KATHMANDU, March 24: Press Council Nepal Chairman Balkrishna Basnet has expressed his concern that the online media have only increased in numbers whereas the credibility is decreasing.
He said that since the registration of online portals is done by people from backgrounds other than journalism, the quality and reliability should be paid attention to. He said that the Press Council has been conducting regular orientation classes for online operators and editors from different backgrounds for a year and will continue to do so.
Speaking at an orientation program on Friday, Basnet said that it should be the priority of all related agencies to make the journalism sector dignified and credible.
Ensuring Quality Journalism
Dr Suresh Acharya, senior journalist and former president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, mentioned that the current challenge in journalism is maintaining credibility. He said that credibility can be maintained only by fully following the journalists’ code of conduct.
"Looking at the current works of online portals, it shows why it is necessary to have a license system in journalism," Acharya said, "The council has done a good job by starting such orientation classes at least."
Friday's class was attended by 34 new online directors and editors. A year ago, the council made it mandatory to take a code of conduct orientation class before registering online portals.
In one year, 671 online operators and editors have taken the orientation class. In the 22nd series of orientation on Friday, Dr Suresh Acharya, and Deepak Khanal, senior administrative officer of the council, took the class as subject experts. Dr Acharya gave training on journalists’ code of conduct while Khanal gave training on the importance and effectiveness of various communication guidelines under the code of conduct issued by the council. The program was facilitated by Ramsharan Bohora, deputy-administrative officer and information officer of the Council.
