Restructuring Govt. Media Making It Accountable To Parliament [ 2008-2-1 ]
Vijaya Chalise
The nation is in the course of restructuring its political, economic, cultural and social sectors in order to strengthen people's democracy, and, obviously, government-controlled media organisations, too, must be restructured. And discussions have begun on the different modalities that can be adopted. There are demands for letting go of all government media from its hold and developing them into a democratic framework. Under the existing model and structure, the government media have not been able to take up the new role in the changed context. Therefore, they need to move towards modernisation and stop being a mouthpiece of the government.
Glorious history
Seemingly, the government media have a glorious history are an inseparable part of history. Despite the label that they have been cursed to uphold due to its establishment and structure, the role of the government media in the field of developing the art, culture, language, literature and public awareness is commendable and beyond comparison.
The democratic government established by the People's Movement has, more or less, accepted the principle of autonomy for the government media organisations. The government, in principle, is committed to ensuring an environment for the full enjoyment of the right to information by creating the necessary institutional and procedural arrangements. However, how much political determination the government can show is yet to be witnessed.
As has been recommended time and again, the government media organisations should be restructured to make them viable and competitive. Several modalities of redesigning and restructuring are being suggested. Privatisation might be one modality while structuring the media on the basis of the cooperative principle. Under it, the stakes and ownership could be conferred to the employees of the entity itself.
There are other models, too, to be discussed and examined in this respect so that an informed and well-conceived strategy is finalised to breathe new life into the corporations that have been serving the nation and people for decades, some for more than a century. Among the modalities being discussed, restructuring under the jurisdiction of a Parliamentary Information Committee after developing the corporations into a trust, would be more appropriate in developing the government media into a public service entity. The concept of privatisation like a consumer goods industry is not desirable for a public service media that must work according to the principle of social responsibility.
Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara, too, is positive about restructuring the government media into public service media organisations. Speaking at an interaction on 'Autonomy of National Broadcasting, Self-dependency, and professionalism' organised by Nepal Television recently, Mahara said that the government was ready to run the state-owned media under public authority. He mentioned that the Nepali media were awaiting liberation from the government's direct ownership and external interference in the name of professionalism.
He, however, emphasised that freedom must be compatible with the social necessity and awareness. Presenting a paper on the topic, senior journalist Vinaya Kumar Kasajoo also suggested that state-owned Nepal Television could be run under the parliament and the same could be prescribed for the other media organisations run presently by the government.
Indeed, government media organisations stand at the crossroads, and a new policy orientation and thrust are needed to bail them out of the crisis. These organisations are in a critical and difficult situation in the face of stiff competition in the media sector. They face the challenge of giving continuity to their historic identity and achievement while competing with the private sector. It is high time all the stakeholders did away with their traditional mindset and spelt out the future course to be taken by the government media.
The fierce competition among the media organisations to win over the major share of the Nepalese media market seems to be already affecting the obligations of social responsibility. After the restoration of multi- party democracy in the country, when freedom of the press was guaranteed, private sector investors belonging to big business houses started to invest in the media sector. Several media houses started publication and broadcasting channels with professional hands and huge budgets.
This proved good to some extent as it gave the much-needed competition and institutional development in the media sector. However, this competition caused media investors to use the media to fulfil their personal business interests while disseminating news and views. This trend ultimately might foster a culture of providing news and views based on popularity, giving an imaginary picture of the society. The constraint of the market brings about uniformity and standardisation of the masses. This occurs when the power to inform lies in the hand of a few private sector media barons with the data and sources of information.
Throughout the world, some big publications have been accused of using the media to fulfil their personal interests and disseminating news to suit their interests. Nepal is not an exception, and this demands that the government media be restructured into a public media service in a way that will serve national interest.
The claim that the government should not run the media directly in a democracy is widely accepted. However, no one should forget that in a country where all institutions, including the private media, are still striving to be established professionally, public media organisations could play a vital role in safeguarding national as well as people's interest.
Many people representing the private media want the report presented by the High Level Media Commission to be implemented. Yet, controversies raised by the report cannot be ignored. The prescription of selling the Gorkhapatra, by separating the brand names and the assets, could be one example. Such recommendation by the commission heavily dominated by private sector media representatives without studying an alternative mode is obviously aimed at eliminating the history of a century-old national publishing house and patronising individually controlled private media houses.
Therefore, the propositions on restructuring the Gorkhapatra Corporation by separating the brand names of the publications and the assets of the corporation, and the opening up of foreign direct investment - of up to 49 per cent - in the media industries should be reconsidered before implementing the report. The proposition, therefore, lacks sensitivity and respect for the eminent national organisation that has served the nation continuously for over a century. Therefore, these issues demand objective examination and wider consultation before any decisions are taken.
In the age of globalisation, the world's money, technology and markets are controlled and managed by gigantic global corporations; a common consumer culture unifies all people in a shared quest for material gratification; and the perfect global competition among workers and localities offers their services to investors under the most advantageous terms. Furthermore, private sector corporations are free to act solely on the basis of profitability; the market defines relationships; and there are no loyalties to country, place and community.
Regulatory measures
For these reasons, a number of countries are taking strong regulatory measures to safeguard their national interests in the media sector, and Nepal should not ignore the fact. It is necessary because information is increasingly being counted as a 'strategic resource'. The role of the media that disseminates information is conceived as being a check on public and private power.
(Vijaya Chalise is Editor-in-Chief of the Gorkhapatra Daily)
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