NATIONAL7Spotlight Weekly)]

State Silence

State-owned Nepal Television and Radio Nepal face sharp criticism for their (non)reporting of the palace deaths

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

people in the street : Information-hungry

On that fateful morning of June 2, hundreds of thousands of Nepalis were glued to Nepal Television and Radio Nepal in the hope of getting some news.

Already disturbed by the barrage of reporting by the foreign media about the killings in the Narayanhity royal palace and the constant ringing of the telephone from family and friends, the people groped for information from the government media.

Never had the telephones in the country been busier. Even in the early morning, the network was so overloaded that it became difficult to get a connection. The news of shooting in the palace the previous night spread like wildfire as friends and family kept on telephoning one another.

The reported deaths of their king and queen and other members of royal family troubled the Nepalese people already plagued by political uncertainty, corruption and growing insurgency. Adding to their woes, there was no official news, aggravating the confusion and frustration.

Strangely, the state media kept mum. Even the daily news bulletin at 7 am was skipped, leading the people to fear the worst. The constant reporting from foreign media like BBC and CNN became the only source for those people who had access to these channels. Others had to let their anxiety grow.

In the absence of credible information, rumors were cooked up and flew fast, sending people into confusion. Rumors and hearsay filled the vacuum of information.

It was only after the privy councilís chairman Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi made an announcement around noon that the state media informed the people that their beloved king and queen were dead.

The nearly sixteen hours of non-information from the state has been rapped by all. "While the foreign media were freely reporting the incident, what stopped the government from letting people know about the incident concerning their king and queen," asked Anup Bhattarai, a youth from Pulchowk.

Not only during the reporting of the incident, the role of state media has been criticized also in the aftermath.

Many people are asking why the state media did not present the national perspective of the news even as the foreign media were reporting them in their own manner.

"The Nepalese media should have presented their version. That could have stopped many rumors from flying," said Bhattarai. "While the Indian media were broadcasting live interviews and talk-shows on Nepal, our own media remained silent."

Even when baseless rumors like poisoning of drinking water and milk spread and sent people to panic, the state-media did not do adequate reporting to assuage the tension.

Media Mela

Last week saw Nepal grab the international media spotlight - but for all the wrong and sad reasons. The wholesale killing of the revered royal family brought newsmongers from across the world to the capital of this Himalayan kingdom.

Newspaper reporters and television crews were seen camping at the major star hotels in Kathmandu to cover the "sensational killings".

From newspapers like The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times to international news weeklies like Time and Newsweek, every major publication had sent in their representatives.

Even the lesser-known papers like Sydney Herald and others reported the incident with great emphasis.

The television crews from BBC and CNN offered round-the-clock coverage of the incident. In fact, these media broke the news not only to international audience but also the Nepalis, as the official media in Nepal were silent at first.

The Indian media, too, gave the unprecedented coverage of Nepal. The television channels like Star News and Zee News were in the forefront of the coverage. The leading newspapers like The Times of India, Indian Express, and The Asian Age all gave extensive coverage of the incident. The news channels even had talk shows and debates on the incident.

The news portals on the Internet were filled with Nepal stories. They even ran special sections on Nepal - yahoo.com, bbc.com, cnn.com, were all filled with news from Nepal.

"I was in fact in Nepal to cover the successful expedition of blind mountaineer to the Everest. And now this incident took place," said Karl Taro Greenfeld of Time Asia.