freedom1 Forum has come up with the stand that the National Mass Communications Policy the government approved recently is faulty, incomplete, and guided by authoritarian principles.
First, the government did not allow any public discussion on the Policy before approval. The government approved the Policy immediately after high level committee submitted it.
Despite having representation from different sectors (21 members) in the high level committee to draft the policy, the Policy failed to duly address the new issues as of internet-based media. The ‘registration’ of the internet-based media discourages freedom1 of expression on the internet. The internet-based media has been treated differently from the print media which is wrong.
The term as ‘as per law’ is quite general and leaves a huge space for political maneuvering while formulating law on freedom1 of expression in the provincial levels. It lacked specific suggestions.
Although cinema is one of the vibrant mass communication medium, the policy has not spoken anything against the existing practice of pre-censorship and categorization of film. Rather, it has regarded the film only as an industry in need of promotion. The policy therefore is against fundamental principles of freedom1 of expression.
Also, it has not spoken anything about the foreign films in Nepal despite having huge market of films produced abroad. As the freedom1 of expression in a frontier less issue, the Mass Communications Policy must have spoken on it, but it is mute on it.
Similarly, although the Policy has talked about the reform of Press Council Nepal, a media content regulatory body, its structure is dominated by journalists; there is no position for citizens to oversee media. It means the State-run body dominated by media persons can misuse the Council, ignoring citizens’ rights to information, and freedom1 of expression.
Running media by the State (Policy seeks the promotion of the State-run Gorkhapatra daily) is also against international principles of press freedom1.
Talking of the present context, the number of media has significantly increased in Nepal posing the sustainability risk. At a time the voice of media merger has been heard, the Policy has not spoken anything on it.
The government approved the policy without publicizing it.
On August 3, freedom1 Forum had held a meeting among the stakeholders on the recent Mass Communications Policy bringing together the chairman of the high level committee which recommended the policy, its members, rights defenders, advocates, film producers, Online Media Association, INGO, academicians, researchers, and journalists.
All the participants were univocal that the Policy was in need of correction. The high level committee members revealed that the Policy was a kind of compromise document, so it was not complete one.
The committee members also revealed that it was quite difficult to come to common point among the members as in the distribution of Radio frequency.
For More Information
freedom1 Forum
Thapathali, Kathmandu
Post Box No: 24292
Phone No. 4102030, 4102022
Website: www.nepalpressfreedom1.org; www.freedom1forum.org.np
Email: monitoring@freedom1forum.org.np; info@freedom1forum.org.np;