The Ministry of Information and Communications has formed a five-member committee under the convenorship of joint-secretary Narayan Prasad Sanjel to register, regulate and manage online news. [break]
Among the members in the committee are under-secretary at Department of Information Shyam Chalise, editor of onlinekhabar.com Arun Baral, editor of hamrakura.com Ajaya Babu Shivakoti and a representative from Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ).
The committee is holding consultations to expedite process to register online media after outlining regulation under the ambit of Broadcasting Act.
´The report explaining how the registration process will be taken ahead is yet to be finalized´, said committee member Shivakoti, adding that, ´We will study and discuss the recommendations received in this respect and submit them to the Ministry at the earliest possible´.
There is no as such accurate statistics about online media in Nepal. The committee is discussing the registration process, data showing economic status, classification, script, incentives for online media, regulatory mechanism and code of ethics.
The Ministry has constituted the committee under the pressure of online journalists. Online journalists have expressed confidence that online media will advance in line with the legal process after the submission of recommendations of the committee.
The beginning of first-ever online media dates back to 1990 whereas it had gained momentum in Nepal when nepalnews.com had initiated online journalism institutionally in 1999.
It is also popular as a new media where audience could read, listen and watch diversified media content.
The web-based journalism has witnessed exponential rise during the past eight years in Nepal.
Importantly, over a dozen online media such as freenepal.com, nepaljapan.com, nepalnews.com, onlinekhabar.com, himalkhabar.com, ekantipur.com, setopati.com and nepalipost.com have been delivering media contents in Nepal.
According to the statistics of Online Media Association, there are more than 300 online media in different languages in Nepal. Of them over 100 are affiliated to the association, said Association Chairperson Dinesh Basnet.
Internet service was introduced in Nepal some two decades ago, however Nepalis outside the country had started practicing online journalism before this time. Most of the popular broadsheet dailies have started this service in Nepal.
Though the online media are rapidly growing in number, there is no monitoring and regulating body. With no such body in place, the development of online media has been like a boat without rudder, Basnet added.
Even online journalist is required to be registered online, which is called ´Doman Registration´. To this date, ´.com´ is registered from the united States only and the country domain can be registered from the country concerned.
In Nepal, Mercantile is the only authorized company to provide registration of ´.np´. There is still confusion in regard to the registration and monitoring of online media in Nepal. Who is the authorized body – Press Council Nepal or Ministry for Information and Communications – to register online media and monitor their contents and activities.
Currently, there is a global discourse as what legal frameworks should be in palce to regulate and promote online media. No separate law on online media has been so far formulated in any country.
The ban on obscene sites began only aafter the United States –the inventor of internet – introduced ´Communications Decency Act (CDA) in 2000.
Related story
Taking investigative journalism to new heights
