KATHMANDU, APRIL 19

Chair of Press Council Nepal Bal Krishna Basnet has cautioned the public to avoid wrong information in the time of elections.

"There remains a high risk of fake news during such time. So, carefulness is needed prior to disseminating every news and every media house should ask its journalists to remain cautious regarding this issue," Basnet said.

Saying there were chances for the production of sponsored news from within the country and abroad, he suggested that the Nepali media consider this before disseminating such content.

Basnet was speaking at a one-day orientation organised by Press Council Nepal and Federation of Nepali Journalists today.

Every journalist should protect himself or herself from misinformation, disinformation and fake news, according to Basnet.

The press can become strong only through credibility and mediapersons themselves should unite to maintain credibility, Basnet added.

The Election Commission has entrusted the Council to carry out the task of media monitoring of media code of conduct during the time of election.

Basnet shared that the Council was carrying out the task of monitoring of radio, TV, print media, online media and social networking sites from last Thursday.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times