NATIONAL 9 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Bad News?

As it flourishes under democracy, the press is also coming under greater public scrutiny

By AKSHAY SHARMA

As the nation reviews the accomplishments and failures of 12 years of multiparty democracy, the media has been discussing the performance of state institutions and the individuals that run them. Less onspicuously, however, more and more Nepalis appear to be monitoring the media. Are today's newspaper headlines helping or harming the country's long-term interests? Variations of this question are being asked more frequently in recent months at public forums and social gatherings alike.

Newspapers : Questioning cteadibility

"Are you people in the media trying to starve the country's only booming industry, tourism, by printing stories like these?" an entrepreneur challenged a reporter recently. "What image will Nepal have abroad if the far bigger and brighter-looking foreign media start picking up your poorly sourced and hole-ridden stories?"

Such caustic castigation of the press may not have become the norm yet. Nevertheless, it does signal a significant shift in public attitudes. The euphoria generated by the restoration of multiparty democracy in Nepal in 1990 soon gave way to deepening dejection amid political infighting. "This mood of cynicism is best reflected in the media, which still believe the biggest news of the day is the sordid state of the nation," says a security expert.

The pressures on Nepal's nascent independent media to make their mark are immense. Publications are in a heated competition for public attention and are experimenting with style and content. Critics, however, say the key casualty of this contest has been quality of journalism. "News of a Nepali caught at a US airport was on the front page for days but few readers actually understood the complexity of the issues involved," he says. "Then there was news about Osama bin Laden's men being spotted in the capital, which turned out to be little more than crude rumor and speculation."

Tourism entrepreneurs are particularly worried by the media's coverage of national events and ideas. "The tourism industry is barely able to limp along, which could have disastrous consequences for the national economy. And what do newspapers do? They are out to get us," says a travel entrepreneur. "Something like the bird hits at Tribhuvan International Airport, which is a common scenario in many airport around the world, is blown out of proportion."

Ashraf Shah, who owns a garment shop in Thamel, says the negative press coverage has hit the wider business community very hard. "We used to depend on Indian tourists, whose numbers have been dwindling ever since the Hrithik Roshan episode."

Media coverage of certain issues seems to have troubled some common people as well. "All the papers played up that story on how Nepal was likely to be hit by a massive earthquake soon," says 50-year-old Amrit Sherchan, who postponed his plan to add a floor to his house in Chabahil. "Few in the media cared to qualify that the term ësoon' meant anything between now and 50 years."

Reporters and editors insist they are just doing their job of informing the people. But some readers think the information they are getting is of the wrong kind. "I was going through a national daily which had a picture of children grinning at the camera holding AK-47s and handguns in their hands. Imagine what message such pictures could convey to Nepalis of that age," says Shah.

Analysts agree that the issue contains great sensitivity. They say the state cannot enforce its will on the press under any pretext but cannot stop expecting greater cooperation from the media. "A propaganda war is waged to paralyze the enemy," says a security expert. "But look at who's holding the dagger against whom in Nepal."