“Press Has To Be More Liberal Than Others”

- Rajendra Dahal

Rajendra Dahal is the chairperson of Nepal Press Council. Dahal, a senior journalist and former editor of Himal Khabarpatrika, was appointed as the chairperson of the Council some ten months ago. He spoke to Sanjaya Dhakal of Nepalnews about the situation of press freedom and activities of the Council in the backdrop of the completion of one year of April change. Excerpts:

You have been assuming this position at the Council at a time when the nation is in transition. How do you look at the changing face of Nepali media during this period?

The position of media, as a whole, has been restored (by the April change) to the period before February 1, 2005. The development and expansion of media has regained the pace that was there before February 1.

How do you compare the state of press freedom before and after the April change?

The period between February 1, 2005 and last year’s Jana Andolan cannot be compared at all. The February 1 step by the King came as a big shock to the Nepali press community. It taught us a lesson how even after 12 years of democratic exercise, such regression could take place. I think the Nepali press is yet to fully recover from that shock. That is why we still find the press quite vocal about its freedom and rights and has not yet been able to accord due seriousness to other aspects such as social responsibility and need to strictly abide by code of conduct.

What do you say about new challenges facing the press, which was quite evident during recent unrest when diverse groups were found to target media?

In fact, this trend should be studied in a more comprehensive manner. The challenges, actually, had confronted Nepali society as a whole. Our society was quite unaware about simmering tensions. We had been taking aspects like social harmony, unity and reconciliation for granted. We thought everybody was happy in the way things were moving. But that turned out to be a false happiness. They were far from reality and there were people, community, and region who were not happy at all. As such, the same weakness was inherent in Nepali press. It is time now for the press to prepare itself for these new challenges. The voices from Terai, Janajati and other backward classes would have to be heard in a new light now.

Does that mean Nepali press was prejudiced against certain regions or communities in the past?

Maybe not deliberately, but there were problems in our perspective as there were problems in the perspective of the whole society. We never thought that the state’s predominant concept of nation, national unity, and nationalism might not have touched certain regions or communities while the press might have developed its mentality based on that. As such, it is necessary for the press to review its perspective. The press can no longer refuse to listen to the voices of even those who might be clamoring for separate state. The press will have to advance logic, analysis and viewpoints to convince those on the extreme front. But they cannot simply turn other way round and refuse to listen. Press has to be more liberal than others. This can lead to the process of negotiation to settle grievances.

To what extent can the press be liberal?

Liberal in the sense that we have to desert our old mentality of not listening to anything that does not fit our concept. Even if somebody raises issue that is impossible or unacceptable or impractical, the press will have to listen to them with cool head and forward logic to deal with them.

Do you find the press here free and tolerant enough to opposing views?

One fundamental weakness of Nepali media is that we still lack the practice of healthy competition on the basis of pluralism. Perhaps this is because of frequent political instability. We can still find everyone trying to install their own mouthpieces. Everyone wants his/her own microphone instead of using a common one.

What about the quality of reporting?

Quality is a relative term. There will always be complaints no matter how much one improves. This is human nature. But one thing is quite clear, Nepali media has not been able to lure professionals with high caliber – it is neither financially nor intellectually attractive enough. Furthermore, although media has produced highly skilled professionals through years of experience and exposure, it has failed to retain those human resources.

What are the major functions of Press Council?

Press Council is a statutory body. It is an autonomous body formed by the act of parliament. Its duties have been determined in the act itself. The basic concept of Press Council in Nepal – like elsewhere in the world – is to formulate journalists’ code of conduct and monitor their implementation. Likewise, it is the body that receives complaints against media (misreporting, disinformation, libel, defamation etc) and acts upon them. However, in our country, the Press Council has been assigned a number of other jobs. We are engaged in classification of newspapers and magazines based on Audit Bureau of Circulation report. This job, actually, should not be performed by Press Council and we are working to hand over this job to competent independent private sector body. Even the high-level Media Recommendation Commission has suggested handing over this job. Likewise, we are also keeping archives of newspapers and even literary creations. For the time being we don’t find other alternative to national archives. Furthermore, Press Council is also assigned to operate the Media Development Fund – which we have been using to help media of mofussil region. Currently, we are also organizing nationwide campaigns to brief media persons outside the valley about code of conduct.

What is your reaction to frequent charges of biasness in classification?

I think the charges are bound to crop up every now and then. We have to evaluate newspapers and magazines on the basis of set criteria and then classify those newspapers in A, B, C classes. Those on higher classes are eligible to obtain government advertisements. As such, everyone wants to be in top class. But everyone does not pay attention to other aspects like regularity, objectivity and so on. Naturally, those who do not want to spend time, energy and resources on professional development but only want to enjoy benefits would be unhappy over their classification and are bound to come up with charges of biasness.

Despite its growth, online journalism is yet to be accepted as mainstream journalism by the government. How does the Council see it?

As far as Press Council is concerned, for the purpose of monitoring code of conduct, online journalism is considered as full-fledged journalism. Perhaps due to old acts, this sector might not have gotten due recognition but the Press Council is quite clear that online journalism is a full-fledged mainstream journalism.

How many complaints do you receive on average and how is compliance among the media institutions?

Because of controversies surrounding the Council during royal regime, the number of complaints had dropped as its credibility was hurt. But now the number of complaints has grown. On average, we receive 20 to 25 complaints a month. Likewise, the compliance rate has also improved and media institutions respond positively to out letters.

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