Year: मंसिर २१, २०७५

Dec 7: For the second week in a row, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Baskota, one of the most trusted lieutenants of Prime Minister KP Oli, has lambasted private media houses, accusing them of publishing baseless news reports against the government.

Baskota has been challenging media persons to make public the identity of anonymous news sources. He was refuting news reports published by newspapers including Republica stating that he had instructed state-run media not to publish/broadcast any news item regarding the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta in Kanchanpur district back in July.

In his weekly briefing on Thursday last week, Baskota had warned media ‘not to forget that the government is the main source of news as well as advertising revenue’.

“An English language paper did the same thing again while covering my briefing last week. Though I don’t understand English much, I found it accusing me of issuing a threat to withhold information and advertising from private media,” he said. “There is no need to be afraid if you (himself) haven’t committed any mistake. Why do you just keep accusing me when you cannot prove anything?”

Recalling the closure of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World following a phone hacking scandal in 2011 and a parliamentary committee interrogation of media persons, Baskota urged journalists to study that case which took place in a democratic country.

“News of the World had a history of over 105 years. ‘It’s editor was put on trial before a parliamentary committee. We regard such countries as a model while talking about journalism, or about democracy,” said Baskota. He was obviously hinting that Nepali media may face a similar fate.

He warned journalists that they may regret what they write against him. He was of the view that media has been twisting information just for the sake of criticizing the government. “Government has not come down against media but media has been consistently attacking the government,” he said.

The minister’s continuous criticism of private media has alarmed media persons. He was the one who sacked a media person conducting a talk show on state-run Nepal Television after the latter asked him (Baskota) some critical questions on a program that aired immediately after he became minister.

Mahesh Basnet, a leader of Nepal Communist Party and close confidant of Prime Minister Oli, had also issued similar threats to media persons a few years ago. He also said Nepali media may face the fate of News of the World.

During the press briefing Thursday, Minister Baskota was flanked by spokespersons from various ministries and the media team of Prime Minister Oli, including press advisor Kundan Aryal and coordinators Chetan Adhikari and Ram Saran Bajgain.

Baskota also flayed media for reporting critically on the Asia Pacific Summit held in Kathmandu earlier this week. “Media have distorted facts while criticizing the summit. They have projected such events as controversial just because KP Oli was there. They didn’t reported critically when Girija Prasad Koirala and various other leaders took part in similar events held by the same organizer,” Baskota said.

The press meet was convened to brief media about the decisions of the cabinet meeting held on Monday.

According to the minister, the cabinet meeting decided to shift the ministers’ quarters and build official residences for the National Assembly chair, deputy chair, the deputy speaker and the chief ministers of the seven provinces.

The government has announced it is to build 10 state guesthouses at Pulchowk where ministers’ quarters are now located.

Also, the government has decided to turn the residence of revered poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota into a Devkota museum.

Kathmandu, Dec. 7: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Banskota on Thursday told journalists to be accountable and write only verified news by checking the facts before blaming and framing the government.
Speaking at a press conference organised in the Ministry this afternoon to make the decisions of the cabinet meeting public, Minister Banskota said the government had not tried to hide any information; instead some media outlets were disseminating distorted news.
Referring to the news covered by an English daily about his speech at a similar meeting with the press last week, Minister Banskota said that the daily wrote what he had never said.
To queries by journalists about the recently held Asia Pacific Summit, Minister Banskota said some media houses raised the issue as if the government had committed a crime by participating in the summit although they knew that the constitution had already declared the country was a secular, multilingual and multi-cultural nation.
“Can one spread hatred by disseminating fabricated news, to create disharmony in the society?” he said. “I have not been blaming or targeting any particular journalist or media institution raising issues about the summit, but what I want to make clear is there are wrong media tendencies and practices at the moment,” he added.
Coming to the issue of Nirmala Panta’s murder and rape case, Minister Banskota said that the government had not given up investigating into the case and it would book the guilty involved in the case.
Giving reference to Dr. Bhaktaman Shrestha’s abduction and Dilshova’s alleged sex racket cases, Minister Banskota said that some media were disseminating fake and fabricated news without verifying the information, which had ultimately made them feel ashamed.
The government has repeatedly been saying that some cases like Nirmala’s have been ‘exceptional’ as they took time to be sorted out, he said, adding that there are many other serious criminal cases which were resolved recently after the investigation of years and decades.
The government has been regularly using its manpower, knowledge, information and technology to reach the roots of the incident, Minister of Banskota, who is also the spokesperson of the government, said.
He said, “Although the government is taking time to investigate into Nirmala’s case, the guilty will be brought to book at any cost.”
While answering a question about Prime Minister K P Oli’s latest comments on academicians, Minister Banskota said that the Prime Minister had invited the academicians for a debate (on the Asia Pacific Summit). Similarly, joint-secretary and spokesperson at the Ministry of Home Affairs Ram Krishna Subedi said that the government had given the status of refugees to only those who arrived in Nepal from Bhutan and Tibet.
“No other foreigners residing in Nepal have been recognised as refugees except for the Bhutanese and Tibetans,” joint secretary Subedi said at the press conference.
Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting held on December 3 at the official residence of Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli in Baluwatar took a decision to establish a fund in the name of ‘Prime Minister National Talent Prize’ by adding the same amount of money in the Leadership and Good Governance Award presented to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli by the Universal Peace Federation.
The Federation had presented the Prime Minister a USD 100,000 award. The new prize will be presented to youth and individuals contributing to peace, good governance, scientific research, investigation and development of the country.
The cabinet meeting also decided to develop the Dillibazaar-based house of Great Poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota into a museum.
Likewise, the government has appointed Ramesh Kumar Pokharel of Biratnagar-5 in Morang district to the post of executive director of Health Insurance Board.
The government has formed a three-member committee for recommending Managing Director at the Nepal Telecommunication Company Limited.
The government has given responsibility to the Ministry of Urban Development for constructing additional and required infrastructure, including a 15-feet high dam in Banchare Danda of Nuwakot district for managing the waste generated in the Kathmandu Valley.
The government has also decided to construct 10 State Guest Houses on the premises of the Ministers’ Quarters in Pulchowk, Lalitpur.
The government may use the public land located at the National Library of Hariharbhawan if the land of the Ministers’ Quarters becomes insufficient to construct the State Guest Houses, informed Minister Banskota.
Similarly, the government took a decision to construct 27 houses to accommodate the National Assembly’s chairman, vice-chairman, deputy speaker of the Federal Parliament and ministers at Sainbu of Lalitpur district. Likewise, the government would construct 14 additional houses for all seven province chiefs, chief ministers and their contact offices.
The government had allocated nearly 150 ropanis of land in Sainbu to build the residences for the lawmakers.

KATHMANDU, Dec3: Media entrepreneurs as well as media persons have said that fake news has been a major challenge seen in the media sector in recent years.

In his remarks at the session titled “Addressing the critical challenges of our time: Interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values”, chairman of Washington Times Tom McDevitt said the social media had greatly eroded the credibility of media in recent years.

President of Sekai Nippo, Japan, said fake news had appeared as a major challenge for the media in recent years. “In recent years, fake news has surfaced as a major challenge,” he said, urging the media to be responsible while disseminating any news.

Speaking at the session, executive director of Nepal Republic Media, Sambridhi Gyawali said digitization had changed the media business completely in terms of human resource, skill set and revenue source. “On the one hand, it has helped in reaching out to places, people and information quicker where access may not have been easy in the past. On the other hand, it has given equal access to ‘citizen journalism’, wherein individuals and startups with no prior experience or educational background in journalism report news,” she said.

Gyawali also noted that the changes brought about by digitization had created a danger as the content disseminated through citizen journalism may not have editorial oversight and may not necessarily follow norms such as objectivity and accuracy.

Also speaking on the occasion, President of Segye Ilbo, Korea, Jung Hee Taeg argued that the media has an important role in establishing peace.

Similarly, deputy chairman of Karangkraf Media Group of Malaysia, Dato’ Muhammad Nasir Hamzah said although the restriction on media has decreased significantly in recent years, the importance of traditional media is gradually coming down. He shared that with the rise of the new media, newspapers and magazines have stopped drawing the interest of readers.

Padhmashri  Alok Mehta of  Pathfinder Publishing, New Delhi, BBC Foreign Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley, and Claudia Rosett of the Independent Women’s Forum, USA, also shed light on the challenges and opportunities for the media in recent years.

The spokesperson of K P Sharma Oli’s government Gokul Baskota, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, has been exhibiting extreme intolerance toward media and public criticism of the government. He looks bent on imposing censorship on media—both state-run and private. Last Monday, he directed state-run media not to publish or broadcast critical news related to Nirmala Panta’s rape and murder case. On Thursday, he warned private media owners and journalists to think about “their investment and their jobs while writing news stories that are unfavorable to the government.” He seems to be saying to Nepal’s private media fraternity: If you write against the government, we won’t give you information and advertisements. Essentially, this veiled warning speaks of intention to gag the press or force it to toe the government line. More disturbingly, he has started to label news reports that expose government’s inefficiency in controlling corruption and ensuring rule of law as “fake news.”

Nirmala Panta’s case has now attracted international attention. Visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, Dubravka Simonovic has described it as “the test case for Nepal government.” She has mentioned that she will closely follow development in this case. Many other international organizations are closely following it. There have been concerns from various sectors over some measures taken to restrict journalists’ access to news and free flow of information. Anti-media remarks of the communication minister have added credence to these concerns. We, in Republica, have supported every good move of this government—from the decision to end transport syndicate and cartel to decision to punish nonperforming contractors (regrettably none of these were implemented) to the recent social security scheme. Thus it would be a mistake to assume that Nepali media are spreading “fake news.” The Prime Minister should make his position clear on this. With one after another anti-media remark, minister Baskota is portraying this government as standing against free press. We hope the prime minister cares.

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: Government spokesperson Gokul Baskota has warned media owners and journalists to think about their investment and their jobs while writing news stories that are unfavorable to the government. He said media should not forget that the government is the main source of news as well as advertising revenue.

Indicating a news report published in Republica on Monday about government censorship of state-run media when it comes to any news related to protests against the Nirmala rape and murder case, Baskota accused the paper of writing a fictional story. Though Baskota denied issuing any instructions to boycott such news, critics say there has been a news blackout for weeks in state-run media concerning the Nirmala case .

“You may take it as a threat but it is not that, and you have freedom in democracy. But democracy does not mean anarchy. What will happen when people think one day that all that you publish is just illusion ? What about the people working there and the investors’? journalist turned politician Baskota said. “The truth is that the government is the source of news in a democracy and it is also the source of advertising.”

He accused media of trying to build up non-government sources of news rather than relying on the government .

“Media is being developed and is having its impact in society. But if it continues to publish fake news the industry itself will lose credibility one day,” said Baskota. Claiming that he would quit his post if the accusation of censorship was proved, he said media has started working to jeopardize itself. “If media continues to publish fake news , it could pose a threat to the freedom of expression ,” he said.

He also added that the government will not come to the rescue if media implodes by continuing to publish ‘fake news’.

Kayfabe Journalism

Minister Baskota accused the media of engaging in ‘kayfabe journalism’.

“The term comes from make-believe wrestling. I wonder whether kayfabe journalism is not being cultivated,” he said and suggested that media should be accountable to the readers. “Let’s not indulge in kayfabe journalism by cooking up news.”

He was of the view that reports about censorship of government media were the height of prejudice.

Asked about public criticism against the government for its involvement in a conference organized by an INGO, government spokesperson Baskota clarified that the government was not a co-organizer of the event. He added that it was the duty of the government to provide security to foreign delegates during their visits to Nepal.

Refuting criticism of the government’s extravagant publicity for the prime minister, Baskota said every new product deserves branding and the government was just doing some branding. “But the government has spent less than seven million forthat publicity.”

Baskota also informed that a meeting of the inter-provincial council has been convened for December 9.

Kathmandu, Nov 28 . The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has demanded that the government immediately release journalist Gopal Chand.

Issuing a press release on Wednesday, FNJ said editor of postpati.com, Chand, was arrested Tuesday as per Electronic Transaction Act merely because of writing news.

“Police have repeatedly arrested journalists going beyond its jurisdiction. Initiating legal action against journalists based on ETA is blatant attack on press freedom. The rightful body to investigate into the news content is Press Council Nepal,” the press release stated.

It is also the violation of the jurisdiction of Press Council Nepal, the FNJ added, arguing that such attack on media has discouraged working journalists.

Nov 29, 2018-

Minister for Information and Communications Gokul Prasad Baskota personally summoned editors of all five state media publications and instructed them not to publish any critical news related to the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant or activist Dr Govinda KC’s agenda, journalists from several state-owned media told the Post.

The minister went to the extent of ordering state media editors to counter reports published by private media, and effectively discredit and mitigate their trenchant coverage of government’s inaction in both cases.

Baskota had expressed dissatisfaction over the high number of news reports dedicated to the rape and murder of the 13-year-old girl from Kanchanpur, as well as opinions and editorials supporting KC published by privately owned media.

“There’s always a kind of unseen self-censorship that comes from our top management, but the government shouldn’t be able to dictate what we should cover and how we should do it,” said one senior journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two veteran journalists who work for different state-owned media, told the Post they have not received instructions from their editors on reducing the coverage of the two issues, but admitted a noticeable decline in the coverage recently.

Baskota had met with the editors earlier this week.

“The minister told us to produce counter-narratives, but he hasn’t instructed us how the government wants us to do that,” said the chief editor of one state-owned publication.

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s administration has been widely criticized in recent weeks and months for its failure to investigate into, arrest, file charges and prosecute the rapists and killers of Nirmala.

The outrage over the ghastly crime set off nationwide protests, widespread criticism on social media, and ceaseless coverage by most privately owned newspapers, online media, television, and radio stations.

On November 21, the state-owned news agency, Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), released a photo of Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa visiting Nirmala’s parents to support at their sit-in protest.

After RSS published the photo, Baskota called the news agency and ordered it to remove the picture from the wire service immediately. The agency deleted the photo from its archives within minutes of the order.

The following day, Baskota summoned the editors of RSS, Gorkhapatra, Rising Nepal, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television to his chamber at Singha Durbar, where he sought support from the state media on pushing the government’s narrative in the two cases that have put the Oli administration on the defence.

Two days later, RSS also removed a photo of Nirmala’s father, Yagya Raj Pant, being transported to Kathmandu for medical treatment, from its archives.

“Since the meeting last week, we have stopped publishing reports and photographs concerning Nirmala Pant and Dr Govinda KC’s recent announcement to launch another indefinite strike,” said a senior editor, who asked not to be named because he feared he would lose his job.

When the Post reached Baskota for a comment, the minister received the call and told the Post reporter to call on a different number. When the reporter contacted him on the number, he provided, it went unanswered despite repeated attempts to reach him for several hours.

Published: 29-11-2018 07:23