Interview with journalist and journalism educator P. Kharel, currently chairman of the Nepal Press Institute.
Parsuram Kharel, familiar to many as P. Kharel, joined The Rising Nepal as a sub-editor in August 1973 and served as the daily's editor in 1994-96. He was media advisor for the Asia-Pacific regional media project of the Freidrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German INGO (1996-2004). Concurrently, he taught journalism and mass communication at various institutes and campuses since 1980. Presently he is a professor at the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Tribhuvan University, and Chairman of Nepal Press Institute. Mr. Kharel has written 15 books on media issues. He also has written about 2,500 articles, mostly in English, for more than dozen publications in a career spanning 37 years. He notes that his latest book, Political Communication: Media Message and Meaning, will be followed in 2011-12 by another book discussing on media role in a participatory democracy. Recently, nepalmonitor.com conducted an interview with Mr. Kharel on a range of media issues as well his career. The following is the text of the interview:
It is also said that you were the first foreign correspondent from Nepal who was formally stationed in New Delhi for a while. Is this true, and if so, when did this happen, and can you share with us how the gig felt like?
I consider my assignment as the Gorkhapatra Sansthan's full-time correspondent stationed in New Delhi in 1989-90 at the height of an impasse over trade and treaty transities between Nepal and India as one of the most challenging tasks I faced during my entire journalism career. It so happened that I also happened to be the first regular correspondent working for a Nepali media. (The national news agency (RSS) a few years earlier, had deputed two or three of their staffs for brief periods as "an experiment", as a result of which Delhi-datelined news from RSS were very few.) That was also the time when the then Indian Prime Minister, with three-fourths majority in parliament, faced corruption charges that $640 million was pocketed as bribe by those in the corridors of power in the world's most populous democracy. Most opposition MPs resigned from parliament in protest against the government's failure to form a probe committee. All along, Nepalis were suffering from the hardships because of the stalemate over signing a new treaty with India. Unhappy over some of my dispatches from the Indian capital, the Indian External Affairs Ministry summoned me thrice but stopped such practice after I told a director that I would move the foreign correspondents' association in New Delhi if such harassment continued. As a result, my press accreditation card was never upgraded to a regular one and I joked with other foreign correspondents that I was the "senuior-most" foreign correspondent among those holding "temporary" ID card. Temporary ID meant having to renew it every month, also depriving its holder from being listed in the official list of foreign correspondents. This meant that I would have to personally make calls and visit members of the diplomatic corps and government officials, among others, to introduce myself. When the Rajiv Government lost the November 1989 elections, things improved a little, with the foreign ministry officials there visibly friendly. By the time I was nearing completion of a year in Delhi, I was recalled to head as the editor of the impending publication of Gorkhapatra Sansthan, Sunday Despatch.
Even as a news person, you have sometimes become news yourself. For example, your involvement in the National Journalists' Association Nepal during the reign of King Gyanendra during the mid-2000s. What led you to join that particular professional group?
Outright political activists heavily dominate all such organizations, including the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Nepal Press Union, Press Chautari and Revolutionary Journalists Association. Political activists of the pro-monarch make also dominated the Federation of National Journalists Associations. If I could become a simple member of FNJ even if its office-bearers were elected on party lines, why not accept the leadership of the newly formed group, even if heavily dominated by also activists projected as pro-monarchists, I thought. But FENAJ's Constitution clearly stressed on professionalism and inclusiveness. I was an interim president for six months until a general assembly elected the editor of Jana Bhawana weekly, Nirodh Raj Pandey as the new president. I have no regrets, though the group is disintegrated today.
Besides RR College, you are also associated with a number of colleges in your teaching work. How have you been able to contribute to their specific curricula and teaching needs?
Parsuram Kharel, familiar to many as P. Kharel, joined The Rising Nepal as a sub-editor in August 1973 and served as the daily's editor in 1994-96. He was media advisor for the Asia-Pacific regional media project of the Freidrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German INGO (1996-2004). Concurrently, he taught journalism and mass communication at various institutes and campuses since 1980. Presently he is a professor at the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Tribhuvan University, and Chairman of Nepal Press Institute. Mr. Kharel has written 15 books on media issues. He also has written about 2,500 articles, mostly in English, for more than dozen publications in a career spanning 37 years. He notes that his latest book, Political Communication: Media Message and Meaning, will be followed in 2011-12 by another book discussing on media role in a participatory democracy. Recently, nepalmonitor.com conducted an interview with Mr. Kharel on a range of media issues as well his career. The following is the text of the interview:
File Photo.
Since you recently assumed the leadership of the Nepal Press Institute, the country's premier journalism training institution, what activities and projects keep you busy at the moment? What are your current priorities and future plans?
Since its very inception in 1984, NPI has focused on training designed to promote professionalism and on bringing into discussions timely and relevant issues concerning media and society. These days, we are putting greater emphasis on special short-term courses, many of them tailor-made to meet specific demand. Features writing programmes are another area of our priority. We are also in the process of introducing a three-year blended course (distance and face-to-face) Diploma in Journalism in 2011 and a Master's course in journalism and mass communications should start within the next two years.
In the changed socio-political and technological context, what innovations are you embracing at the NPI?
As far as content is concerned, we revise our courses regularly with the help of a panel of experts whose credentials are easily among the best in the country. Professional journalists working for free, fair and in-depth journalism is the objective. As for technology, we are pacing forward, though guided by factors like the funds available, the fees trainees can afford and, most importantly, the time and interest taken by trainees/students themselves.
As far as content is concerned, we revise our courses regularly with the help of a panel of experts whose credentials are easily among the best in the country. Professional journalists working for free, fair and in-depth journalism is the objective. As for technology, we are pacing forward, though guided by factors like the funds available, the fees trainees can afford and, most importantly, the time and interest taken by trainees/students themselves.
Does training still remain the core of the NPI activities? What is the nature and breadth of the current training modules, specially in light of an industry that is fast diversifying in outlets and products?
Publications and studies are among the other key areas. Unfortunately, funds are, however, hard to come by for these vital areas. The industry might be diversifying its interests and services but the same industry spends extremely little, if at all, for research.
Publications and studies are among the other key areas. Unfortunately, funds are, however, hard to come by for these vital areas. The industry might be diversifying its interests and services but the same industry spends extremely little, if at all, for research.
What are some of the constraints on organizations like the NPI, specially in terms of resources and work habits? How do you cope with these?
NPI has an assembly of Nepal's most prominent and senior-most media academics, trainers and writers of considerable repute. Its head office in Kathmandu and regional resource centres in Biratnagar, Butwal and Nepalgunj conduct about two scores of training programmes of different duration and content. Some of these programmes are funded by international organisations and others are based on fees collected from participants or other organisations requesting for in-house training. Funds permitting, NPI could dramatically better than what it has achieved so far.
NPI has an assembly of Nepal's most prominent and senior-most media academics, trainers and writers of considerable repute. Its head office in Kathmandu and regional resource centres in Biratnagar, Butwal and Nepalgunj conduct about two scores of training programmes of different duration and content. Some of these programmes are funded by international organisations and others are based on fees collected from participants or other organisations requesting for in-house training. Funds permitting, NPI could dramatically better than what it has achieved so far.
Professionally, you have long worked as a reporter, editor and columnist. Given the length and breadth of your journalistic experience, what are our professional strengths in Nepal and its weaknesses?
Our Constitution and law make Nepal the freest in the whole of South Asia. But most media outlets suffer from partisan journalism. According to broadcast experts with proven credentials, about 70 per cent of FM radio stations in Nepal are owned and operated directly by party leaders of district or zonal standing. Journalists doubling up as party activists--some of them even at the leadership of media organisations--suffer credibility problem regarding the quality of service they render in a profession that is described as the fourth branch of the government. However, in the last 20 years after the restoration of political pluralism in the country, the media landscape has changed beyond recognition and for the better. Nepal took the lead in starting South Asia's first private radio station. It also took the lead in allowing news and current affairs programmes on private radio--something most of South Asia is still reluctant to adopt. But there is still ample room for immediate improvement in terms of free and fair journalism. Journalists are paid poorly and irregularly. The minimum wage fixed by a government-appointed wage fixation committee is less than what a government motor vehicle driver draws. Government and other public sector's commercial advertisement is distributed in arbitrary and even reckless manner.
Our Constitution and law make Nepal the freest in the whole of South Asia. But most media outlets suffer from partisan journalism. According to broadcast experts with proven credentials, about 70 per cent of FM radio stations in Nepal are owned and operated directly by party leaders of district or zonal standing. Journalists doubling up as party activists--some of them even at the leadership of media organisations--suffer credibility problem regarding the quality of service they render in a profession that is described as the fourth branch of the government. However, in the last 20 years after the restoration of political pluralism in the country, the media landscape has changed beyond recognition and for the better. Nepal took the lead in starting South Asia's first private radio station. It also took the lead in allowing news and current affairs programmes on private radio--something most of South Asia is still reluctant to adopt. But there is still ample room for immediate improvement in terms of free and fair journalism. Journalists are paid poorly and irregularly. The minimum wage fixed by a government-appointed wage fixation committee is less than what a government motor vehicle driver draws. Government and other public sector's commercial advertisement is distributed in arbitrary and even reckless manner.
You also reported and wrote on a range of topics, from sports to politics. The needs of these beats differ in some distinctive ways. How did you mange to straddle between diverse topics?
In the 1970s through the mid-1990s, "news beat" in the larger media organizations constituted several beats. I reported very little on political affairs, except for the speeches VIPs made. Sports, education and entertainment were the areas I worked as a reporter. Reading lots of reports, watching how other media reported on the same and being constantly on the lookout for something "new and interesting" steered my course of news reporting that averaged about 10 hours a day most of the time.
In the 1970s through the mid-1990s, "news beat" in the larger media organizations constituted several beats. I reported very little on political affairs, except for the speeches VIPs made. Sports, education and entertainment were the areas I worked as a reporter. Reading lots of reports, watching how other media reported on the same and being constantly on the lookout for something "new and interesting" steered my course of news reporting that averaged about 10 hours a day most of the time.
Can you tell us the genesis of the once-popular columns "Eagle Eye" as well as "Far and Wide"? How did you manage to regularly and consistently write these columns?
Mana Ranjan Josse, who succeeded founder editor Barun S. Rana in 1975 as the editor of The Rising Nepal, was commissioned as the Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations in 1985. Shyam Bahadur K.C. succeeded Josse as the editor-in-chief. K.C. was my senior and close friend. We discussed at length on improving the quality of the paper that was already indisputably the second largest circulating daily, after its sister publication Gorkhapatra, and came to a conclusion that it also needed a regular column on international affairs. For, the paper was known for giving wide coverage to international news and it had hardly any Nepali writer on the opinion page. That was sometime in July 1985 and I decided to write the column you mentioned on the first Monday of 1986. However, I wanted an issue that would be specially current. Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines was being accused of ballot-rigging and things were heading for the worse for him. When he resigned, I made my debut as a columnist writing on international affairs. I think the column first appeared on February 28, 1986. I deliberately chose Monday to meet the pressures of deadline, Saturday being my week off and hence the utilisation of weekend morning for writing the column. There have been some spells of interruptions because of my long-term preoccupations elsewhere, but only with prior information and consultations with the editors. The last time the column ran, it was for a record 11 years without a break.
Mana Ranjan Josse, who succeeded founder editor Barun S. Rana in 1975 as the editor of The Rising Nepal, was commissioned as the Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations in 1985. Shyam Bahadur K.C. succeeded Josse as the editor-in-chief. K.C. was my senior and close friend. We discussed at length on improving the quality of the paper that was already indisputably the second largest circulating daily, after its sister publication Gorkhapatra, and came to a conclusion that it also needed a regular column on international affairs. For, the paper was known for giving wide coverage to international news and it had hardly any Nepali writer on the opinion page. That was sometime in July 1985 and I decided to write the column you mentioned on the first Monday of 1986. However, I wanted an issue that would be specially current. Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines was being accused of ballot-rigging and things were heading for the worse for him. When he resigned, I made my debut as a columnist writing on international affairs. I think the column first appeared on February 28, 1986. I deliberately chose Monday to meet the pressures of deadline, Saturday being my week off and hence the utilisation of weekend morning for writing the column. There have been some spells of interruptions because of my long-term preoccupations elsewhere, but only with prior information and consultations with the editors. The last time the column ran, it was for a record 11 years without a break.
It is also said that you were the first foreign correspondent from Nepal who was formally stationed in New Delhi for a while. Is this true, and if so, when did this happen, and can you share with us how the gig felt like?
I consider my assignment as the Gorkhapatra Sansthan's full-time correspondent stationed in New Delhi in 1989-90 at the height of an impasse over trade and treaty transities between Nepal and India as one of the most challenging tasks I faced during my entire journalism career. It so happened that I also happened to be the first regular correspondent working for a Nepali media. (The national news agency (RSS) a few years earlier, had deputed two or three of their staffs for brief periods as "an experiment", as a result of which Delhi-datelined news from RSS were very few.) That was also the time when the then Indian Prime Minister, with three-fourths majority in parliament, faced corruption charges that $640 million was pocketed as bribe by those in the corridors of power in the world's most populous democracy. Most opposition MPs resigned from parliament in protest against the government's failure to form a probe committee. All along, Nepalis were suffering from the hardships because of the stalemate over signing a new treaty with India. Unhappy over some of my dispatches from the Indian capital, the Indian External Affairs Ministry summoned me thrice but stopped such practice after I told a director that I would move the foreign correspondents' association in New Delhi if such harassment continued. As a result, my press accreditation card was never upgraded to a regular one and I joked with other foreign correspondents that I was the "senuior-most" foreign correspondent among those holding "temporary" ID card. Temporary ID meant having to renew it every month, also depriving its holder from being listed in the official list of foreign correspondents. This meant that I would have to personally make calls and visit members of the diplomatic corps and government officials, among others, to introduce myself. When the Rajiv Government lost the November 1989 elections, things improved a little, with the foreign ministry officials there visibly friendly. By the time I was nearing completion of a year in Delhi, I was recalled to head as the editor of the impending publication of Gorkhapatra Sansthan, Sunday Despatch.
Even as a news person, you have sometimes become news yourself. For example, your involvement in the National Journalists' Association Nepal during the reign of King Gyanendra during the mid-2000s. What led you to join that particular professional group?
Outright political activists heavily dominate all such organizations, including the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Nepal Press Union, Press Chautari and Revolutionary Journalists Association. Political activists of the pro-monarch make also dominated the Federation of National Journalists Associations. If I could become a simple member of FNJ even if its office-bearers were elected on party lines, why not accept the leadership of the newly formed group, even if heavily dominated by also activists projected as pro-monarchists, I thought. But FENAJ's Constitution clearly stressed on professionalism and inclusiveness. I was an interim president for six months until a general assembly elected the editor of Jana Bhawana weekly, Nirodh Raj Pandey as the new president. I have no regrets, though the group is disintegrated today.
Despite being a prolific columnist--evidenced by the fact that one gets to read your writings regularly to this day--your columns were once rejected byThe Kathmandu Post and it created quite a fuss. The rumors were everywhere. What were the facts behind the incident?
I do not know whether it created a fuss. But it is true that the daily curtly notified me that the column would not be needed. The notice did not have any signature. Apparently they did not like what I wrote in a newspaper whose editorial staffs were having the lion's share of the paper's opinion space. They did not want someone who differed from their views, I guessed. When meeting with me personally, many of them were very apologetic. With the change in the paper's leadership, I have been offered space to write regularly. In fact, several "A" grade weekly papers want me to write (in Nepali or English).
You have long been in the academia, teaching journalism and mass communication. What led you to the teaching profession?
My aim from my school days was to become a university teacher. But desperate in need of a paid job, I strayed into journalism shortly after Bachelor's studies in 1973. On completion of my Master's from Tribhuvan University, while also working at The Rising Nepal, I had an opportunity to attend a Diploma Course in Journalism conducted by Thomson Foundation in Britain. When I returned home to my work of duty, I was offered as a regular teacher for the first batch of B.A. Journalism course at Patan Multiple Campus in 1980. Gokul Pokharel was my colleague who, because of his other engagements, could serve only as a part-time teacher. We two conducted the course before the department was shifted to Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus that had earlier expressed inability to start Journalism at the Bachelor's level. Then I joined RR as full time teacher but in the morning hours.
How do you assess the teaching and learning of journalism and mass communication in the country over the years, and specially at the present time?
Things have improved considerably since the course was first introduced at the intermediate level in 1976. About 40 campuses are offering journalism course at the Bachelor's level under Tribhuvan University. There are many thousands of students at the Plus-Two, perhaps a majority of them girls. The Master's level course attracted 120 students this year at Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus alone. However, there is a pressing need for a thorough revision of the TU course in Journalism and Mass Communication. After years of stagnation, the course was recently "refined" but it lacks a thorough revision based on new approach to meet existing demands. Textbooks written by Nepali authors should be developed for making the courses more relevant.
Besides RR College, you are also associated with a number of colleges in your teaching work. How have you been able to contribute to their specific curricula and teaching needs?
I do my best. The concerned department appreciates and I am satisfied with what I am doing. I contribute to developing curricula, conducting classes, opening colleges and the like.
As a published author of several books on media and communication, how do you assess the quality of book writing in the journalistic discipline in Nepal? What are the challenges of an author in our field?
Of the 16 books I have authored or co-authored in the last 15 years, 15 are on specific aspects of media and their functioning, including my latest "Political Communication: Media, Message and Meaning". I enjoy writing on what I am confident about. I have so far been fortunate to receive relatively reasonable remuneration for my authorship. But being an author is generally not a commercially profitable proposition in Nepal. The reading public is small; the paying public even smaller; and distributors even worse.
You also worked at the German NGO, the FES, for several years. How did you like the work there, specially with your journalistic background?
When I was serving as The Rising Nepal's editor-in-chief that had a daily circulation of 10,500--the highest for an English paper those days--the FES Resident Representative approached me for the job of an Asia-Pacific regional media advisor with the office in Nepal, I took some time to agree. The pay was good, the job entailed perusing proposals for media projects from different countries, including Nepal, and it did not bar me from teaching at RR Campus. After salary negotiations and all that, I finally agreed to join the organisation in late 1996. I had worked in The Rising Nepal for about 23 years and I needed something new to venture into, provided it met my own interests and background. In 1993, the owners of Kantipur publications had approached me to serve as a "consultant editor" with a promise that eventually editorship would be offered. I thanked them for the offer but made it clear that I would be associated with the house only as a full-fledged editor. Even when I was with FES, where I worked for more than seven years before the regional project's term ended, the owners of Spacetime newspapers had approached me for taking the editorship but I refused because of the financial instability of the publications.
How do you assess the nature of relationship among the academia, industry and private media initiatives and official communication department of government? How has it helped or hindered the overall growth and development of journalism and mass communication in Nepal?
Those without any academic certificates in journalism pretend to look down upon such credentials while those with academic record complain of lack of professionalism among many journalists because of lack of adequate knowledge as to how things should run. But many journalists of the new generation have completed academic studies of the higher levels. The university course needs to be thoroughly revised rather than only making "refinement". The government needs to take many initiatives to contribute to enhancing the quality of professional journalism.
Any nagging thoughts on the state of the journalistic profession?
Despite such sweeping political changes, lofty promises, dramatic rise in the number of news media (print and broadcast), partisan journalism and politicised media associations and media houses have hindered rapid strides as far as professionally sound media performance is concerned. Personal prejudices plague many an editorial rooms. History will not absolve such approach and attitudes.
Who is your role model in journalism and communication in Nepal?
None so far. Perhaps the younger crop of communicators will one day inspire me to name them (him or her). Mere claims and endorsements cannot make someone a role model. Proven performance is needed. In journalism and other branches of mass communications, leadership, write-ups, research and books are what a journalist is. Work should show and prove.
None so far. Perhaps the younger crop of communicators will one day inspire me to name them (him or her). Mere claims and endorsements cannot make someone a role model. Proven performance is needed. In journalism and other branches of mass communications, leadership, write-ups, research and books are what a journalist is. Work should show and prove.
Any specific advice to young and aspiring journalists?
Drive, patience and diligence are needed. Keep reading more and more, produce more and more but based on in-depth facts. I am not sure how rewarding it will ultimately be financially but it will be a satisfying experience.
Drive, patience and diligence are needed. Keep reading more and more, produce more and more but based on in-depth facts. I am not sure how rewarding it will ultimately be financially but it will be a satisfying experience.
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