During the year, a total of 107 incidents of press freedom violation took place across the country in the name of either covering or not-covering the news, stated a press release issued by Freedom Forum-a press freedom watchdog of Nepal.[break]
Over the period, three media entrepreneurs including Chairperson of Space Time Network Jamim Shah, 47, Publisher of Janakpur Today, Arun Kumar Singhaniya, 50, and Chairperson of Community Radio Tulsipur, Devi Prasad Dhital (Hemraj), 45 were gunned down in a broad daylight.
´The number of anti-press incidents including murder of three media owners serves a testimony to the fact that crime against media has increased and journalists are still working under threat and attack´, said Freedom Forum Chairperson Taranath Dahal.
The press freedom violation incidents include murder (3), abduction (2), displacement (2), attack (16), obstruction (2), threat (37), manhandle (20), misbehavior (19), torch (4) and looting (2), according to the release.
Journalist came across a hard time to freely exercise the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression, and compelled to censor themselves for personal security.
Generally, lack of professional and personal safety to media persons, lack of professionalism, growing politicization in journalism and lawlessness have been the major triggers of self-censorship in Nepal. Consequently, it is found that it has brought about detrimental effect in in-depth reporting and investigative journalism, reads the release.
Journalists were compelled not only to experience inhuman torture and life-threatening assaults, but also faced deaths and death threats when they dare to report the wrong doings of political parties, sectarian interest group, security personnel and even government officials.
This year too Nepali media did not witness any substantial policy reform on the part of the government. No any concrete measures took to prosecute the perpetrators of press freedom.
In the absence of clear law and policy, the new problems of cyber crime and defamation remained unaddressed, which increased a sense of insecurity among journalists. The situation revealed that freedom of expression and of press is still under challenge.
Media credibility has also been questioned in relation to the presentation and coverage of news so that community people themselves came up with protest and also attacked journalists in various places. It has increased challenges to the media sector to work in a further sensitive way being embolden to the genuine public issues, the release stated.
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