Press Council ready to collaborate with Gorkhapatra Corporation

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 25: Dr. Kumar Sharma Acharya, Chairman of the Press Council Nepal, said that the Council could collaborate with Gorkhapatra Daily on various issues, including the upcoming elections, good governance in the media sector, enhancement of the skills of media personnel, and digital archiving.

Chairman Acharya made the remarks while monitoring various publishing branches of the Gorkhapatra Corporation on Wednesday. Stating that the Press Council will facilitate rather than merely regulate the media sector, he said that there is much to learn from the Gorkhapatra Corporation, which has a long history of journalism carried forward under responsible and youthful leadership.

He said that the code of ethics issued before the publication of Gorkhapatra, specifying what kind of news could be published, could be the world’s first press code of conduct.

Chairman Acharya expressed surprise that, during his monitoring, he learned for the first time about a code of ethics similar to the current press code of conduct that had been issued even before the newspaper’s publication, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.

Gorkhapatra Corporation General Manager Lal Bahadur Airi said that Gorkhapatra has always maintained close cooperation with the Press Council, an organisation that monitors and regulates the media sector prudently to promote good practices and effective management.

He urged the Council to study the fact that the code of ethics issued prior to the publication of Gorkhapatra, which has been continuously advancing in its 125th year, could be the first media code of conduct in the Nepali media sector. He noted that the code had even instructed the rulers of the time not to publish praise of themselves.

He also said that the Council is witnessing Gorkhapatra’s efforts to preserve its historical glory and pride by giving space to truth-based content and news.

Furthermore, he said that by establishing the Gorkhapatra Academy, the newspaper aims to contribute to journalism education and the enhancement of journalists’ skills in the coming days, including through curriculum development.

Acting Editor-in-Chief of Gorkhapatra Daily, Junar Babu Basnet, introduced various publications of Gorkhapatra.