BIRATNAGAR, OCTOBER 19
With 32 days remaining for the federal and provincial elections, experts and media persons here discussed the role of media in making the upcoming elections free and fair.
The workshop on fair media coverage, the sixth in a series, was organized on Tuesday by Media Action Nepal and supported by Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). It covered topics like professional standards and code of conduct for journalists, media's approach to human rights and countering hate speech and promoting inclusive media content.
Global media expert and chairperson of Media Action Nepal Laxman Datt Pant, Chief Officer of Press Council Jhabindra Bhusal, media trainer Yam Bahadur Dura and Vice-Chairperson of Media Action Nepal Priyanka Jha facilitated the workshop attended by 25 journalists from Sunsari, Jhapa and Morang.
Highlighting ethical journalism, Pant stressed on the need for disseminating credible information and facts in a timely manner, verifying information from news sources, and giving adequate space to different candidates in the fray representing different political parties. If media or journalists are carrying out a polling during the elections, the right methodologies must be applied to and they should be clearly defined, he said.
Similarly, Bhusal stated that there arises a situation wherein news sources must be protected by not disclosing their identity for their safety and security. However, journalists should not use this freedom to disseminate baseless and false information, he said.
Stating that the role of media is also to stick to human rights provisions, media expert Yam Bahadur Dura urged journalists to differentiate between fundamental rights and human rights. His presentation focused on the special features of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Likewise, Jha focused on gendered disinformation and its intent to silence and embarrass people who are already at risk such as women and marginalized communities.
Out of the total participants, 15 were female journalists and 10 were male. Two journalists from Province 1 will receive a fellowship based on their commitment and performance in election reporting.
