Govt unveils 11-pt media policy

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, Oct 12 - Unveiling an 11-point media policy on Tuesday, the government has banned all types of commercial wall paintings and posters in Kathmandu Valley.
The cabinet meeting�s decision Monday, is based on a report of the high-level committee headed by Information and Communication Minister Dr. Mohammad Mohsin.

The decision aims to discourage outdoor advertisements and to divert the cost that would be incurred to the media sector, a press statement of the Ministry of Information and Communications said.

�It is essential to discourage advertisers to prevent such ads and develop the trend of publishing and broadcasting ads in mainstream media,� the ministry said. �The impact on traffic and the environment has also been considered.�

Hoarding boards will also be banned around sites with religious, historic and archaeological importance. The ban will gradually be extended to other places as well.

The government has also decided to double subsidies being provided as advertisement to weekly newspapers, and also to those being published from outside Kathmandu Valley. Newspapers violating the code of conduct will not be allowed to avail of this facility. The code of conduct will also be reviewed to make them at par with international standards, through statutory changes if the need arises.

The government has also decided to exempt the tax on articles and other research write-ups in newspapers. �The tax amount imposed on awards, welfare fund and articles will be exempted now,� the statement said.

The cabinet meeting also decided to provide Rs. 1.5 million immediately to Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) to set up a fund for welfare of violence-hit journalists. Rupees 100,000 will be provided to all proposed and undergoing constructions of district branch-offices of FNJ.

The government has also made it obligatory for all media houses to make their audit report public every year. The media will not be allowed to use more than 40 percent of the total space for advertisement.

The Information Ministry statement said, some decisions would come into effect immediately, while some may take time. It however did not specify which decision fell in which category.

>>>>>The decision aims to discourage outdoor advertisements and to divert the cost that would be incurred to the media sector, a press statement of the Ministry of Information and Communications said. "It is essential to discourage advertisers to prevent such ads and develop the trend of publishing and broadcasting ads in mainstream media,� the ministry said. �The impact on traffic and the environment has also been considered.<<<<


TRANSLATION: Outdoor advertisements eat into mainstream media's profit. Banning them altogether, in the name of environment and all that, delivers the money straight into the pockets of big media.

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>>>>>>The government has also decided to double subsidies being provided as advertisement to weekly newspapers, and also to those being published from outside Kathmandu Valley. <<<<<<


Translation: Free money to the journalists and media houses at janata's expense.
Note that this money, instead of supporting private sector media, could have gone
into education, health and so on.

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>>>>>>"The government has also decided to exempt the tax on articles and other research write-ups in newspapers. �The tax amount imposed on awards, welfare fund and articles will be exempted now,� the statement said." <<<<

Translation: Again, another stupid concession to the journalists' demand. Journalism is becoming a tax-exempt profession in Nepal.

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>>>>>The cabinet meeting also decided to provide Rs. 1.5 million immediately to Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) to set up a fund for welfare of violence-hit journalists. Rupees 100,000 will be provided to all proposed and undergoing constructions of district branch-offices of FNJ.<<<<<<<

Translation: Again, more free money to the journalists. At this rate, what's next? Subsidised lunch and water bottle and one pair of clothes /year to every member of the
FNJ because, well,they are the "fourth estate"?

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>>>>>The government has also made it obligatory for all media houses to make their audit report public every year. The media will not be allowed to use more than 40 percent of the total space for advertisement.<<<<<

Translation: In return for all the favors doled out, the government controls the management decisions at the private newspapers.

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QUESTION: With such a cosy relationship with the powers that be, is it any wonder that almost all our newspapers read like Gorkhapatra?


oohi
ashu

Little as morsels for gutless journalist who dare not speak when one of them gets face pulverised by an wild gnut and herds of hyenas.

>>>>>The government has also decided to double subsidies being provided as advertisement to weekly newspapers, and also to those being published from outside Kathmandu Valley. Newspapers violating the code of conduct will not be allowed to avail of this facility.<<<<<<

Translation: If you violate the so-called code of conduct (i.e. criticise the government in any way), you won't get the money.

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Dr. Mohammad Mohsin, a Palace appointee and one of the then whizkids who helped design the "soil-appropriate" Panchayti system, knows how to win friends and infliuence people at the Nepali private sector media houses.

oohi
ashu

Bashing journalists is not my forte, but it pays to the society for lashing out the shameless ones...thanks Ashu.

Aren't there any among journalists who would oppose these direct bribes from the government? How about Khagendra Sangroula? He seems to write well and on the side of the weaker sections of the people.

Interestingly, journalists need to be exposed instead of jounalists exposing...

By the way, is this perk any different from Pajero and pension to useless members of parliament? When will we learn??

Jaytha wrote:

"Aren't there any among journalists who would oppose these direct bribes from the government?"

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Not that I know of.

But the closest person would be researcher/historian Pratyoush Onta, who has
written -- in The Nation weekly and elsewhere -- about the urgent need to evaluate/account for the kind of effects that lakhs of dollars of donor paisa has
had on the growth (or lack thereof) of Nepali media and media professionals.

I have requested Pratyoush and friends at Martin Chautari to arrange a program on
a Thursday to discuss Mohsin's this newly-veiled media policy.

oohi
"interested, from afar, in media as just another competitive business"
ashu

No comment.

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FNJ welcomes media policy, urges for instant implementation

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), an umbrella organization of Nepali journalists, has on Wednesday welcomed the media policy unveiled Tuesday.

Talking to Nepalnews, FNJ president, Taranath Dahal said, �The policy unveiled yesterday is positive and welcoming, however the government should now implement it at the earliest.� Saying only a few problems have been addressed, the FNJ president said, �There is still much to do.�

The government unveiling an 11-point media policy on Tuesday, decided to provide Rs. 1.5 million instantly to the FNJ to set up a fund for welfare of violence-hit journalists. Rupees 100,000 each will be provided for construction of district branch-offices of the FNJ.

The government has decided to ban all types of commercial wall paintings and posters in the capital, so as to sustain the media sector. Moreover, the government decided to increase subsidies being provided as advertisement to newspaper based outside the capital and Kathmandu based weekly newspapers by 100 percent. However, as per the new provision, no media could use more than 40 percent of the total space in the advertisement.

In a bid to make media houses transparent, the government has made it compulsory for all media houses to make their annual audit report public.

Few decisions would come into effect instantly, while some may take time, government sources said adding newspapers violating the code of conduct will be prevented from the new facilities. nepalnews.com pd Oct 13 04

Good point Ashu. Was just talking about it today at office. My point was that most of the government policy is just too pro-media houses. Minus the tax exempt, nothing else seems to be of benefit to the individual journalists. Not heard of salary raise in any media houses after the policy was announced but it would be interesting to follow the developments. The media houses have got something, but what about the employees? I would have praised the government decision if it instead focussed on the welfare of individual journalists with issues such as insurance at the time of conflict. Afterall, we still have media houses that still do not follow the Shramjivi Patrakar Ain, what else can we expect?
BTW, the media policy news item got front page coverage in Kantipur and Nepal Samacharpatra but appeared in some inside page of The Himalayan Times.
Jaytha, liked your link to the pajero incident. That was something that hadn't crossed my mind.