Kathmandu, January 23:

Bishnu Nisthuri, president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists’ (FNJ), today emphasised that journalism should be free from the influence of politicians.

Nisthuri, addressing the launching programme of the Sanjal National Weekly here, said there is a need for professionalism in Nepali journalism to make it trustworthy.

Rajendra Dahal, chairperson of the Press Council Nepal, said: “Publishing a newspaper can be taken as a positive step in a society with low literacy rate.” He requested the weekly to follow the journalistic code of conduct while publishing news.

Dr Minendra Rizal, leader of the Nepali Congress-Democratic, said in the process of building a new Nepal, the role of newspapers is crucial. He added that the journalists played an important role in the Jana Andolan II.

Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, leader of the CPN-UML, said: “To commence a new thing is easy but to sustain professionally is a tough task.”

He said newspapers should be transparent while evaluating and analysing any news.

He stressed that newspapers should first verify the facts before publishing it.

He also wished that the weekly would exercise democratic processes while publishing news.