KATHMANDU

The Center for Media Research Nepal launched a book titled “Pradesh Ma Media” during a program in Kathmandu on Monday. The book has analyzed the status of various unions and media in operation in the provinces.

Speaking at the launching event, Professor P Kharel said that the media’s integrated data would help to understand the state of media at the federal, provincial, and district levels as well as to examine the multilateral aspect of the media.

President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Bipul Pokhrel said that he believes that without the proper statistical data, identification of the problem will be difficult. He further added that even though the country has adopted federalism, the notion of federalism in the media sector is not felt yet.

Similarly, Pokhrel accused the local governments of inducing journalists and trying to control the critical content. He also said that if such a condition continues; in the next 15 to 20 years, only praising journalism will remain and that the media should be aware of it.

Jhabindra Bhusal, chief officer of Press Council Nepal, said there were problems in the media from time to time due to the lack of uniformity in the statistics and that he has started a discussion regarding the digitalized system. He said that coordination between the council and provinces is important for managing the data collection of radio, television, and online media. He also said that Bagmati Province is currently working to make the data related to media available online.

Trishna Acharya, president of the Center for Media Research, Nepal (CMR) said that the book was established with the aim of providing information on the current statistics and the book will talk about and analyze the data of newspapers, and online news mediums, radio, television at the province and district level on the basis of the registration at Press Council Nepal and licenses issued by the Department of Information and Broadcasting till the first week of February 2022.

According to the statistics mentioned in the book, there are currently 8,953 media outlets in Nepal, including 4,789 newspapers, 880 FM Radios, 164 television channels, and 3,120 online news mediums.

The number of journalists who have joined The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) is 13,077. According to the statistics, among the seven provinces, Bagmati has the highest number of media and journalists. There are 5,051 media outlets and 5,776 journalists in Bagmati.