Rabin Man Shakya
Journalists and mass media should always disseminate factual information for the protection and promotion of citizen's fundamental rights and the freedom of expression and opinion. Journalists and mass media should engage in objective, fair, decent and trustworthy journalism. Remaining firm to the principle of objectivity, journalists and mass media should disseminate factual news and balanced opinion.
These are just some of the excerpts from the Journalists Code of Conduct 2016 formulated by Nepal Press Council.
But as a matter of fact, code of conduct for journalists formulated by the Nepal Press Council has always been a showpiece only. Nepal's journalists have published biased, one-sided and concocted news stories numerous times. Many journalists in Nepal do not care about the ethical requirements while doing journalistic assignment.
Kantipur's journalist Ujir Magar was colluding with the then banned Maoist Communist Party when he totally fabricated "a field reporting" about a jail break by the Maoist insurgents by digging the tunnel at a prison in Gorkha. Even though it was a field reporting, the journalist never went to Gorkha for collecting information about the jail break and made up all the story materials in Kathmandu.
The news story was published in the Kantipur as per a planned propaganda or strategy, Magar has conceded, according to media reports.
The jailbreak news story appeared in the Kantipur newspaper 16 years ago under the byline of Ujir Magar and dateline of Gorkha. This is simply bizarre, simply unacceptable and outrageous.
Ujir Magar has conceded -- the jailbreak news in Gorkha was a fake and concocted story -- in a book "Ansha" which was released recently in Kathmandu amidst a function by former prime minister and Maoist leader Prachannda.
The jailbreak took place during the insurgency period. Well, that was the time when Nepal was descending into a maelstrom of political violence perpetrated by the government side as well as the Maoist insurgents. The question arises: Why did the Maoists use the newspaper and the reporter for publishing concocted story ?
It looks like there is the freedom of spinning the yarns and concocting the stories, and the most interesting part is that neither the reporters nor the newspapers ever asked for apology or even a correction for committing journalistic misdemeanour.
Magar's conceding of concocted news story touched a raw nerve because it combined simmering concern over media ethics with wider fears of journalism's connection and affiliation with the Nepalese political parties.
Historical experience shows that the ethical errors were made by a startling array of Nepalese journalists on numerous occasions and no sorry, no apology, no correction. Why ?
The revelation of these kind of fake and concocted news stories has raised questions about the credibility of the Nepalese journalism. This is not the first example of concocted stories in the Kantipur. It is to be noted that fabricated and concocted news stories have been published in the Kantipur a number of times.
Journalists and mass media should always disseminate factual information for the protection and promotion of citizen's fundamental rights and the freedom of expression and opinion. Journalists and mass media should engage in objective, fair, decent and trustworthy journalism. Remaining firm to the principle of objectivity, journalists and mass media should disseminate factual news and balanced opinion.
These are just some of the excerpts from the Journalists Code of Conduct 2016 formulated by Nepal Press Council.
But as a matter of fact, code of conduct for journalists formulated by the Nepal Press Council has always been a showpiece only. Nepal's journalists have published biased, one-sided and concocted news stories numerous times. Many journalists in Nepal do not care about the ethical requirements while doing journalistic assignment.
Kantipur's journalist Ujir Magar was colluding with the then banned Maoist Communist Party when he totally fabricated "a field reporting" about a jail break by the Maoist insurgents by digging the tunnel at a prison in Gorkha. Even though it was a field reporting, the journalist never went to Gorkha for collecting information about the jail break and made up all the story materials in Kathmandu.
The news story was published in the Kantipur as per a planned propaganda or strategy, Magar has conceded, according to media reports.
The jailbreak news story appeared in the Kantipur newspaper 16 years ago under the byline of Ujir Magar and dateline of Gorkha. This is simply bizarre, simply unacceptable and outrageous.
Ujir Magar has conceded -- the jailbreak news in Gorkha was a fake and concocted story -- in a book "Ansha" which was released recently in Kathmandu amidst a function by former prime minister and Maoist leader Prachannda.
The jailbreak took place during the insurgency period. Well, that was the time when Nepal was descending into a maelstrom of political violence perpetrated by the government side as well as the Maoist insurgents. The question arises: Why did the Maoists use the newspaper and the reporter for publishing concocted story ?
It looks like there is the freedom of spinning the yarns and concocting the stories, and the most interesting part is that neither the reporters nor the newspapers ever asked for apology or even a correction for committing journalistic misdemeanour.
Magar's conceding of concocted news story touched a raw nerve because it combined simmering concern over media ethics with wider fears of journalism's connection and affiliation with the Nepalese political parties.
Historical experience shows that the ethical errors were made by a startling array of Nepalese journalists on numerous occasions and no sorry, no apology, no correction. Why ?
The revelation of these kind of fake and concocted news stories has raised questions about the credibility of the Nepalese journalism. This is not the first example of concocted stories in the Kantipur. It is to be noted that fabricated and concocted news stories have been published in the Kantipur a number of times.
No comments:
Post a Comment