Free media and drafts of history
Abhi Subedi
Free media discourse did not receive as much attention from parties, governments and civil society as it should have after the political change of April/06. But it has received attention in recent weeks as an issue of freedom. Nepal government's first united response to Constituent Assembly (CA) elections came like a jolt about a month ago. The spokesman of the government indicated that they had agreed in principle that certain codes should be introduced to limit the media reporting about the CA elections in November 2007.
The recent closures of some newspaper distributions by Maoist trade unions and resumptions following a court order and the flexibility shown by the Maoist information minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the trade union near the CPN (Maoist) and the commencement of fast-onto-death by a democratic leader Birendra Dahal propelled by the closure of HBC FM brought the free media discourse to a new height. After these developments, two questions rose like cyclones in my mind. First, why focus on press restrictions before anything else? Second, who is wary of free media in Nepal?
The recent closures of some newspaper distributions by Maoist trade unions and resumptions following a court order and the flexibility shown by the Maoist information minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the trade union near the CPN (Maoist) and the commencement of fast-onto-death by a democratic leader Birendra Dahal propelled by the closure of HBC FM brought the free media discourse to a new height. After these developments, two questions rose like cyclones in my mind. First, why focus on press restrictions before anything else? Second, who is wary of free media in Nepal?
Nepali free media was not created by political parties or governments who have their own mouth organs that they play whenever they feel like and invite readers to appreciate their composition and read their solipsistic notations. Little do such organ creators realise that free media's historical effect is immediate and vibrant.
About the historicity of free press, a senior British journalist John Lloyd says, “Journalists give the first draft of history: historians may do a quite different draft, but most people don't read the histories-so for them it's the first and last” (What the media are doing to our politics 37).
The first draft writers of the current, turbulent Nepali history are the media. The old history writers' books are shelved. They do speak very little now. So writing the drafts of history by free media has become the most important activity in the politically vibrant Nepal. Several native and foreign history writers have been using the Nepali free press to formally write the second draft of the history of this country's turbulent times. The free Nepali press --its journalists, columnists and freelancers have mutually written the first drafts.
About the historicity of free press, a senior British journalist John Lloyd says, “Journalists give the first draft of history: historians may do a quite different draft, but most people don't read the histories-so for them it's the first and last” (What the media are doing to our politics 37).
The first draft writers of the current, turbulent Nepali history are the media. The old history writers' books are shelved. They do speak very little now. So writing the drafts of history by free media has become the most important activity in the politically vibrant Nepal. Several native and foreign history writers have been using the Nepali free press to formally write the second draft of the history of this country's turbulent times. The free Nepali press --its journalists, columnists and freelancers have mutually written the first drafts.
Free media was created by middle class youths who found it as an important means of creating cultural and intellectual space for themselves. They came into existence with the awareness of their in-between-ness- the sense of being below and above, between global and local and founded the free media to express their world view. Their free press activity shook the class above and taught the people below how to be assertive.
Media entrepreneurs gave them freedom for obvious reasons. Little have the political parties realised that. Free media successfully challenged the ardent autocratic regime of the modern times in Nepal in April/06. The role of free media and the journalists was the most important one. They took many risks, disregarded life threats and moved under the barrage of batons and bullets to bring news to the public.
There are some caveats. The Maoists were among the first to realise the power of free press because they chose the free press to publish their important views. The Nepali Congress government jailed Editor Yubaraj Ghimire and publisher Kailash Shiroia of Kantipur for publishing Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai's essay in Kantipur in June 2001 and put a temporary ban on free speech. But the free press prevailed. The free press helped the Maoists to come to the open through their constant attention to their politics, their histrionics, commitments and programmes. Some free Nepali weeklies devote not less than 40 percent of their coverage on the Maoists in each issue.
Media entrepreneurs gave them freedom for obvious reasons. Little have the political parties realised that. Free media successfully challenged the ardent autocratic regime of the modern times in Nepal in April/06. The role of free media and the journalists was the most important one. They took many risks, disregarded life threats and moved under the barrage of batons and bullets to bring news to the public.
There are some caveats. The Maoists were among the first to realise the power of free press because they chose the free press to publish their important views. The Nepali Congress government jailed Editor Yubaraj Ghimire and publisher Kailash Shiroia of Kantipur for publishing Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai's essay in Kantipur in June 2001 and put a temporary ban on free speech. But the free press prevailed. The free press helped the Maoists to come to the open through their constant attention to their politics, their histrionics, commitments and programmes. Some free Nepali weeklies devote not less than 40 percent of their coverage on the Maoists in each issue.
It is ironical, therefore, that the Maoists should look askance at the free press today and suspect that they may have been funded by foreign agents. Examples abound. Kanak Dixit was detained by King Gyanendra's government for defying the restriction to use IT to talk to the foreign press. Other media groups were attacked and their facilities and technologies were looted and vandalised by government agents. Journalists were gagged by militias and governments' armed personnel over the last decade.
Parties' ambivalent attitude towards the free press continues. But the reality is that if the free press leaves a day without reporting the ongoing minuscule U-turns of the parties even today, the political process will move back to square one. The free press has been overtly or covertly alerting the mass and the parties.
What does it mean then to develop hostile attitude towards free press by the government and political parties today? Can a party dream to rule absolutely tomorrow by suppressing free media? Nobody should work with such imaginaries. People are so vigilant that they will not accept any regressive reporting either. So, why instead of sorting out the main political agenda, mutually working for a law and order situation and going to the villages with manifestos as the chief election commissioner has been pleading them to do, are the political parties and government fantasising a muted and muffled press?
The writers of the first drafts of history have great responsibilities as much as the governments to save a free media in Nepal.
Parties' ambivalent attitude towards the free press continues. But the reality is that if the free press leaves a day without reporting the ongoing minuscule U-turns of the parties even today, the political process will move back to square one. The free press has been overtly or covertly alerting the mass and the parties.
What does it mean then to develop hostile attitude towards free press by the government and political parties today? Can a party dream to rule absolutely tomorrow by suppressing free media? Nobody should work with such imaginaries. People are so vigilant that they will not accept any regressive reporting either. So, why instead of sorting out the main political agenda, mutually working for a law and order situation and going to the villages with manifestos as the chief election commissioner has been pleading them to do, are the political parties and government fantasising a muted and muffled press?
The writers of the first drafts of history have great responsibilities as much as the governments to save a free media in Nepal.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, August 22, 2007
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