KATHMANDU, NEPAL — Four years after a pandemic upended Nepal’s media sector and wiped out more than two-thirds of the country’s print, radio and television jobs, work for journalists remains scarce. Pay cuts for many people have not been restored – some journalists are even fighting in court to get the pay they are owed. In addition, government pressure, which has intensified during the pandemic, is only increasing.
“The media was simply not prepared for crisis management,” says Rabi Raj Baral, founder of Media Kurakani, a popular blog focused on press issues. Nepali media was struggling anyway, he says, but the pandemic has exposed the problems.
Freedom Forum, a Nepalese organization that tracks press freedom, calls this a “watershed moment” for Nepali media. As in many countries, the Nepalese government has engaged in censorship efforts during the pandemic to manage messaging around the spread of the virus. But now, years after the pandemic eased, several new bills are raising concerns about a new wave of restrictions.
Some bills were approved in April, others are still pending, but all attempt to consolidate media control under a government-sanctioned council. The government has also introduced guidelines to prevent certain communications it considers problematic on messaging systems, including Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp. The guidelines are vague, critics say, so the government can interpret them as it sees fit.
“The media were simply not prepared for crisis management. » Kurakani Media
At the same time, Freedom Forum said the media must respect the labor rights of working journalists. The criticism came after dozens of journalists filed complaints against media companies, largely Kantipur Media Group, for unpaid salaries, according to the Federation of Nepali Journalists. In 2023, an industrial court froze the accounts of Kantipur Media Group after these complaints.
The crisis in Nepal reflects global trends, where the media is grappling with a dual threat: economic instability and growing political pressures. As newsrooms continue to shrink, the ability of the press to fulfill its essential role, particularly during pivotal moments like elections, is increasingly compromised. Reports from organizations like Reporters Without Borders highlight how the pandemic has been exploited to undermine press freedom in various countries, raising concerns about the future of independent journalism. Some governments, in the name of combating fake news during the pandemic, have censored news media. An Amnesty International investigation found that many countries have completely shut down the internet and news agencies, apparently to stop misinformation.
In Nepal, the stakes are high. Newsroom job cuts have weakened the vibrant media environment that flourished after the country’s decade-long civil war ended in 2006. Meanwhile, government pressure continues. The Freedom Forum found that “intimidation via cyberspace” increased in 2023. There were 52 incidents of press freedom violations.
In May this year, Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Media Group, was arrested on charges of holding multiple nationalities. The arrest took place shortly after the newspaper published articles accusing Rabi Lamichhane, then interior minister, of embezzlement – and the complaint leading to the arrest was filed by the Lamichhane’s political party.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, in response to the arrest, called on the Nepalese government not to “harass or intimidate” the media group in retaliation for its reporting.
Sirohiya’s release nine days later did little to allay fears that Nepal was sliding toward authoritarianism, said Umesh Chauhan, editor of the daily Kantipur.
Governments around the world discredit media groups whose coverage they don’t like, he says. If the media gets distracted by these issues, it will be a crisis.
“But if the media does not get distracted from its duties, the profession can always progress,” says Chauhan.