FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

Print Media: Changing Character And Readership

By YUBA RAJ PANDEY

If people were asked to prepare their own lists of sectors that have developed the most in the 11 years since the restoration of multiparty democracy, journalism would perhaps top most of them. The size, shape, scope and significance of journalism in Nepal appear to have been changed during these years. The total number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals registered has increased by more than 150 percent. Broadsheet daily newspapers from the private sector are the new features of contemporary journalism. FM radio stations and private TV channels are also new elements of the modern media. The print media sector has emerged as an important source of employment for the well-educated. This sector has also started attracting the money of businessmen and industrialists. Journalism is transforming itself into a form of industry in our country.

This transformation has brought about many changes in journalism trends. Some years ago, people used to read weekly newspapers to keep abreast of current events. Nowadays, they have begun to read daily newspapers, especially the broadsheet newspapers brought out by the private sector. Most of the weekly newspapers in Nepal are known for their political alignments. Out of 10 major weekly newspapers in Group A according to the recent classification made by the Audit Committee of Circulation, nine are believed to be supporters of specific political parties or views. The situation is not much different in case of the other weekly newspapers. That is why most readers of a specific weekly newspaper happen to be supporters the specific political ideology the publication espouses.

More specifically, if a weekly newspaper appears close to a specific political party, people close to that party prefer to read that newspaper, while people supporting other political parties often avoid it. Very few weekly newspapers command a readership transcending party affiliations.

This leads us to the conclusion that people prefer to read daily newspapers for news and weekly newspapers for political analysis and comments. However, broadsheet daily newspapers also include opinion pieces that analyze political views and events and put them in perspective. This has created a special situation that makes readers unable, to some extent, to find the difference between daily and weekly newspapers. This similarity has become a great threat to the existence of weekly newspapers. Newspaper readers in Nepal are gradually clustering around daily newspapers, especially private-sector broadsheet papers. According to a study, total newspaper circulation in Nepal is about half million a day. The daily newspapers cover nearly half of this circulation. However, daily newspapers represent fewer than twenty percent of the total newspapers published in the country. Thus, less than twenty percent of the publications attract about half of the total readership. The struggle of eighty percent of newspapers to attract the other half of the total readership has become a prominent feature of our print media.

This growing popularity of daily newspapers appears to have given birth to a new scenario in the print media sector. Recently, a famous and well-known weekly newspaper called "Naya Karent" has started to be published in magazine form. Big houses have also started to show interest in publishing magazines. Certain new publications like "Himal" fortnightly magazine have become more popular and have been able to attract more readers in comparison with many of the well-established weekly newspapers. This symbolizes the emergence of a new trend in the Nepalese print media.

Seeking information from Internet websites also has become a hobby among city elite, especially those of Kathmandu. Opinion polling through the Internet has also begun to become a matter of interest for Nepalese elite and intellectuals. But only a small portion of the total population access to information disseminated by Internet websites. Thus, seeking or disseminating information through the Internet appears remote for the majority of Nepalis. The introduction of Internet technology has also given birth to a new trend in the field of Nepalese journalism. Most of the popular Nepali newspapers and magazines are available on the Internet. As a result, those who have access to the Internet have begun spending less money on buying newspapers. However, this does not mean that on-line journalism has become a major trend of Nepalese news consumers.

The introduction of new technology has only given birth to a new trend in journalism. Thus, journalism in Nepal has become an area developed and changed very rapidly after the promulgation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990. When we talk about the print media, we see that changes occurred in the readership of newspapers have brought changes in the trends and nature of the journalism itself. Similarly, the changes in the trends and nature of journalism also have brought changes in the readership of newspapers and magazines.