Yadav seeks to address Madhesi journos' woes

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Minister of Information and Communications Rajkishor Yadav today assured he will try his best to ensure inclusive coverage of Madhes issues in major media outlets and also enough representation of Madhesi journalists in newsrooms.

Talking to a group of Madhesi journalists who have been staging a relay hunger strike since yesterday at Madhes Media House in the capital, Yadav said their grievances were genuine and he was going to discuss the issues with representatives of major media organisations tomorrow. The protesters have demanded enough representation of Madhesi journalists in major media outlets and inclusive coverage of Madhes issues.

Yadav, also the Chairman of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Republic said journalists belonging to marginalised communities should be ready to mount pressure against those media outlets that were not very supportive of inclusion, both in content and newsrooms.

Minister Yadav said dominance of particular communities in the bureaucracy was also hindering government effort to ensure inclusion in the media sector.

“We were hoping that a new constitution would ensure issues of inclusion to a great deal, but unfortunately the Constituent Assembly died without promulgating the constitution,” he said.

President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Shiv Gaunle also met the protesting journalists to express solidarity with them. He said it was high time the private media reflected on the diversity of the nation both in content and newsrooms. “We have been raising this issue since the last two years and we support the protesting journalists,” he added.

Mohan Kumar Singh, Chairman of Madhesi Journalists Association, Nepal said 15 Madhesi media organisations and newspapers and some media organisations of other marginalised communities had also expressed solidarity with them.