KATHMANDU, NEPAL – Four years after a pandemic upended Nepal’s media sector and wiped out more than two-thirds of the country’s print, radio and television jobs, work for journalists remains scarce. Many people’s pay cuts have not been reinstated – some journalists are even fighting in court for the wages they are entitled to. In addition, government pressure, which has increased during the pandemic, is becoming ever stronger.
“The media was simply not prepared for crisis management,” says Rabi Raj Baral, founder of Media Kurakani, a popular blog that focuses on press issues. The Nepalese media was already in trouble, he says, but the pandemic exposed the problems.
Freedom Forum, a Nepali organization that tracks press freedom, calls this a “watershed moment” for Nepali media. Like many other countries, the Nepalese government took censorship measures during the pandemic to control the spread of the virus. But now, years after the pandemic subsides, several new bills are raising concerns about a new wave of restrictions.
Some bills were passed in April and others are still pending, but all aim to consolidate media control under a government-approved council. The government has also introduced policies to prevent communications it deems problematic on messaging systems such as Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp. The guidelines are vague, critics say, allowing the government to interpret them however it wants.
“The media was simply not prepared for crisis management.” Media Kurakani
At the same time, the Freedom Forum has stated that media houses must respect the labor rights of working journalists. This criticism came after dozens of journalists filed complaints against media houses, mainly Kantipur Media Group, over unpaid wages, according to the Federation of Nepali Journalists. In 2023, a labor tribunal blocked Kantipur Media Group’s accounts following these complaints.
The crisis in Nepal reflects global trends where the media is grappling with dual threats: economic instability and increasing political pressure. As newsrooms continue to shrink, the ability of the press to fulfill its essential role, particularly at crucial moments such as elections, is increasingly threatened. Reports from organizations such as Reporters Without Borders highlight how the pandemic has been used to undermine press freedom in various countries, raising concerns about the future of independent journalism. Some governments have censored news media in the name of fighting fake news during the pandemic. An investigation by Amnesty International found that numerous countries have completely shut down the internet and news organizations, ostensibly to stop disinformation.
There is a lot at stake in Nepal. Newsroom cuts undermined the vibrant media environment that thrived after the country’s decades-long civil war ended in 2006. Meanwhile, the government’s pressure continues. The Freedom Forum found that “cyber intimidation” increased in 2023. There were 52 incidents of press freedom violations.
In May this year, Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Media Group, was arrested on charges of holding multiple nationalities. The arrest came shortly after the newspaper published reports accusing then Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane of embezzling funds – and the complaint leading to the arrest was lodged by Lamichhane’s political party.
In response to the arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Nepalese government not to “harass or intimidate” the media group in retaliation for its reporting.
Sirohiya’s release nine days later did little to allay concerns that Nepal was sliding toward authoritarianism, says Umesh Chauhan, editor at Kantipur, a daily newspaper.
Governments around the world discredit media groups whose reporting they don’t like, he says. If the media gets distracted by these issues, there will be a crisis.
“But if the media remains undistracted from its duties, the profession can always move forward,” says Chauhan.