By Dr Rabin Man Shakya
It goes without saying that news travels faster on the Internet than than on any means of mass media. I remember when I was in the former Soviet Union for ten years (1979-1989), the news used to travel very slowly, much more slower than today's generation can imagine.
The Soviet authorities had tight control over the print as well as electronic media. TV news program "Vremya" (Time) and "Segodnya V Mire" (World Today) broadcast international news, albeit with communist bias. And foreign radio stations like BBC were virtually jammed by the Soviet authorities all the time.
I remember I used to be so much excited when I found a small piece of news about Nepal in the Soviet newspapers Pravda, Izvestia, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Trud or Zarubejhom etc. But that happened once in the blue moon.
Even during those Cold War days, the Soviet newspapers Pravda and Izvestia etc were sold in newspaper kiosks in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Brussels etc. I saw the Soviet newspapers on sale in Western capitals with my own eyes. But no Western newspapers were allowed to be sold in the former Soviet Union.
But the mouthpiece of US Communist Party "Peoples' World" and British Communist Party newspaper "Morning Star" were available at the newspaper kiosks in the big cities of the former Soviet Union. As I craved for international news, I used to buy and read "Peoples' World" and "Morning Star".
Far from home and the motherland, I always yearned for home news and other information from Nepal. But sometimes time went by so fast and I did not see hide nor hair of Nepal news for months. Today, news on Nepal and the whole world is just a click away.
Today's younger generation gets more news and more information more quickly on their i-phones, laptops, notebooks or tablets than we ever could have imagined. Well, better later than never, as the saying goes.
It goes without saying that news travels faster on the Internet than than on any means of mass media. I remember when I was in the former Soviet Union for ten years (1979-1989), the news used to travel very slowly, much more slower than today's generation can imagine.
The Soviet authorities had tight control over the print as well as electronic media. TV news program "Vremya" (Time) and "Segodnya V Mire" (World Today) broadcast international news, albeit with communist bias. And foreign radio stations like BBC were virtually jammed by the Soviet authorities all the time.
I remember I used to be so much excited when I found a small piece of news about Nepal in the Soviet newspapers Pravda, Izvestia, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Trud or Zarubejhom etc. But that happened once in the blue moon.
Even during those Cold War days, the Soviet newspapers Pravda and Izvestia etc were sold in newspaper kiosks in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Brussels etc. I saw the Soviet newspapers on sale in Western capitals with my own eyes. But no Western newspapers were allowed to be sold in the former Soviet Union.
But the mouthpiece of US Communist Party "Peoples' World" and British Communist Party newspaper "Morning Star" were available at the newspaper kiosks in the big cities of the former Soviet Union. As I craved for international news, I used to buy and read "Peoples' World" and "Morning Star".
Far from home and the motherland, I always yearned for home news and other information from Nepal. But sometimes time went by so fast and I did not see hide nor hair of Nepal news for months. Today, news on Nepal and the whole world is just a click away.
Today's younger generation gets more news and more information more quickly on their i-phones, laptops, notebooks or tablets than we ever could have imagined. Well, better later than never, as the saying goes.
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