote my book. Really helpful!

Yes, those are all possibilities you might not have had when you started writing. And now with these new social media, new doors are opening up, right?

I don't think that one should keep aloof from media like Facebook, Twitter but then one has to write also. Nowadays, everybody opens first Facebook account when he switches on his computer.

You know what our company did? No Facebook!

Oh yes? It is banned?

No, it's not banned. After 5 or 6 pm, they would let the employees access it. Or after 11 pm in the night after the main working hours. I can access Facebook, but there is the block! You have to work! [laughs]

So your use of social media depends on how much time you have, you can not do it constantly every day?

Yes, actually I'm very active, even now. I have several obligations; I have to write a column every week and I have to look after the content of my tabloid. I have to discuss several issues with my managing director. I do have much interest in the television show. So there are family obligations as well. But I always have to write, I can not sit idle without writing! Just today, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and after my cup of coffee, I started writing, till 9 or 9:30. At that time, my mobile device, my telephone, everything is switched off. Those 4 hours are my hours!

So you're most actively writing in the early morning hours?

Yes. I am doing my memoirs and I am writing a book on B.P. Koirala as well as a novel ... and I am also preparing an essay collection plus writing a book on journalism! So I do have several projects! [giggles]

What's the novel about? Can you already tell us a little bit about it?

My third novel was just published and it was a big success on the Nepali market, a huge success. The second edition of my book was published within 45 days. It was about people like you, young and upcoming people. The contradictions of urban life are an essential part of this novel.

Forty-five days? It was all sold out already?

Yes! But they are not giving me much money [laughs]! Only 15 percent royalty.

But still you're motivated to finish this other novel, right? It's more like a passion; you don't do it so much for the money?

No, I don't do it for the money. Journalism and writing is my passion; essay writing is also my passion. And now I am writing another novel about these people who are in different countries and sending money to their family back home. I am planning to visit Jerusalem for researching this topic in depth. Just to talk with some Nepalis over there; then I am planning to go to Qatar and Kuwait to study the life of the Nepali people abroad. There are also plans to visit Korea this year.

Do you see a big market in the Near East countries as there are many migrant workers? They also might want to get updated through the media about the news here in Nepal!

No publisher has tried it in a big way so far. What I found out is that it's very difficult for those people to read newspapers. They work for upto 12 or more hours per day, they simply don't have the time! So they are dependent on receiving information quickly via the Internet. It's very easy. You just need a small mobile phone and you have all the digital writings!

So that's how we became more and more technological. Technology supports the mind. That's the best thing for human beings. But we have also slowly become the slaves of technological devices...

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The mission included representatives from AMARC, ARTICLE 19, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International News Safety Institute (INSI), the International Media Support (IMS), the International Press Institute (IPI), Internews, Open Society Foundations (OSF), Reporters sans frontières (RSF), the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) and UNESCO.

While in Nepal, the Mission focused on two key areas: legal and policy reform, and attacks on journalists and the culture of impunity. The mission observed that in recent years progress in promoting respect for media freedom has stalled in the country. Its recommendations include a review of the proposed text in the Draft Constitution related to freedom of expression and the media as well as the right to information, adoption of a consultative process in the preparation of new media policy by the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the withdrawal of the recent official classification of information, among others.

The following is the text of the joint statement by the members of the mission:

Joint Statement International Fact Finding and Advocacy Media Mission to Nepal 27 February 2012

This is the seventh International Media Mission to Nepal, starting with a mission in July 2005. Notwithstanding dramatic improvements following the restoration of democracy in 2006, in recent years progress in promoting respect for media freedom has stalled.

The International Mission focused on two key areas: legal and policy reform, and attacks on journalists and the culture of impunity. Despite the existence of a wide range of law and policy reform needs, concrete action has been taken in only two areas since April 2006, namely amendments to the Working Journalists Act, 2051 (1993) and the adoption of the Right to Information Act, 2064 (2007). While the overall number of attacks on journalists has declined in recent years, the rate remains unacceptably high and there is disturbing degree of political protection being afforded to the perpetrators. Many of those responsible for murdering journalists remain at large, promoting a culture of impunity and leading to widespread self-censorship by journalists.

The International Mission is making specific calls for action in relation to these two priority areas. It is committed to conducting rigorous follow-up to monitor progress on their implementation and also to providing support for this. We also invite our partners and other local stakeholders to work together, and with us, to achieve these goals. The International Mission has two further priority concerns. First, implementation of the Working Journalists' Act remains poor, even within State media outlets. Security of employment and fair compensation for working journalists are essential for press freedom and independent, quality journalism. We call upon media owners and employers to fulfill their legal obligations under the Working Journalists' Act by signing secure employment agreements with journalists and by paying the wages that are set pursuant to the law. We also call on the Government to fulfil its obligation to enforce the law where owners and employers do not do so.

Second, the International Mission is concerned with the growing threats to online freedom of expression and the application of restrictive regulations to the Internet. The International Mission calls on relevant actors to address the following media freedom needs:

I. Law and Policy Reform
Strengthening Proposed Constitutional Guarantees
The International Mission has studied three of the new constitutional proposals, namely for the freedoms of expression, of the media and of information. We note that, while relatively strong, the proposed guarantees are actually weaker than those found in the 1990 Constitution. Furthermore, the current proposals are not fully in line with international standards. In particular, vague language is used to describe the permissible restrictions to these rights, which could be abused to unduly limit them. We call on the Constituent Assembly to review these draft provisions with a view to further improving them. Several key actors - including the Prime Minister, the Chairperson and other Members of the Constituent Assembly, and the political party leaders we met - have agreed to open up the discussion on these guarantees so as to strengthen them. To support this process, the International Mission will provide a detailed analysis of international standards in this area, as well as the ways in which the current proposals could be improved.

Development of an Inclusive Media Policy
In the course of a bilateral cooperation project, which includes efforts to transform Radio Nepal into a public service broadcaster, the Ministry of Information and Communications has published a draft Media Policy, 2012, on its website. The International Mission recognises the need, following the adoption of the Constitution, for the development of a comprehensive, progressive media policy in Nepal, which is non-discriminatory in relation to all media. However, the current efforts are problematical both because they failed to involve key players - including the Federation of Nepali Journalists - in the process and because the substance of the policy is inadequate, for example because it fails to address key issues such as the need for independent regulation of broadcasting and protection of freedom on the Internet. We call on the Ministry of Information and Communications to develop a new media document, through an inclusive, pluralistic and gender sensitive consultative process, with a view to producing a policy which fully addresses the needs of the media in Nepal.

Most of the key stakeholders we met supported this and the Ministry of Information and Communications made a commitment to do it. To support this process, the International Mission will prepare an analysis of the draft policy and work with other stakeholders to ensure a robust consultative process.

Limiting the Scope of Classification of Information
In January 2012, the Government of Nepal issued a document, purportedly in accordance with the Right to Information Act, but without conducting any consultations with local stakeholders, listing some 140 categories of secrets and types of information that should not be made public. These go well beyond what is permitted by the Right to Information Act, as well as by international standards. Following widespread local protests and a legal challenge, the Government has postponed implementation of these rules. We call on the Government to scrap this document and to restart this process, beginning with consultations with interested stakeholders. If the Government does this, the International Mission commits to providing relevant support for the process.

II. Addressing the Culture of Impunity
The International Mission notes that while there have been some convictions for attacks on journalists, perpetrators of many of the most serious crimes remain at large (for example in the cases of Uma Singh, Birendra Sah and Arun Singhaniya). We call on the Government of Nepal to take appropriate action to bring the culture of impunity to an end, including by being fully transparent in relation to the status of investigations into crimes against journalists. We specifically call on the Government to publish the findings of the high-level committee that inquired into the killing of J.P. Joshi and to ensure that political pressures do not derail prosecutions already launched, including the case of Prakash Thakuri.

In the current hostile environment that prevails in much of Nepal, journalists need to know how to protect themselves, while owners and editors need to be made aware of their duty of care. We recommend the provision of a sustained safety development training programme, which would build sustainable local expertise on this issue, and which would cover physical dangers and trauma awareness, and be gender sensitive.

We also call on relevant stakeholders to set up a high-level, independent task force with a mandate to take action to address the culture of impunity, including by carrying out transparent investigations of serious cases and working with the authorities to ensure that convictions are secured. In due course, and subject to resources, proactive measures could also be undertaken, including developing a mechanism for protecting journalists at risk and a witness protection programme. The precise contours of the task force still need to be finalised, but we call upon the National Human Rights Commission, which already has a mandate to investigate human rights abuses, to play a key role, working with a range of stakeholders, including government. Many of the key stakeholders we met - including the Commission, several political parties, victims, and civil society and government representatives - agree that this is a priority. To support this process, the International Mission will provide examples and facilitate exchanges to raise awareness of how similar mechanisms have worked in other countries, and provide support to bring key stakeholders together to develop the task force.

About the International Mission
The International Mission travelled to Nepal from 23-27 February 2012 at the request of the Federation of Nepali Journalists and other members of the Nepali media community. The International Mission met with the Prime Minister, Ministers and the Attorney General, the Chairperson and other Members of the Constituent Assembly, political party leaders, human rights bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission and National Information Commission, donors, and media and civil society organisations. Mission members also visited Janakpur in Dhanusha District and Biratnagar in Morang District.

The International Mission comprises fifteen international organisations, including global media associations, freedom of expression groups, media development organisations and UNESCO. This is the seventh visit of the International Mission to Nepal, the previous tripsbeing in July 2005, March 2006, September 2006, January 2008, April 2008 and February 2009.

The International Mission thanks the Federation of Nepali Journalists and other organisations involved in preparing and hosting the visit, acknowledging the importance of close cooperation with national stakeholders and ensuring a nationally driven process for promoting press freedom in Nepal.

For further details about the International Mission please contact any of the participating organisations or:

Jesper Højberg
+45 (25) 31 00 15
jh@i-m-s.dk

Toby Mendel
+1 902 412-0872
toby@law-democracy.org

27 February 2012
Kathmandu, Nepal

> Here is the text of the document in PDF.

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FOE and RTI are important constitutional bases for empowering the people. While evaluating the strength of democracy in any country, we have to look into how effective people's participation in the governance system and procedures is. The bases can be based to evaluate how democratic Nepal's new order has been based on the track record of implementation particularly of the rights of Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Right to Information.

The Interim Constitution has guaranteed the freedom of opinion and expression (See note 1). But there still are problems in principle. It is yet to be concluded if the constitutional strength of Freedom of Opinion and Expression will be amendable or non-amendable. Further discussions and clarity on the extent FOE and press freedom may be regulated by the laws are essential. As several words/phrases having vague meanings have been used in the Interim Constitution and also in the proposed draft for the new constitution, there is no guarantee that the vague terminology would not used in the future for curtailing the freedoms in the name of implementing them.

The Interim Constitution 2007 has guaranteed the freedoms of opinion and expression and rights relating to the mass media. But a sub clause of the same Article has a vague provision with regard to making laws to impose bans on freedom of opinion and expression and media rights and therefore the danger of freedoms being curtailed looms large. For example the prohibitory clauses have vague phrases such as 'anything that goes against 'public norms' 'morality', and 'to discourage practice of untouchablity and ethnic and gender discrimination' that would allow the government to make laws to restrict the freedoms of opinion and expression, and media rights. The Constitutional Committee under the CA has made the restrictive clauses more vague by adding phrases like 'acts to damage the relationships between the federal units' or those that 'damage the harmony between janajatis, religions and communities' (See note 2).

The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) is against such vaguely defined or rather undefined legal restrictions on the freedom of opinion and expression and media rights. It demands that the restrictions be clearly defined and that the restrictions if any, should be based on what is acceptable in democracies internationally. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, could be a basis for resolving these issues.

Right to Information
The government recently attempted to classify what information could be made public under the RTI Act. This decision on the classification of information that took effect on 5 Feb 2012 (which the government upon opposition by civil society groups said had been "withheld") serves as a glaring example of the fact that the basic rights related to free expression could face a crisis at any time. The efforts of the government to make the RTI Act 2007 practically ineffective were foiled for the moment due to pressure from the journalists, human rights activists and professionals. Responding to a petition to stop the government from implementing the classification, the Supreme Court has ordered the government a stay order until a final verdict is reached.

The Clause 3 (3) of the Act has a provision describing the information the public agencies can withhold. But a committee coordinated by Chief Secretary of the Nepal Government, Madhav Ghimire, classified the information in a manner that would have made the constitutional guarantee useless by allowing the government to withhold practically everything that the people would have wanted. For example, the decisions taken by the Cabinet claiming it to be a secret. Likewise, for another example, investigations on issues related to corruption. But the government was compelled to backtrack from enforcing the classification following protests by the FNJ and other civil society groups, and an interim order of the Supreme Court.

Why had the government tried to classify information as intended? An application had been submitted at the Foreign Ministry on behalf of Freedom Forum, an NGO, seeking the report submitted to the Ministry by a task force constituted by the government after the instruction of the Legislature Parliament to approve the constitution of the International Criminal Court. The Ministry later responded that it could not provide the report according to a decision of the committee of information classification - so in effect the classification was in place and operational before the public had information about it (See note 3). This showed that the government wanted to hide information it wanted to, which is basically the reason behind the classification of the information. In a meeting with FNJ, the prime minister had said that the classification would not be implemented and it would be withdrawn verbally before the Supreme Court order.

As such, the challenge to implementation of the RTI at this moment is that the government does not want to implement it in the spirit it was passed, and is instead waiting for the opportunity to impose restrictions at an opportune moment. This is something we need to be vigilant about.

Media policy
The government has initiated discussions on a document that it has called 'a draft of the new information policy'. Basically, the policy is control oriented and some of its provisions are highly objectionable. Provisions like 'to inspire the journalists to be fully aware about their responsibility and duty' and 'to inspire the government to guarantee that the media do not create any obstacle to independent and healthy democratic environment by supporting or opposing particular organizations and individual' are objectionable and unacceptable. We cannot agree with these provisions for two reasons. First, it is the constitution, not the policy that can fix a limit to the freedoms. Secondly, it is not the government order but codes of conducts prepared by the journalists themselves that should make the journalists responsible. The effectiveness of self-regulation in Nepal is something else that can be discussed separately.

The proposed media policy is also surprisingly silent about the New Media and has ignored the issues like obligating the government, political parties and media houses to respect to freedom to press and expression, while it has given priority to making the journalists responsible towards their duty. FNJ, thus, has objections not only its contents but also its timing because it was drafted without consulting with the concerned stakeholders. It was also not appropriate to waste time in preparing an information policy at a time when constitution drafting is still work-in-progress.

As in other countries, the use of New Media is also increasing in Nepal. The number of journalists having access to online media is increasing every day (See note 4). Blogs, online journalism and various social networks have become platforms to exercise the freedom of expression in Nepal. But there also are signs that the government is not ready to tolerate these means of expression. Remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai are testimony about the mindset. At a recent function he said, "The social networks are disseminating materials which go against the social norms, morality and public welfare, which disturb the social harmony and spread hatred and terror, and are against the national dignity and pride" (See note 5). This is an emerging concern in Nepal, and when analyzed together with the attempts to classify information, indicates that the government is not as supportive of free expression and free information as it may have committed elsewhere.

The seriousness of the remark of Prime Minister is that he has criticized the social networks by using the same words in the 'prohibitory clauses' of the constitution. Thus, FNJ wants the vague words or phrases removed in the new constitution.

Last year, the Home Ministry, had issued an 'urgent notice' warning that any electronic media which was found airing 'obscene' materials and violating the public moral and norms, could be fined Rs. 100,000 and served a five-year jail sentence as per the Electronic Transaction Act (See note 6). This Act was passed after 2006 and two clauses in the law have been used to press charges against journalists. The irony is that while material of the nature is 'acceptable' in print, it is not online. This notice of the Home Ministry and the above mentioned remarks of the Prime Minister, again, indicate the mindset of control in government that extend to free expression even on the Internet.

Safety and security
The media sector that is physically insecure cannot disseminate information and opinions fearlessly. Nepal has a long history of attack on journalism.

When we analyze data of the past year, we can conclude that physical security was one of the biggest problems faced by Nepali media. Journalist Khilanath Dhakal of Biratnagar who was attacked some months ago has still to get the courage to work fearlessly. The Mission team to Biratnagar will be meeting him. Similarly, another journalist Kishor Budathoki who was based in Shankhuwasbaha has been compelled to leave his workplace (See note 7).

According to the figures prepared by Press Freedom Monitoring Unit of FNJ, 99 incidents relating to violation of the press freedom were registered in 2011 (See note 8). The data includes a case of a mysterious death. Further, there were 25 attacks, 28 threats, 15 reports of misbehavior, seven arrest, one abduction and eight incidents of burning of newspapers. Likewise, the report shows four incidents of attacks and threats on media companies, five incidents of obstruction in free journalism and five attacks on the vehicles of the media. Journalists have been attacked and threatened by the government, political parties and their sister organizations, individuals holding public posts, civil servants and security agencies.

The tendency of attacking journalists, threatens and misbehavior them has made them feel insecure. Besides, attempts have also been made to weaken the dignity of journalists by forcing them 'to write this' and 'not to write that' by activists claiming to represent different interest groups. Activities like setting fire on the vehicles of journalists, newspapers, and offices of the newspapers are weakening the morale of journalists. Civil servants have misbehaved journalists in Kathmandu and Tanahu districts. One of the commanders of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (a Madhesh-based group) has threatened to attack the FMs radios of Jhapa district if they did not compulsorily broadcast news and programs in Maithili language (See note 9). This shows how the journalists have been undergoing mental torture. On the basis of the incidents that occurred in eastern Terai as well as mountains, we could claim that no one involved in such attacks and atrocities were booked. This also clarifies how impunity is flourishing in Nepal.

In many places, journalists were attacked not for what they wrote but for how they write. The practice of resorting to attacks rather than filing a complaint at the Nepal Press Council for seeking remedy for any news item with which one is not satisfied is regrettable. That said the Press Council also has much to do towards assuring the public of professional regulation.

Although many persons involved in physical attacks on journalists and issuing threats have been identified, only a negligible number of them have been investigated and punished. These are examples that the government is not serious in safeguarding media freedoms.

Instead of taking action against those involved in the anti press and free expression activities, the government has in the past tried to withdraw the cases filed against individuals involved in the abduction and killing of the journalists. However, one attempt to withdraw a case was foiled by a Supreme Court order (See note 10).This is one example of how the government and political parties are promoting impunity.

Like physical insecurity, professional insecurity is also a major problem of the Nepali media. There is little or no collective bargaining while the labor relations at media companies are far from ideal. Journalists are compelled work in situations where they do not get appointment letters and in some cases do not receive the minimum pay on time. This situation can neither help their professional growth nor boost their self-confidence. Due to lack of adequate investment in the media and environment for competitive professional growth, the journalists are also insecure in terms of career development (See note 11).

The government runs the media but even it does not implement the WJA. FNJ has time and again been raising voice for ending such a paradoxical situation. Some weeks ago, FNJ filed a writ at the Supreme Court seeking a court order for implementing the WJA which the court responded to immediately and has ordered the government to take the necessary actions (See note 12).

But court verdicts in favor of journalists or the media sector are not sufficient by themselves. Journalists Ram Prasad Dahal and Dharmendra Karna are the latest examples of this (See note 13). Therefore, if the media sector does not move ahead by forging strong unity, chances of the freedoms being snatched and compromised are high.

Conclusions
It is difficult to say the conditions for media and journalists are worse than that before 2006 but it is also difficult to say that the situation has improved. It is therefore essential to continue to remain vigilant to make sure that media rights, and FOE and RTI are guaranteed in the constitution. The laws related to FOE and RTI and media must be at par with international standards, which is about encouraging a plurality of voices for debate that is what real democracy is about. Besides this, journalism in Nepal can be professional only if impunity is ended, and journalists are provided editorial freedoms by both the state and their employers.

The FNJ believes we can protect the basic freedoms discussed above by uniting and having one voice both in the country and internationally. We need to give the government and political parties that media freedom, and free expression and RTI cannot be compromised in the new constitution. Likewise, we also need to develop and strengthen mechanisms and capability of journalists to seek constitutional and legal remedies when their rights are violated. There are also issues about the capacity of journalists that can be enhanced through education and properly targeted training. Having professional journalists that are well trained is one of the best deterrent against any attempt by the government to curtail the basic freedoms of the media and the general public.

Gaunle is the President of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). Paper entitled " The Challenges of Protecting Freedoms and the Professional Safety of journalists in Nepal" presented on February 24, 2012, to the International Fact Finding and Media Advocacy Mission to Nepal (February 23-27, 2012)

Notes

1. The Interim Constitution 2007 has the provision of freedom of opinion and expression in Article 12(3) and provision of right to publication, broadcast and press in article 15 with such prohibitory sentences
2. Draft report submitted by the Committee on Fundamental Rights under the Constituent Assembly, pages 17 and 21
3. Application submitted by the chairman of Freedom Forum and former FNJ president Taranath Dahal on 9 December 2011 and the letter written to Dahal by section officer of the Foreign Ministry Uttam Kumar Shahi on 23 January 2012.
4. Based on a study of the FNJ
5. Written speech delivered by the Prime Minister at the program 'Beginning of digital signature' organized by Science Ministry on 9 February 2012.
6. Notice issued by Home Ministry in December 2010
7. Morang correspondent of Nagarik Daily Khilanath Dhakal was attacked on 5 June 2011 and Sankhuwasbha correspondent of the Annapurna Post, also vice chairman of FNJ Sankhuwasabha, Kishor Budathoki was attacked on 12 August 2011. Manoj Rai is in the Morang jail for his involvement in the attack on Dhakal whereas the police is still said to be searching Parshuram Basnet, the mastermind behind the attack. Likewise, the district court Sankhuwasabha sentenced Bikas Rai and Rupak Rai to five years in jail for their involvement in the attack on Budathoki. But Budathoki has been forced to move from his hometown and is practicing journalism from Biratnagar owing to insecurity he feels in his home district.
8. For detail see at: www.fnjnepal.org
9. See separate report of the Press Freedom Monitoring Unit of FNJ
10. Although the government tried to withdraw cases filed against the Maoists cadres involved in the abduction and murder of journalist Prakash Singh Thakuri, the Supreme Court prevented the withdrawal and the Kanchanpur District Court, in July 2011, decided to hear the case again.
11. a. According to a study, 45 percent working journalists have not received appointment letters whereas the clause 3 of the WJA requires employers not to make journalists work without giving them appointment letters. Likewise, 37 percent journalists have not been paid the minimum salary although the requirement took effect in April 2009. Further, 32 percent were unable to get the promised salaries regularly whereas 14 percent journalists had to wait two months or more to get their salaries. Clause 5 (2) of the WJA has a provision allowing media companies to appoint only 15 percent journalists on contracts but the study by the Minimum Wage Committee showed that only 21 percent journalists had permanent appoints. b. Working hours and leave as mentioned in the WJA have not been enforced. Data of the Committee showed that 36 percent media houses have no provision of holiday/leave; 44 percent do not even have provisions allowing journalists to take a day off on public holidays. Further, 47 percent journalists did not get home leave, 33 percent sick leave, 67 percent maternity leave and 51 percent did not get leave for performing even the last rites (of parent). c. The study further said 39 percent did not get annual pay hikes, 87 percent did not get welfare fund money, 95 percent did not get disability allowance, 77 percent did not get provident fund, 77 percent did not get treatment expenses and insurance, 91 percent do not gratuity, 29 percent did not get festival allowances and 76 percent did not get over time. (Source: Media study report, Neal Government, Minimum Wage Fixation Committee.)
12. Justices Girish Chand Lal and Prakash Wasti gave the verdict in a case filed by Shiva Gaunle against the Information and Communications Ministry
13. When the Rajdhani Daily dismissed him from service unlawfully in 2005, journalist Ram Prasad Dahal filed a case at the Supreme Court and the Court issued its verdict in June 2011. But the verdict has not been enforced. Likewise, Dhamendra Karna, FNJ central member, had filed a case at the Labor Office a year ago after his service was terminated by Nepal 1 TV. The office though gave verdict in favor of Karna three months ago but the TV station has not allowed him to rejoin work.

Nepali journalism suffered from both sides in Nepal's conflict that began in February 1996 and continued till April 2006. Both media rights and other fundamental freedoms were suspended in Nepal after 1 February 2005 following a royal takeover; this was a period of direct suppression on the media. The government had put a blanket ban on news on radio whereas television stations were allowed to have "news" but within acceptable limits leading to increased self-censorship, even after the censors had left the newsrooms. The journalists and media took to the streets to protest the controls that were eventually restored after a popular movement in April 2006.

The state of broadcasting in Nepal
The Interim Constitution 2007 has a provision to prevent the scrapping of the registration of media all. Earlier, such provision applied only to the print media. A high-level media commission formed to identify the problems of media in the new political context and recommend policy had made several recommendations for media in Nepal (see note1) some of which were followed up by the government.

One achievement is the amendment of the Working Journalists Act (WJA) and the enactment of the Right To Information (RTI) Act. Efforts for policy reforms for the development of media in the new context are still underway. One is a policy on Proportional Advertisement Policy (see note 2), which has recommended forming some bodies like Advertisement Authority, Monitoring Committee on Code of Advertising Ethics (as a quasi-judicial body) and Advertisement Council. Another is a report prepared by the government on cable television (See note 3) that recommended some ideas to be achieved through two ways: (1) existing laws, (2) amending the National Broadcasting Act and Regulation. The draft of the amendment is also prescribed in the report. There is also a draft of an information policy (2011) (see note 4).

The larger number of media houses that have been established in recent times show that media has become an attractive business in the new environment. According to data of the Ministry of Information and Communications 394 radios and 32 televisions were registered by August 2011. Of the 203 member radios of the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB), only five or six operate in Kathmandu Valley, others are providing services in the different remote areas of the country. Other independent radios are associated with Broadcasting Association of Nepal (BAN) and Kathmandu Valley FM Broadcasters Forum. According to Press Council Nepal, there were 3195 newspapers registered by the end of the fiscal year 2010/2011. Similarly, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) says there are four news agencies registered by the private sector. Rastriya Samachar Samiti is the government-owned news agency. There are also a number of institutions that produce digital content distributed on the Internet.

Among these media, some of them have started providing facilities to workers in accordance with the WJA. But professional insecurity is still an issue because the act has not been implemented fully. The physical attacks on the media workers and the media have yet to be controlled. Despite an order from the Supreme Court, the government has not yet appointed the press registrar for protecting many media rights, included those guaranteed by the WJA.

Problems and Issues
Policy: In the context of radio and television, there are problems with licensing, taxes, renewal, crisis of recognition (for example, radio journalists do not receive Press Accreditation Card or only a few of them get it), discrimination in information collection, difficulty in implementing the WJA, mission-oriented approaches as against professional and non-transparent investment. Foreign investment, monopoly in investment and distribution of all-time licenses are also the policy wise problems. The issue of foreign investment is not clearly address by the law. Growing media monopolies and cross-ownership of media are other issues. Another issue is the issuance of licenses for perpetuity - unlike term licenses in many other countries. There is a line of thinking that frequency being a public resource should not be given forever for the particular company/institution. Though we have a renewal system the government cannot revoke licenses according to the constitutional provision.

Professional development: Although there has been a quantitative growth in broadcasting, qualitative, professional and institutional development has not been satisfactory. Broadcasters have become the victim of limited market and their maximum growth in numbers. The frequency spectrum in Kathmandu is almost used up and cities like Pokhara, and Janakpur have as many as 18 and 9 radios, respectively. Biratnagar/Itahari, Butawal/Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, Dang are some other examples of maximum radio presence. In general, district headquarters and small market places are also tuning their local FMs. The operational costs are high while the revenue generation has fallen, particularly after the power cuts of up to 14 hours in the winter months.

The broadcasters do not have adequate trained human resources, also in management and financial resources are difficult for some to meet basic operational costs, including that for infrastructures, and for essential equipment and repair and maintenance.

Identity and standards: The government treats the press and broadcast media in a discriminatory manner. Issues of differentiating radios as commercial, non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, educational institutions, local government etc. remains unresolved. Representative organizations of radio have held discussions to this effect with the government. The ministry has agreed on the proposal of the BAN and ACORAB to recognize them as they want to through policy and regulations differentiating public service broadcasting, community broadcasting and commercial broadcasting on the basis of their content and scope - national, federal and local. This remains to be done.

There is a feeling of discrimination between the media in the capital and those outside especially in terms of access to resources; there is also a similar feeling among the organizations with 'big budget' and 'small budgets'.

Effective monitoring and regulation: Implementation of journalists' code of conduct and media laws has been weak in the absence of effective media monitoring and regulation. The MoIC has been monitoring the radios and TVs whereas Press Council of Nepal monitors the print media and the code of conduct. Likewise, the Audit Committee of Circulation monitors and evaluates the printed materials and circulation of the print media and there is the Minimum Remuneration Fixation Committee to monitor the implementation of the minimum remuneration of the working journalists and media workers. Besides, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has been monitoring the issues relating to press freedom and rights of the journalists. However, no work has been done to integrate and coordinate monitoring to make it effective.

There is concern that the government has ignored the initiatives taken by the stakeholders for drafting policies since 2007. Instead, the MoIC has initiated a draft that stakeholders oppose saying that they were not consulted. Further, like the print media many broadcasters also have links with political parties, and are often less concerned about the people's issues and serve the interests of the powerful.

Solutions
The State or the government
Professional Development
• Unified media laws and policies should be formulated. The disputes surfaced in drafting the policy should be resolved and serious homework be done.
• An autonomous broadcast authority should be constituted for the development and regulation of the broadcast sector.
• Media should be restructured and classified on the basis of the new structure of the country. They could be classified on the basis of their ownership, broadcasting areas/geography or the bases. On the basis ownership, they could be classified as cooperatives, educational, of local bodies and non-governmental or commercial organizations. On the basis of the broadcasting areas/geography, they could be classified as national, federal and local and on the basis of content they could be classified as public service, community and commercial broadcasting. The existing radios and TVs should be given the rights to choice while classifying them.
• The problem of the overlap/congestion of radio frequencies should immediately be resolved and it should be monitored regularly. It should be monitored whether the international law on frequency use is followed. Initiatives should be taken to make the neighboring countries fix their frequencies and capacity in a manner that it does not affect Nepali broadcasters, especially in the border regions
• Practice to open new broadcasters with a planned and committed scheme should be developed making it compulsory for them to present their financial, professional, production and operational management, human resource management plans and the plans on market research while issuing the licenses.
• Institutes to provide orientations or refresher training as well as to conduct study/research for the professional development of the media and media workers, or media academy should be set up and developed.

Press Freedom and Access to Information
• In order to ensure the development of broadcasting, the new constitution should guarantee the basic media freedom, right to information and freedom of opinion and expression.
• To make media voice of the concerns of the voiceless, there should be a requirement for the media to produce certain percentages of their programs focusing on the grassroots level people. A monitoring mechanism should also be developed to monitor the same.

Physical and Professional Security/Safety
• There should be a guarantee of physical security of media institutions and media workers.
• Media companies should mandatorily have life insurance policies for journalists.
• The rights of the workers of media as envisaged by the laws should be implemented.

Finance of Media
• There should be a clear legal provisions and policy on issues like foreign investment in media, transparency in investment and monopoly.
• National media should be promoted by recognizing them as industry and by providing them facilities enjoyed by other industries. Clean feed of ads of foreign broadcasters in Nepal could be an example in this regard.
• A clear and stable national advertisement policy should be developed with a provision of proportional distribution of government ads on the basis of fixed standard and access of audiences.
• The provision of double and triple taxes should be ended. The dispute between the government and the broadcasters on royalty is a result of such tax system. Tax should be exempted and facilities should be provided for Internet, power and telephone bills of media and media workers, and on the purchase of the vehicles and equipment.
• Facilities should be for equipment required to produce the power to operate the media and fuel until the load shedding comes to an end

Management
Professional development
• Broadcasters should be made pluralistic, transparent and inclusive to the possible extent not only in appointing the human resources but also in the materials and issues that they produce.
• Code of conduct for broadcasters should be prepared in the participation of the organizations and be implemented effectively.
• Focus should be given for the development of skilled and trained human resources for quality content.

Physical and Professional Security/Safety
• Broadcasters should be serious, aware and cautious for the financial, social, physical and professional security and security of all media employees.
• Broadcasters should implement the WJA and ensure editorial freedoms

Media Workers
Professional Development
• The workers should be active and capable by maintaining accuracy, objectivity, and honesty and in following the professional ethics.
• Priority should be given to conflict sensitive journalism, that promotes peace and progress and that excels in research and respective fields.
• Media workers should be responsible to the society, to be sensational.
• Media workers should focus on the qualitative development of the members of the organizations rather than on their quantitative growth.

Press Freedom and Access to Information
• Media workers should play active role individually and in organized form for the promotion of press freedom.
• Media workers should be aware about the editorial freedom and collectively aware against the sanctions on information, self-censorship, etc.

Physical and Professional Security/Safety
• The workers should be active for their professional safety and guarantee to their rights.
• Media workers should reject the work offers if the facilities they will be provided are not at par with the standard fixed in the WJA and other labor laws and they should be aware about the exploitation and violation of laws by the media houses.
• Media workers should always be aware of their own security.

Finance of Media
• A lawful path should be taken for collective bargaining following the proper labor practices.

National and International Support Community
Professional Development
• Need to provide financial and technical support to review the media related provisions of the constitution, act, regulations and policies and make their timely amendment.
• Besides making regular and institutional efforts for the development of human resources and their capacity building with priority to remote areas, they should help arrange occasional visits, training and workshops.
• Should co-work with and help the government and media or media related organizations only on the basis of their respect to democratic values like transparency, human rights, citizens' freedom, inclusiveness, rule of law, etc.
• Should provide support only on the basis of the managerial capability, condition of human resources, access of people and guarantee of proper utilization of such support.

Press Freedom and Access to Information
• Should keep pressurizing the state against any restriction on media freedoms.

Physical and Professional Security/Safety
• Should be support measures for the physical security and professional safety of the media and the media workers

Finance of the Media
• Should support the media with ads, information and financial capability building.
• Provide consultations as to how the media organizations could prevent themselves from crisis resulting from load-shedding or other similar problems, and also provide technical training to media houses.

Paper entitled "Broadcasting in Nepal: A Situation Paper" presented on February 24, 2012, to the International Fact Finding and Media Advocacy Mission to Nepal Dhungel is Nepal Correspondent of Reporters Sans Frontieres, and former central member of FNJ.

Notes

1 A government-formed commission led by the then lawmaker and senior lawyer Radheshyam Adhikari government had submitted the report in September 2006. See for the report at: http://www.moic.gov.np/reports /final_report_of-hlmac.pdf
2 See for the report of the taskforce at: http://www.moic.gov.np/reports/bigyapan_niti_2065.pdf
3 See for the report of the taskforce at: http://www.moic.gov.np/reports/cable_pratibedan_final.pdf
4 See for the Draft at: http://www.moic.gov.np/pdf/media-policy-eng-pdf

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