Although Nepal has witnessed a phenomenal growth of the media industry over the years, this sector has continued to face criticisms for failing to disseminate factual information to the public. Even the mainstream Nepali media has been unable to break the tendency of spreading the misinformation. For the media to be more professional and responsible, it must focus on bringing truth to light so as to take their audiences into confidence. The practice of creating sensations in the society by distorting facts must come to an end for once and all. The media should always carry out their responsibilities towards the people and the nation in an honest manner. It needs no mention that the media have a vital role to play in national building process. They can help establish good governance in the country through rooting out corruption and various other anomalies.

Against this backdrop, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has called the media for bringing out only truth. While speaking at an interaction organised to mark this daily’s 54th anniversary in the capital the other day, Minister Baskota lashed out at the Nepali mainstream media for being unable to uncover the essence of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project of the U.S. offered to Nepal. He added that the mainstream media still tended to give sensational headlines in news reports to sell their newspapers. Such practices have certainly misled the citizens. Some private media had given coverage to the happenings at the Nepal Communist Party (NCP)’s Standing Committee meeting with misguiding headlines. They reported that the ministers attending the meeting had criticised the US$ 500 million cross-border electricity line between Nepal and India. Actually, the Standing Committee members had raised their voices about the MCC project. Ministers and as well as other leaders are members of the SC. The leaders did not express their views on the MCC project not as ministers but as the SC members. So, it was unfair on the part of the media to mention that the ministers shared their resentments on the issue.

As a new chapter in the partnership between Nepal and the U.S., the project was signed during the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral relations in 2017. The MCC deal was the first Compact in South Asia. The project mainly aims to deal with Nepal’s two major constraints of economic growth that include low energy supply and high transportation costs. Under this project, high voltage electric lines equivalent to one-third length of Nepal will be constructed. The project is expected to facilitate Nepal’s trade with India beside other activities that will enhance transparency, efficiency and competition in the country’s power sector. It is worth mentioning that the U.S. decided to support Nepal through this project in recognition of the progress the latter has made in establishing rule of law, democratic institutions and investment in people. Therefore, as suggested by Minister Baskota, who is also the government’s spokesperson, the media should have minutely studied it before disseminating the news instead of being unnecessarily biased against the project. Such unfair acts of the media not only misguide the society but erase their own public image as well.