Media and Democracy

-Ram Babu Shah, Nepal

The course of democracy did never run smoothly in Nepal. This is even truer today. The painful transition has taken its tall of the hopes and aspirations aroused in the early 90s, soon after the successful people’s movement. Today it has given a way to a sense of disillusionment, gloom and despair among many. Depressing as it might appear, the observation is based on political and economic realities of the day. The implications of this general mood of dependency are disturbing, especially when we consider the fact that there is no alternative to democracy. However, this is not to suggest that democracy should bring with it a package of panacea for all woes. But when the system fails to deliver even the bare necessities, which are within the power of governing bodies because of the failings of the leaders, doubts become inevitable. Sadly enough, except for the right to expression and to form unions, hardly much has changed.

To be fair, the print media’s limited power must be acknowledged. In the early days of newspapers, or even during subsequent period of their unchallenged supremacy, the access to this medium remained pitifully limited in Nepal where about 70 percent of people above seven years of age are illiterate. Newspapers, as a medium of communication, are useful only in a limited way for obvious reasons. Add to this, the subscribing power along with physical constraints-like road transport-the print media’s limitations has become all the more manifest.

Against such backdrop, the print media’s role in promoting democracy in Nepal should be made to get a realistic picture. But, let’s define democracy in broader perspective so as to ensure the involvement and participation of the largely neglected regiments of society that constitute the majority of population who may use their free will and best judicious opinion in making the choice by selecting candidates for people’s representation. Entrenched power should not hold sway over the quality and judgement of the people who must be, not just in theory but in practice as well, educated and informed enough to form their own independent opinion about the candidates. And this is precisely where the media ought to assist citizens.

Happily, in the process of mobilization of people’s aspirations against the process of accumulation of societal ills, a new process has set in, in the form of flexibility of the media, to accommodate diverse contents, which in the past could not be conceived.

However, in this flexible state of the media in Nepal, the very objectivity is increasingly questioned: as excessive emphasis on objectivity can at times even obscure the truth. Objectivity may culminate in mere presentation of both sides of an issue that might distort the proportionate importance of each. Most of the Nepali newspapers, barring a few, opt to tilt as a matter of policy even in news treatment. The disproportionate weightage given to the same event in different newspapers tend to supply more misinformation and, at times, include prejudiced interpretation of events. This is annoying.

A number of newspapers in Nepal are divided on various matters. Some opt for moderation to integrate the contending forces. News treatment, therefore, distinctly varies. It is interesting to note that the Nepalese readership can even identify a newspaper, which is at the crossroads or taking a neutral position or being the most critical of all.

Newspapers do tend to face pressures from outside depending upon their treatment of news. But, those harping on political ideology seem to have safer sanctuaries with their political patrons. And they remain popular even with clear-cut disavowal of ethical considerations. Accuracy, fairness, balance, comprehensiveness-to name a few of media ethics-can hardly be found in these papers. Their freedom remains unfettered.

Even after the restoration of democracy, the press in Nepal has a few sacred cows—the institution of the monarchy and the Royal Nepal Army. While the constitution makes a tacit hint not to make critical comment about the Crown, the army is spared by the self-censorship of the publication itself.

With a unique mix of self-censorship and yellow journalism and by confining themselves within the bounds of the privileged and opportunist class, the print media have taken a lead in politics, but are yet to exploit the strength of people’s power.

Structurally, it is seen that barring the government owned and one or two organizations in the private sector, all the media enterprise are small units with limited resources. Th government owned media have greater reach; but being structurally handicapped, the promotion of pluralism is not in their menu. In this category of the print media sector, come the Rastriya Samachar Samiti, which is the country’s only news agency, and two dailies—the Gorkhapatra and the Rising Nepal. Small organizations in the private sector media, starving for resources as they are, can contribute little to the overall process of democracy, although their societal impact in their limited area is significant. It will be seen, therefore, that be it for structural reasons or for any other reasons mentioned above, the role of Nepalese print media in promoting democracy remains severely limited. How to get over this situation?

One of the solutions would be to work for structural changes. The government media, may, for example, be privatized. As for the private sector, one of the ways to strengthen its capacity would be to encourage the merger of various small organizations to form a large one. What they lack in resources could be got over to some extent through teaming up of human resources and coordination of physical resources. But while doing so, it should not be the business of the media to impose "consensus" on society but to facilitate democracy. However, there are some drawbacks on the part of the Nepalese print media in the private sector, which must be taken in to account: they are overwhelmingly urban-based, politicized and elitist.

Little attempt worth any mention has been made so far to extend their coverage to rural and semi-rural areas. The bulk of the country’s population is thus left out. Improvements in this situation will have to be made if their performance is to be more effective. One of the biggest hurdles in this regard is the continued absence of any dependable and organized national network to facilitate the distribution of newspapers and other periodicals. Things remaining the same, it is difficult to visualize a number of measures to be undertaken for the effectiveness of Nepalese print media in promoting democracy. This means that some sort of intervention would be necessary if this role has to be fulfilled satisfactorily.

On a closer scrutiny, it is found that more than anything else, it is the persisting reluctance on the part of the regime to create more propitious conditions for improved media performance which lies at the heart of the problem.

One feels compelled to make this note because the government still controls and/or influences the nation’s life to a large measure, notwithstanding its responsibilities regarding decentralization. Nepal’s overall situation, which is still emerging from an old sociocultural and economic milieu, is reminiscent of a rather closed society. Even status symbols remain associated with state power. Functioning in such a twilight of obscurity and modernity, those who happen to be in the authority have never been found entirely free from the temptation of reducing the fourth estate into a handmaiden even as they shout hoarse about the freedom of press and how important it is for the sustenance and consolidation of democracy. The resultant hypocrisy has created an unreal world where the authorities, so to say, pretend to recognize the necessity of the growth of national media and the media pretend to believe it.

In this era of information technology, the potential of modern information system has so far remained unutilized in Nepal. In spite of this great power, the Nepali media in general have so far been used more as tools of state propaganda or entertainment and less as agents of change, progress and conflict resolution. On top of this, the media are accused of raising the expectations of people too high much above the realistic levels of attainment. The media impact has led to a faulty imitation of Western values which has also resulted in the exodus of people from villages to cities, giving rise to deep fissures in the socio-economic and cultural structure.

As in any other case of developing nation, the mass media institutions have proliferated in Nepal without strong development perspectives, and development programs are implemented without the involvement of mass media. Most of the important newspapers originate in Kathmandu but circulate hardly beyond the valley the same day. The majority of the print media is usually more preoccupied with gossips and political rumors. Operation of private sector publication is usually a single-handed affair. Most of the journalists work on wage basis, which varies according to the paying capacity of the proprietor journalist. Thus, if corporate official publications are constrained to adopt pro-government bias, the private sector print media have not been able to expand their reach to the burgeoning number of new literate in society.

While the reach of national newspapers to distant parts is impeded by physical constraints, most of the local newspapers appear too weak and incapable of filling the gap. Over 200 titles are published from over 30 districts of the Kingdom. Almost all the newspaper owners have had no training and are not in a position to invest money for hiring the services of competent persons. The district press, moreover, appears to be neglected area in terms of innovation, support, mobilization and effectiveness.

Because of short experience and lack of expertise, technology and resources, the domestic press finds it difficult to compete with foreign newspapers and other publications. The government is empowered under the Press and Publications act to impose restrictions on the import of foreign publications in order to provide necessary protection to the indigenous infant press. But in reality, it is doubtful whether the government is willing and able to enforce it. One of the reasons is that the Foreign Investment Act encourages the flow of capital into the country for investment in industries, which could include even the press industry. Presently, foreign journals and publications and publications are freely imported and circulated all over the country.

In spite of such a gloomy situation, it is encouraging to note that after the restoration of democracy, Nepal is emerging in an era of freedom, pluralism and unfettered exercise of democratic values. In this process, the restoration of freedom of press and human rights are bound to have tremendous impact on the functioning of mass media structures in the coming years. Irrespective of the level of socioeconomic development, private initiative, pluralization of ideas, open debate on an issue and voluntary submission against coercion will form important ingredients of the new information culture, which is still at a very formative stage.

The constitution provides a broad basis for the operation of mass media. The guarantees provided are liberal and substantive enough to enable the press to function as in any developed democratic society. This has led to the recent proliferation of newspapers in many urban centers of the country. New titles appear every day and mushrooming is expected to continue until it gets stabilized through market competition.

Knowledgeable circles are now questioning upon the utility and rationale for the government operated newspapers. Their privatization has been a subject of much discussion lately. The print media are increasingly responding to technological changes taking place in the rest of the world. More and more newspapers are being composed on desktop publishing systems and printed on offset machines.

The rise in the level of literacy is having a positive impact on the reach of media. The circulation of newspapers in the private sector is growing, thus breaking the monopoly of the government owned media. Circulation of 30,000 or more, claimed by some newspapers, were unthinkable even a few years back.. Yet, the staggering high figure of registered newspapers appears unsustainable on a long-term basis and equilibrium is bound to emerge in the near future. Already, the market is being controlled by only a few of the more popular newspapers whereas the majorities are fighting a losing battle. The application of new law for liberal mass media and the progress of media institutions are yet to be felt in practice.

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