Autonomy of Media Council underlined

Kathmandu, July 28: Media experts have suggested autonomy of Media Council for its independent and responsible functioning.

At an interaction related to Media Council Bill, 2080 in the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee under the House of Representatives, they urged to forward the Bill with necessary amendments. Only autonomous and responsible media regulatory body can offset government's control.

On the occasion, former President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Tara Nath Dahal, demanded revision on the Bill, saying though discussion was held on it for long, no conclusion was drawn yet. "There should be representation of all in the Media Council—journalists, users and experts. It will be better if the chairperson of council will be appointed out from among journalism," he argued.

 Similarly,  another former FNJ President, Shiva Gaunle, expressed the view that Media Council should be developed as a body maintaining 'sensitivity and balance' between press and state, adding Council should better stress  promotion of self-regulation and ethical standards.

Likewise, Communications expert Dr Raghu Mainali criticized the Bill, saying it is control-oriented. "An organisation needs autonomy, fund and accountability to be strong. But it lacks strong presence of these elements," he argued.

Dr Suresh Acharya suggested not to appoint majority of journalists in the executive committee of the Media Council, adding the structure where a person assigned from the Ministry as a Chief curtails the institutions' autonomy. 

Arguing that structural weakness seen in the Media Council Bill has raised question on the concept of an independent regulatory body, lecturer of Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Jagat Nepal, stressed that appointment of Chairperson of the Council should be equal to that of constitutional commission.   

"The Council should have rights to appoint chief executive officer from open competition. I want to draw serious attention in structural reforms", shared Dr Shudhamshu Dahal, Associate Professor at Kathmandu University. 

Similarly, Associate Professors at the Tribhuvan University, Dr Rishi Kesh Dahal, and Dr Shreeram Paudyal emphasized the need of making media literacy as the basis of self-regulation. 

Chairperson of the Public Service Broadcasting Nepal, Dr Mahendra Bista, viewed that the Media Council should be capable to adopt the changes brought by technology in media.  The media experts criticized the Bill, saying it failed to incorporate the issues like technology and media literacy. 

The Bill, registered at the National Assembly on April 24, 2024, got endorsed and was sent to the House of Representatives, the lower House, on February 10, 2025. (RSS)