Quality fails in media boom: Unesco report
KATHMANDU, DEC 20 -
Nepali media outlets have mushroomed in the past two decades but failed to translate the growth into quality, said media professionals on Thursday at the launch of a report on the Unesco Assessment of Media Development in Nepal.
The study, based on Unesco’s Media Development Indicators, assesses Nepal’s print, broadcast and online media under five categories, each followed by a number of recommendations. The study focuses on media regulations, the plurality and diversity of media, the potential of media to provide a platform for democratic discourse, professional capacity-building and infrastructural capacity.
“Media has come a long way but content needs to be improved,” said Parsuram Kharel, professor at the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University, who led the research team. Press Council Nepal chief Borna Bahadur Karki charged Nepali media with losing credibility by breaching journalistic ethics at times. “Retaining reporters in the profession is another challenge,” he said.
The 94-page report has studied legal and policy frameworks, infrastructure, professionalism and democratic discourse in Nepali media. Publishers hope it will contribute to present discussions on constitutional and legal reforms and media self-regulation mechanisms.
“The assessment of Nepal’s media landscape is intended to accompany the country in its democratic transition and to foster free, independent and pluralist media”, said Axel Plathe, Unesco Representative to Nepal.
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