INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 11Only 1.9 per cent of the news reports produced by Nepali papers and online portals throughout the federal and
provincial elections covered human rights and inclusion issues.
A study on media protection of polls from the human rights point of view
carried out by Media Action Nepal with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives released yesterday showed this disappointing
number.
Study discovers lack of media coverage of human rights and addition concerns throughout elections
Citizen turnout 61 percent,
repolling in 15 booths
Launching the report, Minister Damodar Bhandari highlighted the need to see the issues of society that the state had
stopped working to see and to bring them to prominence and national attention
He also noted the quantitative and qualitative growth Nepali media had made over the previous few decades, however stressed that the growth
had actually not been shown in media material
Nepali media may be getting tangled in shallow issues and not producing deep analyses as per requirement
The Government of Nepal stands with the media for its development, he added.Speaking during the event, Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of the
Media Action Nepal, stated that Nepali media had actually raised a plethora of problems, albeit minimal, as shown by the study, but did not
To change that scenario and for media to cover human rights and addition problems properly and properly, the Nepali press needs to alter
the method towards covering these issues, he added.CEDAW Committee Member Bandana Rana lamented that the media utilized sexist language and
depicted women in a stereotypical way
Ladies candidates were likewise presented as weak, psychological and indecisive during and after the polls, and women relative were blamed
for their partners or children decisions.President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Bipul Pokhrel applauded Media Action Nepal for
producing reference materials for educating reporters and also for holding a mirror to journalism, He also showed simply how wide an effect
media material might have at all levels of society
He noted the need for the press to be responsible and fact-based
NHRC Commissioner Mihir Thakur advised the media to continue digging up the truth, however not sensationalising the truths
He likewise highlighted the link in between a free press, steady politics and human rights
He remarked that the dangers to equality and dignity in both media coverage and among media workers continued unabated and asked all the
stakeholders to focus on dealing with them.The study looked at 7,459 news stories released in 20 media outlets (10 newspapers and 10 online
news portals; three broadsheets and 3 websites from Kathmandu valley and seven broadsheets and seven portals from the provinces) over a
period of 16 days (eight days prior to election day, the ballot day on November 20, and 7 days after the elections) and discovered that only
142 stories covered issues of human rights and inclusion.A variation of this article appears in the print on January 12, 2023, of The
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
