A Successful Meeting

FOR A PARTY, the very name of which is synonymous with the democratic struggle of Nepal, Nepali Congress sometimes reveals characters that cause concern to all its well-wishers. Perhaps in no party other than the Nepali Congress, the intra-party problems are discussed by the party-men so openly in public. But all the vicissitudes that the party has faced, which most probably stem from being too democratic a party—if there can be ‘too much’ of it, seem to take care of themselves later. The party, in spite of its failings to discipline its members enjoys a never failing loyalty that has many a times been put to test when a real crisis comes up. The fabric of the party, its true spirit, never really falls apart. At the face of the crises that the Nepali Congress and the government both are said to be facing, the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress ended positively. The 40th Central Working Committee meeting of the Nepali Congress that ended with a decision to implement the ‘Peace and promotion of Public awareness Movement’, can be called a successful one in terms of the issues that were raised and decisions that took place. The Committee stressed unity in the party and the meeting’s main thrust was on maintaining peace and order to control the situation of fear and terror and the main agenda was internal security and law and order. Amendment of the Constitution, being raised as an issue by the opposition also was discussed. With Krishna Prasad Bhattarai assuring all co-operation to the efforts and programmes of the Party President and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the CWC meeting, the Nepali Congress can look forward to a smooth completion of its imminent General Assembly elections. While, there can be no doubts on the intentions of the party president Koirala and former president Bhattarai and their readiness to do their utmost for the best interest of the Party, there also seems to be a willingness among the party men to work towards solving the issues. The interests are similar and goals are the same, although differences on the approach may be there. So what is needed now is for the senior leaders as well as the party men to pull their act together and work in co-ordination to achieve those goals.

Women In Media

ONE of the sectors that have notched up some progress over the past decade has undoubtedly been the media sector. If one were to point out the few growth industries, comparatively speaking of recent times, it has undoubtedly been the media sphere. A mushrooming of newspapers has been quite visible. The phenomenon of broadsheet dailies has been quite noticeable. Outside the Kathmandu Valley too, some dailies are growing to the stature of being major newspapers in their areas with circulation figures not to be scoffed at. As competition has grown, skilled journalistic hands are much sought-after. No wonder journalists with proven skills have a field day jumping from one newspapers to another pursuing even more attractive remuneration and perks. The competitive environment has also resulted in qualitative improvement of the media fare. Given such expansion and improvement in the media sector, it is quite unacceptable that when it comes to representation of women in the media sector there is much to be disheartened about.

Why are there so few women journalists around? Trying to find them is like looking for the proverbial pins in the haystack. Clearly, the growth in the newspapering, and, in recent times, in radio broadcasting, in the country has not been able to attract a bigger number of women to the media. While the overall number of full-time journalists in the Kathmandu Valley and elsewhere has inexorably risen, the number of women journalists entering this profession has reached nowhere near being proportionate. Even when they do join journalism it has been extremely difficult to retain them. Lack of women journalists has meant that women’s issues and voices are not reflected in the mainstream journalism. Women’s perspectives on the issues facing the nation do not come out as frequently in the media as should in order to get a holistic understanding, not just that tinged with possible gender biases. Some of the these issues were discussed the other day at a seminar on the challenges facing women journalists. So, how to enlist more women in the media and then keep them there? The challenges are many. But it primarily rests with media owners and editors who should be more proactive in getting women to joint their ranks. They must formulate and actively pursue a policy that sincerely encourages young bright girls to join journalism. Plus, working environment for women journalists must be conducive, allowing for our social and familial constraints which are not going to change too fast, much as we may wish. Only when such an active, pro-women policy and steps rein in the newsrooms, women may become a more visible part of the media workforce.