| Himalayan Times Online: What Really Happened?
One indication that Nepal's online news business is far from mature. Something that happened these past two weeks to the Himalayan Times, which bills itself as "No 1 Nepal's Leading English Daily" sparked off some private (offline) speculation among avid Web-watchers: Was it banned by the government? The newspaper disappeared Feb 8 to 21. While its competitor the Kathmandu Post (billed the "largest daily") celebrated its 15th year anniversary, THT went dead apparently "due to website maintenance." One insider told Newslook, however, that their server account had expired. Interestingly, something similar, if not identical, happened to Kantipur Online last month. None of these events made news. Why shouldn't they write a press release or post news on a sistersite. Two weeks is jillion years, cyberwise. Online usership in Nepal may be negligible, but why such neglect of the many consumers/audience outside the country? Hello APCA, hi KP?
• THT offline "due to website maintenance", THT
• Kantipur Publications marks 14th anniversary, KoL
• Journalists demand official recognition for online media, Nepal News