State Of Journalism

Journalism is a profession of high reputation as it has a vital role in informing and educating the people.  But, of late, it has come under severe scrutiny from the public.  In my 15-year stint as a journalist, I have never seen this sector lose its spark on such a scale. This has really disappointed me.   I feel that people don't give journalists due respect.  General people make an assumption that journalists are not faithful to society.

Recently, I had a chance to travel with a senior official of a reputed bank. During the hour-long talks, he raised serious concerns about the credibility of Nepali journalism, stating it is not guiding the society towards the right path. He claimed there was massive frustration with the system and the overall country's situation.  He even went on to attribute recent destruction during the Gen-Z movement to the media's negative portrayal of our society.

His comments reflected our society's perception of the media sector. From the discourse, it is again proved that even educated people fail to differentiate between mainstream media and new media.

People are perceiving the contents of media without gatekeeping it. Media professionals seem unaware of the law and ethics of the profession. New media mostly deliver the content in the grid of TRP.  The algorithm factors play a vital role in spreading such content widely. Because of the rise of new media/YouTube and the widespread propagation of negativism across social media, the perception of people is changing day by day. This negativism is further spread by people who don't have enough knowledge of journalism, its laws, and the ethics of the profession. These individuals are highly engaged in media as influencers simply to earn money without respecting the profession.

Not only online media, but even in transitional media, there is a growing trend of spreading negative journalism that has also failed to deliver positive news. When going through newspapers, it often seems that almost all space or pages are dedicated to negative news or criticism. Monitoring news content suggests that nothing positive is happening in the country.

The media has a crucial role in setting the mindset of society, so it must be more serious about spreading positivity. There is a concept of constructive journalism and solution journalism, which means writing news to spread positivity in society, which even guides society. To bring society on track from the negativity, the discourse of solution journalism is a must.

On the other hand, the media sector lacks strong regulation. Although the Press Council Nepal exists to regulate, it cannot do so single-handedly because there is no strong regulatory system for the entire media. Likewise, it cannot widen its role in new media from the print one. Similarly, there is difficulty in controlling the media from other ways, as the Constitution assures press freedom.

There have been times when the government has tried to control the media, attempting to bring social network regulation directives. These efforts have failed as unions of journalists have gone against the regulation plan. So, all authorities must be serious to bring the profession under regulation to restore journalism's reputation. Otherwise, the profession will lose its trust in the future after professional people are alienated here.