Media, Development and Democracy

Organised by The Telegraph Weekly(TW)

03 December 2003

If democracy is to exist, the existence of a free and pluralistic media system is necessary- Nepali academicians

Kathmandu: All is not well with Nepali democracy and the media too has far lagged behind in strengthening the system now in place and hence the victim has been the development of this country.

So said Nepali intellectuals of international standing at a media seminar organized by The Telegraph Weekly in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, December 3, 2003, at the Radisson Hotel in the Capital.

The Nepali academics, mostly from the Political Science Department of the Tribhuban University, senior media men, former Nepali Ambassadors, and members of the civil society unanimously expressed their deep concern over the existing chaos and political uncertainty in the country and appealed the Nepali leaders to act in a manner as is demanded from them in a democratic society. They also urged the media men to assert their roles in order to safeguard the eroding values and the beliefs and help build a strong nation through their impartial and non-partisan views.

The academics also made it clear that a democracy to subsist, the existence of a free and pluralistic media system was one of the foremost conditions. They, however, admitted that Nepali media continued to face numerous hurdles and contradictions that hinder in bringing about a dynamic information-saturated social structure, strong enough to sustain the democratic polity and the freedom that comes with it.

Intellectuals gathered at the seminar spelt out two basic maladies that have plagued the Nepali media namely, the long felt absence of a truly independent and competitive media in the private sector, and the other, the dominant role of the State owned and controlled media, both print and electronic.

Some hoped that the Nepali media will assert its role as powerful instruments of public opinion in keeping with the norms of a liberal, free and pluralistic democratic setup.

Others expressed surprise over the government which claimed itself a democratic one, was still controlling the media which went clearly in contradiction with the established belief that a democratic set up did not operate the media.

Yet another section of the Nepali scholars noted that the political parties and their media supporters remained deeply divided on matters of national interests, be it in the foreign policy issues or related to agreements on water resources.

"Two schools of thought on such grave issues is dangerous", said intellectuals.

Other scholars opined that democracy and development are interlinked and maintained that democracy was a sort of political development.

Attending participants told in clear terms that since our values and belief systems affect our political behavior and since our political behavior affects our democracy and since democracy here has been so interlinked with constitutional development, it is clear that our values and belief systems affect our constitutional practices, whatever the shape, size or content of the prevalent constitution.

In his welcome address, the chief editor of the Telegraph Weekly, Mr. N.P.Upadhyaya told that how the Nepali people were being ruled got reflected from the fact that most of the champions of this democratic order of the 1990s were either in police custody or were awaiting CIAA summons. He also said that the media too through its partisan reporting instead of educating the masses, is in effect confusing the population who have been denied political participating in the system of governance.

Chief guest at the seminar, Prof. Prem Raman Uprety, advised the Nepali media to focus more on improving the decision making process and its implementation. He suggested the Nepali media to focus less on individuals rather on the system and the social culture that breeds such individuals. (See page 2 for Uprety’s full text-ed).

Editor Hari Lamsal who is concurrently the President of the FNJ’s Kathmandu district made it clear that development efforts will land no where unless the politics becomes nation oriented. He also said that media must not overestimate its role. "We too belong to the same society and not above the law", Lamsal said.

The FES media advisor, Mr. P. Kharel, made scathing remarks on those who day in day out mention that Nepal progressed faster than what it had been in the era of the erstwhile regime. "Development is a process that is never static", said Kharel.

Professor Anand Prasad Shrestha made his presentation in the first session of the seminar.

"In a fast changing world of mass media, both at home and abroad, it is imperative that we reexamine the values and goals, reformulate the media approach to development planning and restructure the policy framework", opined Mr. Shrestha.

Shrestha maintains that the political scenario of the past thirteen years has not been encouraging in effect. According to him, this period brought political instability born from power politics.

"Democracy restored now hangs in a precarious balance", Shrestha maintains.

Professor Shrestha revealed at the seminar that at a time when the five party agitation and the Maoist insurgency are continuing simultaneously, it is therefore, not the least bit surprising that the Thapa government is signing agreements, one after another with India. According to Mr. Shrestha, Thapa government has already signed an agreement with India on Upper Karnali and reports have it that it is all set to sign Koshi high dam project and the Kamala hydropower irrigation project by giving India the upper hand over Nepalese waters.

The first session was chaired by Professor Surya Lal Amatys.

Mr. Shrish Rana presented his paper in the second session.

Mr. Rana in course of his presentation questioned should or should not we in the media judge our own performance on how close we come to Nepali realities in our portrayal of facts?

According to Mr. Rana, for development to take place, therefore, participation becomes crucial. " For the section of the society to participate, an adequate degree of identification among the populace, a felt need to participate would seem mandatory", says Rana. Political analyst Rana links the two words, identification and participation with each other which according to him were inseparable. ( Rana’s paper will be printed on December 17 issue-ed)

Mr. Rana’s session was chaired by Mr. Ajaya Ghimire, the founder Principal of the ACE Institute of Management.

(The report was published in The Telegraph Weekly,10 December 2003)