My Journalistic Experience And TRN

Lok Deep Thapa

It has been a really long journey. From writing a report for the in-house magazine of a well-known social organisation to the grind one had to go through while working for different newspapers, it has been an eye-opening experience that has also taught me not only about journalism but also about different issues in many sectors.

As today is the anniversary of The Rising Nepal, where I spent much of my youth working and at the same time learning about different aspects of the media and other things, from inside my heart, I will always be grateful to this institution, which shaped up my career in this field.

Pioneers

But let me start at the beginning and say something about the pioneers of the Daily, who played crucial roles for the newspaper in their own ways. Many other people made their journalistic careers in this newspaper, but some individuals played major roles in giving such opportunities to others and stood above the rest.

There were almost no trained journalists at the time.In fact, this writer was one of the first trained media professionals to join TRN, having completed a college-level course as well as working as a part-time reporter in several reputable organisations at the time.I remember P. Kharel, who was a diligent journalist as well as a dedicated teacher, who wrote about the

students he had taught in a small piece in the then-popular TRN column, where he said there were "trained but unwanted" young journalists who had not been given any chance for steady work in the field in which they had studied.

Such a thing happened even at TRN, which overlooked trained journalists and chose other individuals, who all eventually left the paper for greener pastures. The least one can say is that either the teaching process was not up to standard or the so-called selection process in the "open competition" was flawed. But that is history for this writer now.

Still, we cannot forget our pioneers. And in this list, I must first put forth the name of the late Barun Shumsher Rana, the founding chief editor of this daily. Though I was not on the staff of this daily when he was the chief editor, I had the fortune to work alongside him when he was the editor of the Sunday Despatch, a weekly published by the Gorkhapatra Corporation.

The Corporation started this Weekly as a completely different type of publication.But due to the political changes of 1990, this weekly continued, but in a different format and not as envisioned by the planners who had sown the seeds of an "informal weekly," which could publish different views than those expressed by the other publications of this corporation.

But due to some differences between the late Rana, who was a "gem of a person" and a really good human being, and the then management, Rana chose to resign from his post.

That is when this writer was made the editor of this weekly, and he continued to edit this paper for almost a decade till he was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of The Rising Nepal, an awesome task for this young media person.

Sunday Despatch Days

But, going back to the Sunday Despatch days, there were many occasions when this author had to have lengthy discussions with the then-powerful board members, many of whom had no idea how publishing houses had to function and how they should function in a more realistic manner in order to survive in the then-competitive market.

But we did this, and eventually Sunday Despatch started to run smoothly, becoming popular not only among foreigners but also among Nepali readers who wanted to read open opinions, also in English.

Naturally, along with our popularity, we also gained enemies, and we had to face some troubles, both from the authorities and also from the management here within the corporation itself. But all the staff of Sunday Despatch took this in their stride, and I would especially like to mention one colleague, Sunil KC, who also worked to defend our work style.

To return to those who made a difference in TRN's progress, MR Josse, who succeeded the late Rana, was a dynamic editor with new ideas for making the daily more popular.He was a strict disciplinarian, and he was also very hard-working, making sure that all the staff at TRN did the same as he did.

He also had his ups and downs with the authorities and with his fellow co-workers, but one must say he played an instrumental role in carrying forward the TRN flag.

Shyam KC followed Josse’s footsteps, and he became the Chief Editor of this daily after Josse. I really cannot say anything about his performance as a journalist, but he was a very upbeat person who put all co-workers at ease with his nice personality.

He was also very liberal during that period, when TRN was still dictated by outside powers within the government and from the Palace too. But KC took things easily, and he made some fundamental changes to TRN to boost its readership further. He is always remembered fondly by all the old TRN hands who worked under him.

This author recalls when KC launched a brand-new sports page, which was unusual at the time.A sportsman himself, he knew how much the readers wanted to read about international and local sporting events, which just went unreported by most media outlets at that time.

It may be a coincidence that this author did something more by shifting the sports page to the last page, exactly like most other newspapers do worldwide. Readers either read the front pages or the sports page right after, as only a select group of readers read news of interest on other pages, such as the business page.

There are thousands of memories of my long innings at TRN, which gives me much satisfaction that I was associated with this historical institution that has always strived to give unbiased news and report events as they have happened, a thing that many other publications that have come out now cannot boast about.

Among the many memories I have of my helpful colleagues and also of events where I had the opportunity to meet different heads of state and governments, I especially remember a time way back in 1989, when I got the opportunity to go through a rigorous journalism course at the Center for Foreign Journalists (CFJ) in Virginia, United States of America.

I was the only Nepali among many different participants from seventeen other countries.

Moment of Pride

I was even offered a job to stay back in America, but I thought it was my patriotic duty to come back and share my experiences with journalists and others in our own country. This also happened at the time when an embargo was being imposed on Nepal by India.

In my enthusiasm as a pro-active reporter, I forced a high-level official in the State Department of that country to say something about this issue. It was a moment of pride when I saw my report published on the front pages of both the TRN and the vernacular Gorkhapatra.

So at this moment, when my newer colleagues are observing the anniversary of this historic newspaper, all I can say is that I am really proud to have been associated with it and to have learned about journalism while making good friends with both very senior-level people and also enthusiastic youngsters who are at the helm of things now.

I congratulate TRN and the people who have worked and are still working for this newspaper, and I thank all of them for their professional "move ahead" attitude.

(Thapa is a former Editor-In-Chief of This daily)

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