Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 18:

Awareness has not reached the indigenous grass roots though billions have been spent on indigenous media, said participants at a programme organised today by the Association of Nepalese Indigenous Journalists (ANIJ). Presenting a concept paper on ‘Issues of indigenous nationalities in mass media’, journalist Chun Bahadur Gurung said, “When indigenous people have spent billions on various forms of mass media, they could have their own media to ensure effective dissemination of unheard voices throughout the nation.” “Due to the lack of proper cooperation and human resources, and with no clear direction to develop an effective media, we have not been able to gain much,” he said. Commercial culture had further sidelined indigenous issues as “only saleable news are disseminated”. “Sustainability is a major question for media in mother languages,” said president of Nepal Magar Association, Yam Bahadur Budhathoki. Biswas Tigela of Pravasi Nepali Bedana said distribution is another major headache.