Priorities and Challenges of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists

--Tara Nath Dahal, President, Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Kathmandu

Even after a 12-year-old history of democratic system, unfortunately, we are still preoccupied in a struggle to protect press freedom in Nepal. Right now, very repressive measures are being imposed on the Nepalese media. The state of emergency, which was supposedly imposed to secure national security and to maintain peace and order in the nation, has in essence throttled and crippled the independent press. Though the government has time and again declared that the state of emergency was directed towards containing the threats of terrorism only, the press and the society, however, has turned out to be the greatest victims of its misuse. It's very painful to say that the security agencies regard press as an enemy, which is but a bitter truth. The supportive, responsible and restrained behavior that the Nepali press has demonstrated regarding national security has not been unfortunately appreciated at all. Even the wish for the natural and fundamental freedom has been blamed as jeopardizing the security mission. This has created a situation in which there is no alternative to a movement for the FNJ, which has been struggling to promote professional and free press. In the mean time, to search for freedom, to demand justice and struggle for our rights are the prime duties to be carried out by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.

There are a number of serious challenges and problems in front of the Nepali press. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists must work hard for finding out the solutions to all of these nagging problems. The very existence of our organization will be questioned should we not use our extensive capacity in order to solve out our problems. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leadership to draft and implement programs so that the aims and objectives of the organization are realized. Keeping this in view, the newly elected body of the Federation has identified some main issues and has sought to intensify its whole activities in the same line, despite its constrained financial status.

Presently, the principal concern of the Nepali press is to protect the rights of the journalists and freedom of expression. After twelve years, the time has come that we agitate in favor of a search for freedom and a truly independent system. This is the exact reason that the central committee has recognized the protection of the Right to Press and Freedom of Expression as its first priority. Throughout its history the Federation had been advocating issues regarding the development of professional journalism in Nepal. But now, as in the past, it has been forced to keep its professional issues aside and get enmeshed with a political issue like "freedom". In the present context, the Nepali press is extremely concerned and apprehensive if the very basis of its freedom will be demolished. We have understood that the main challenge of our organization is the need of a competent, aggressive leadership to protest against the attitude that seeks to hamper the Nepali free press which used to carry on in an uninterrupted and fearless way in the past.

Right now, the Nepali media does not have access to all the remote districts, it is bound to disseminate what the defense ministry makes available to them. The security agencies do not allow the journalists to visit the Maoists-affected areas. On the other hand, even though a journalist takes the risk of going to the insurgency-ridden areas to report, then a threat to his or her life looms large. It has become evident from the recent killing of a journalist by the Maoists. Some journalists received threatening phone calls recently.

Apart from this, we are equally committed to and conscious about sorting out our professional issues in the days to come. As in the past, the FNJ firmly believes that acts concerning constitutionally given right to information must be immediately formulated. Not only this, the Federation is whole-heartedly committed to assist in the formulation process which is vital to the development of a free and independent press that only can fulfill the duty of keeping the general people well-informed.

The extent of our challenges and problems can be too vast. It is our duty to find solutions to them as well, but under priority basis. Thus, we prioritize the issues of our concern as follows: the problems of the working journalists, implementation and timely amendments of the concerning laws, to formulate policies and programs for developing advertisement as the backbone of the national media. The FNJ is also deeply concerned about formulating a policy of mass communication that will address the rapid technological and other changes in the field of mass communication.

There is also the need of looking into the legal aspects of the different mediums in the Nepali mass communication sector. There is also a want of precise policies and acts regarding the investment and ownership in the mass communication sector. There is a demand for diversification of the role of the different organizations and departments that mainly deal with this sector. There is a need to move forward in order to sort out these problems with a long term and comprehensive outlook for which we have been demanding for a high profile committee to draft a new media policy.

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists is also an organization that has been fighting for the personal security of all journalists in Nepal. There are innumerable challenges so far as the security of the journalists is concerned. Journalists are threatened, killed, intimidated, tortured and beaten. Almost every day we see incidents of attacks on the lives of journalists by the unsociable elements and by even the organs of the state that owes the responsibility of ensuring security. To fight against these risks, an umbrella organization of the Nepali journalists will always be needed. Moreover, journalists are working at the minimum remuneration; the questions of insurance, medical facilities in case of accidents, family allowances, compensation while going to the dangerous areas for reporting are some distant dreams of the Nepalese journalists.

The Central Welfare Fund has a fund of Rs. 500,000(lakhs). Around 40 district branches of FNJ have their own district level welfare funds but with very nominal amounts. The concerned media houses or organizations are not extending their helping hands to strengthen this fund. For this reason, FNJ has not been able to help the needy journalists despite its long-cherished desire of doing so.

Likewise, now we have also felt the necessity of doing something for the enhancement of the working Nepali journalists' expertise. FNJ is the only organization that represents all working journalists. Therefore, it has decided to carry on productive activities which are necessary in order to achieve the same.

Another grave problem faced by the Nepali media is the absence of laws regarding the transportation and distribution of press items and also the controlling of the potential markets. These subjects were repeatedly talked about in the past as well, but nothing worthwhile has been achieved so far. Therefore, these subjects need to be addressed in concrete way now. FNJ holds the view that there should be a clear-cut and friendly national policy regarding the transportation of press items. As there is no system for the transportation of both the raw materials and the finished products of the press, so many tedious problems are being faced today. It is the duty of the government to bring the items of press, education, health etc. under national priorities and to formulate the relevant policies. Again, Nepalese papers have to face yet another trial in reaching the potential markets. Even in Nepal, sale of papers is prohibited in certain districts. Nepal papers are not given easy access into the Indian markets where there are millions of Nepali-speaking people. The government's role is important in sorting out all of these problems.

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