By Our Reporter
Since Bikram Timilsina, a former journalist who worked as a reporter for the Space Time daily before leaving for Australia, assumed office as Minister for Communication and Information Technology, he has shown bias against the Nepali media. First, he imposed restrictions on the publication of government advertisements in privately owned media. Now, he has attempted to cut the amount allocated for public welfare advertisements.
The confrontation between the government and the media sector has intensified after the government cut the amount allocated for public welfare advertisements provided to print media. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), publishers and editors of print media, and media-related organisations have warned that they will intensify their protest unless the government withdraws its latest decision.
Soon after the formation of the new government, a lawsuit was filed at the Supreme Court against a circular issued in Chaitra following a secretary-level decision of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers that sought to restrict the distribution of government notices and advertisements to private-sector media. Although the Supreme Court ruled on Ashadh 30 that the decision was unlawful, the verdict has not been implemented. Media professionals have strongly criticised the government, saying that instead of implementing the court’s ruling, it has introduced a new decision aimed at increasing economic pressure on print media.
Print media, already facing the impact of the commercial blockade, have now suffered another setback with cuts in public welfare advertising funds reportedly made under the direction of Minister for Communication and Information Technology. Publishers and editors have expressed anger over the issuance by the Advertising Board of the “Procedure on Publication of Public Welfare Advertisements for Print Media, 2082 (First Amendment, 2083)”, which has reduced the previously allocated amount by up to 50 percent.
Minister Timilsina has maintained that the reduction was made because the Office of the Auditor General had raised questions over the public welfare advertising programme. However, those involved in the campaign to save print media say the claim does not correspond with the facts. Members of the Print Media Protection Recommendation Task Force have provided the minister with evidence showing that the Auditor General’s report contains no audit irregularity concerning even a single rupee of public welfare advertising. Despite several rounds of discussions with the minister on the issue, no solution has been reached.
Publishers and editors of print media, FNJ officials, and the coordinator and members of the Print Media Protection Recommendation Task Force had previously held several rounds of talks with Minister Timilsina. Instead of resolving the problem, however, the minister has raised the issue of equivalence determination contained in the “Standards for Monitoring Newspaper Distribution, 2066 (Revised 2079)”. Media professionals say the provision has never been implemented in practice and that it is therefore unreasonable to use an old provision as a basis for cutting public welfare advertising funds.
According to a member of Press Council Nepal, the Council’s board meeting on Mangsir 21, 2080, had decided to recommend increasing public welfare advertising payments and had sent a letter to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The letter recommended that the amount received by newspapers be adjusted to current conditions and doubled.
“It is not appropriate to ignore that decision and recommendation and instead cut the amount by becoming entangled in a provision from 2066 that has never been implemented,” the member said.
The decision to cut public welfare advertising funds has also been questioned in Parliament. Media-sector sources said lawmakers from various political parties, including the Rastriya Swatantra Party, have already raised strong objections in Parliament, arguing that Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle had allocated Rs 330 million through the budget and that the amount approved by Parliament was subsequently reduced without authorisation by the Ministry of Communication. Questions have also been raised about the legal basis for the ministry to unilaterally reduce an amount approved by Parliament while implementing the approved budget and programme.
FNJ General Secretary Ram Prasad Dahal said that neither the commercial blockade nor the reduction in public welfare advertising funds was acceptable.
“Commercial blockade and cuts in public welfare advertising funds are unacceptable. Such unlawful actions will not be tolerated,” he said.
Damodar Prasad Dawadi, coordinator of the Print Media Protection Recommendation Task Force, said those in power might not always realise where they are going wrong.
“The state has been supporting the media since 2016 B.S. so that the media can point out where those in power are going wrong,” he said. “Why should public welfare advertising, which continued under the Panchayat system, the multiparty system after 2046 B.S., King Gyanendra’s rule and the subsequent democratic republic, suddenly be stopped?”
Task Force member Mukti Bastola said discussions had taken place with the minister, but there appeared to be no readiness to resolve the issue. According to him, it has already been established that there are no audit irregularities concerning the funds, while officials of the Advertising Board have said that the reduction was made not on their own decision but on the minister’s direction. Press Council Nepal has also recommended increasing the funds.
“If there is the political will to resolve the problem, it would not take even a minute,” Bastola said. “The Auditor General’s Office, Press Council Nepal, Advertising Board, FNJ and the Print Media Protection Recommendation Task Force can all be brought together to discuss the facts and legal basis and reach an immediate conclusion.”
Task Force member Tank Karki also said the government had sufficient grounds to resolve the problem.
“Our expectation is that the problems of the media will be taken seriously. The Auditor General’s Office, Press Council Nepal, Advertising Board, FNJ and the task force can all be brought together for discussions. Who is stopping the government from doing so?” he asked.
Task Force member Hem Raj Silwal alleged that since print media cannot constitutionally be shut down, there appears to be an attempt to weaken them economically and create conditions in which they are forced to close on their own.
According to him, the effects of the alleged commercial blockade and cuts in public welfare advertising will directly affect newspapers, journalists, employees, printing, distribution and the advertising market.
Shobha Aryal, president of the FNJ Kathmandu chapter, said the federation remained committed to the campaign to save print media.
“Right now, the FNJ is fighting to save print media. If the issue is not taken seriously, those concerned should understand whom the backlash will hurt,” she said.
Ramesh Kumar Bohora, secretary of the FNJ Kathmandu chapter, said public welfare advertising should not be viewed as state charity but as an issue connected with the protection of a free press.
He said the cuts could not be treated as an ordinary administrative decision. According to him, public welfare advertising, which print media have received continuously since 2016 B.S., has become an important part of their financial foundation.
“Cutting the public welfare advertising funds that print media have continuously received since 2016 B.S. is not an ordinary administrative decision. It directly affects the economic foundation of the free press,” Bohora said. “Any attempt to put economic pressure on media that question the government’s wrongdoings is unacceptable.”
He warned that efforts to financially cripple print media, which directly and indirectly create hundreds of thousands of jobs and self-employment opportunities, would not be allowed to succeed through commercial pressure and advertising cuts.
“The government has sufficient grounds and options to resolve the problem, yet it has chosen to ignore them. What is stopping the government from bringing the Auditor General’s Office, Press Council Nepal, Advertising Board, FNJ and the Print Media Protection Recommendation Task Force together to discuss the facts and legal basis? If there is the will to resolve the problem, this issue can be settled immediately,” Bohora said.
He added that the media sector and the FNJ would not remain silent if the government proceeded with decisions that could financially cripple print media.
“The government should choose the path of resolving the problem, not the path of shutting down the media. We will resist any attempt to displace print media through commercial pressure and cuts in advertising funds,” he said.
Media professionals have demanded the withdrawal of the cuts in public welfare advertising funds, an end to the alleged commercial blockade against private-sector media, implementation of the Supreme Court verdict, and immediate dialogue among concerned stakeholders for the long-term protection of print media.
They have said that the door remains open for negotiations and a fact-based resolution. However, if the government fails to address their demands, the FNJ and media-related organisations are preparing to intensify their protest nationwide.
The common conclusion of media professionals participating in the campaign to save print media is that the reduction in public welfare advertising is not merely a matter of cutting advertising payments. It concerns the survival of economically vulnerable print media, employment and the financial foundation of a free press.
Login to add a comment