It is a matter of great pride to note the coming of age of The Himalayan Times (THT) as it completes 10 years of public-ation. What started as a dream project for its publishers has borne fruit and generated a great amount of good-will among the Nepali populace.
Ram Pradhan, our founding editor, set standards that are difficult to better. In his first editorial, he specified the goals: “Good journalism, professional handling of issues — national or international — and constant awareness of the public’s right to know the truth.”
Since then, THT is carefully treading a fine balance between continuity and change. Even as we reinvent ourselves every day, we are aware of the qualities that have endeared us to the people and made us the number one English daily in such a short span of time.
What makes the achievement more remarkable is the series of challenges THT faced in its first 10 years, many of which were beyond the control of the institution. To add to the woes, Nepali media have been facing one of the worst downturns in the advertising business in recent years, forcing institutions to either persevere or perish. Therefore, it speaks to the savvy of THT that it has been able to sustain itself despite years of political upheaval and economic chaos.
It was a history in the making. As our publishers recall, the world was a bit different 10 years ago — the royal family was still royal; the Maoists were fairly unknown and there was no difficulty with Kathmandu’s electricity flow. THT persevered and became a witness to history being made. Monarchy is gone, the Maoists have become a mainstream political force, and the political parties are struggling to draft a new political course.
A newspaper is both a business and a public service. However, in order for public service to be long-lasting, media institutions must be sustainable as businesses. We are glad to have a wonderful team looking after both business operations and journalism. As we seek to deliver more, our focus remains on public service, on disseminating information that the readers want and the fledgling democracy needs.
— Editorial Team
The Himalayan Times