Kathmandu, March 27:

The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) is set to organise a three-day national conference of the heads of its district chapters from March 29 to mark its 54th anniversary.

Making public the programmes to mark the anniversary, the FNJ said the conference will mainly focus on press freedom and ending impunity.

Speaking at the programme former FNJ president Bishnu Nisthuri questioned the objective of the commission formed to probe the killing of journalists if the commission was to be barred from making public its finding. “Impunity is the mother of all problems,” said Nisthuri, claiming that attacks on media were on rise. He also said the government had not met any of the demands of the journalists.

FNJ president Dharmendra Jha said the agitation of journalists had helped reduce the attacks on press. He said the journalists needed to create an example by staging peaceful agitation at a time when the country suffered numerous violent protests of different groups. The conference will also hold discussions among various media partners on the code of conduct for journalists while discussions on physical and professional safety of the journalists will conclude the programme.

Meanwhile, FNJ has decided to award this year’s Shreedhar Acharya National Journalism Award to journalists Brij Kumar Yadav and Babita Basnet. Yadav is a Janakpur reporter of The Himalayan Times while Basnet is the chairperson of Sancharika Samuha.