A heart-warming comment on Nepali media, by someone with very strong democratic credentials and who needs little introduction.
According to a report on Republica, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991), who met Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at his official residence in Baluwatar on Friday, has expressed her "happiness at the growth of media in Nepal and lamented that Myanmar did not yet have such a situation."
Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy, is in Kathmandu on the PM's invitation to participate to mark birth centenary of BP Koirala, Nepal's first democratically elected premier. Shashank Koirala, a member of the event orgnizing committee and BP's son, quotes Suu Kyi for the newspaper: "I see journalists working without any restrictions. We do not have such situation."
Perhaps Suu Kyi is rather kind in her remarks. If not direct state control, party and corporate control of Nepali media is actually growing stronger in recent years.
But her observation on the growth aspect is accurate. In this case, let us also not forget celebrity factor-- Nepali journalists often throng events involving important political actors and hardly show up at other social events of high import.
Burma's media landscape is transforming and it is also expanding, but it is still far from free. The annual Press Freedom Index 2014 by RSF ranked Mynmar 145 out of 180 countries, 25 points below Nepal. The RSF report on Burma says: "The legislative framework has evolved more slowly. The government and parliament kept the promises made in 2012 to end prior censorship and grant more freedom to the media and media organizations. But the promise to draft media legislation that complies with international standards has not been kept."
In Burma, publishers need to obtain permit from the state's News and Perioidcials Enterprise (NPE) to print any newspapers. Currently, there are 18 daily newspapers in circulation in the country.
Suu Kyi is known to be interested in journalism herself. Under her publisheroship, she planned to bring out D- Wave Daily, a newspaper and also obtained government permit, but citiing financial reasons the plan was shelved recently.
An accompanying--and interesting--story in today's edition of Republica by Om Astha Rai reports on Suu Kyi's links to Nepal. Few know that as a young person she taught English in a Buddhist Vihar of Kathmandu some 40 years ago.
Related newslinks
> Suu Kyi lands in Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post, June 14
> Democracy & development go hand-in-hand: Suu Kyi, The Himalayan Times, June 1
> Democracy and development must go together: Myanmar leader, Telegraph, June 14
> Myanmar's democratic icon Suu Kyi arrives in Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post, June 13
> Burmese democracy icon Suu Kyi arrives in Nepal, Nepalnews.com, June 13
> Burmese democracy icon Suu Kyi arrives, The Rising Nepal, June 13
> Burmese Days, Nepali Times, June 9
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| Suu Kyi at TI Airport. Photo: DOI |
According to a report on Republica, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991), who met Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at his official residence in Baluwatar on Friday, has expressed her "happiness at the growth of media in Nepal and lamented that Myanmar did not yet have such a situation."
Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy, is in Kathmandu on the PM's invitation to participate to mark birth centenary of BP Koirala, Nepal's first democratically elected premier. Shashank Koirala, a member of the event orgnizing committee and BP's son, quotes Suu Kyi for the newspaper: "I see journalists working without any restrictions. We do not have such situation."
Perhaps Suu Kyi is rather kind in her remarks. If not direct state control, party and corporate control of Nepali media is actually growing stronger in recent years.
But her observation on the growth aspect is accurate. In this case, let us also not forget celebrity factor-- Nepali journalists often throng events involving important political actors and hardly show up at other social events of high import.
Burma's media landscape is transforming and it is also expanding, but it is still far from free. The annual Press Freedom Index 2014 by RSF ranked Mynmar 145 out of 180 countries, 25 points below Nepal. The RSF report on Burma says: "The legislative framework has evolved more slowly. The government and parliament kept the promises made in 2012 to end prior censorship and grant more freedom to the media and media organizations. But the promise to draft media legislation that complies with international standards has not been kept."
In Burma, publishers need to obtain permit from the state's News and Perioidcials Enterprise (NPE) to print any newspapers. Currently, there are 18 daily newspapers in circulation in the country.
Suu Kyi is known to be interested in journalism herself. Under her publisheroship, she planned to bring out D- Wave Daily, a newspaper and also obtained government permit, but citiing financial reasons the plan was shelved recently.
An accompanying--and interesting--story in today's edition of Republica by Om Astha Rai reports on Suu Kyi's links to Nepal. Few know that as a young person she taught English in a Buddhist Vihar of Kathmandu some 40 years ago.
Related newslinks
> Suu Kyi lands in Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post, June 14
> Democracy & development go hand-in-hand: Suu Kyi, The Himalayan Times, June 1
> Democracy and development must go together: Myanmar leader, Telegraph, June 14
> Myanmar's democratic icon Suu Kyi arrives in Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post, June 13
> Burmese democracy icon Suu Kyi arrives in Nepal, Nepalnews.com, June 13
> Burmese democracy icon Suu Kyi arrives, The Rising Nepal, June 13
> Burmese Days, Nepali Times, June 9
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