‘Print media still relevant’

Senior journalists in the country have argued that the relevance of the print media is still dominant though number of the print media readers is gradually decreasing.

At an interaction programme organized by the Print Media National Network on the challenges of print media in Nepal, the participants argued that print media should be more contextual and broad in the changing context.

Presenting a working paper on ‘challenges of print media and expectations from stakeholders’, the Spokesperson of Press Council Nepal, Dipak Khanal, said print media should diversify their contents and the way of presentation adding that in-depth contents were needed by doing away with the idea of news breaking.

Khanal argued that possibilities are there for print media to get readers if they offer content that is missed by new media.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s press advisor Govinda Acharya said that the media-related agencies of the government would be made active to address the key challenges of print media.

Likewise, the Editor of Jana Aastha Weekly, Kishore Shrestha called for exploring new ideas to overcome the challenges of print media and added that the importance and dignity of print media still continue.

Chairman of Print Media National Network Dev Prakash Tripathi also expressed his views on the present context and challenges of print media in the country.

Meanwhile, at a separate programme on media’s role in deepening Nepal-China relations, speakers stressed that Nepal’s media should raise the issues of dialogue, cooperation and mutual partnership to further deepen Nepal-China ties.

Presenting a paper, journalist Sitaram Bhattarai claimed that Nepal’s media has a gap in correctly understanding the Nepal-China ties.
Likewise, the Chairman of Nepal China Media Forum Kishore Shrestha called for further cooperation for boosting mutual partnership while honestly working to disseminate those issues to the citizens to deepen Nepal-China relations.

Senior journalists Rajan Karki, Dr Balkrishna Chapagain, Nirmala Sharma, Pushparaj Pradhan, Maheshwor Dahal, Bishwamani Subedi and Khiil Bahadur Bhandari expressed their comments on both the working papers.