Journalist by default
Yuba Nath Lamsal
It had never been my ambition to be a journalist. But it was by default that I joined this profession in which I have already spent more than two decades of my life.
Reading was my hobby. But writing was not my cup of tea in the beginning. Later I came to realize that only writing can make a man better and give more exposure. This realization inspired me to write. In the beginning, I used to write in Nepali and later I switched over to English as it was my major subject in college and university. The initial writings were so poor that I could not even dare approach the newspapers and magazine editors to publish my write ups.
I began my career as a journalist with a vernacular weekly that too was a party's mouth piece. It was Dristi weekly, which used to be published as a mouth piece of CPN-UML (then CPN-ML). It also happened by default. As a student and a school teacher, I was an activist of the CPN-ML during the now defunct Panchayat regime. The party assigned me to work in the party paper—the office of which had been located at Kalimati.
This was the beginning of my career as a journalist. The more I worked the more stimulus it gave me to pursue journalism as a profession.
Those were the days when political atmosphere was not conducive for free press. During the Panchayat regime, opposition was not tolerated. Political parties and political activities were restricted. So was with the press. Newspapers and magazines which were critical of the regime and rulers were often harassed, seized and even closed. The official media had wider reach, bigger circulation and more influence. The private papers, mostly weeklies, had also been divided into pro-government and anti-government. Most of the pro-government papers used to be run under the patronage of the state and financially backed by certain power center or politicians. These newspapers practiced more yellowish journalism.
The anti-government papers had to face not only wrath of the rulers but had also to work under severe financial constraints. The journalists working in these papers had to be every thing from reporter, editor, manager to publisher and financer. It was a kind of mission for democracy rather than a professional journalism. Despite these hardships, journalist pursued and practiced journalism with a zeal and mission for the cause of democracy and freedom.
The papers I was working with often came under severe attack from the state as it was sharply critical of the Panchayat and its rulers. Several editions of the papers were seized and editors and staff were arrested and kept behind bars, which was almost the regular phenomenon. The officials would go through every sentence and stuff and cesor harshly. Practicing journalism under such a circumstance was always a threat and pressure. Despite these harsh and adverse conditions journalists kept on keeping the struggle for democracy and freedom alive.
Entry into the Gorkhapatra Corporation:
The private press was not an attraction for those who wanted to make journalism as a career during those days. The private media were not as they are today. They were unable to pay good salary to the journalists as their income was meager. While the anti-government papers were under such a miserable condition, the pro-regime papers financially flourished and people working in these newspapers lived a lavish life. But in the eye of the people, they are always rated the worst, whereas the anti-government papers had won wide public faith and trust.
Although owned by the government, official media had credibility. From the financial point of view, the official media were the attraction. All renowned journalists had one way or the other served in the official media, In fact, the official media served as training and educating institutions for many a journalists in Nepal.
In the beginning, I did journalism for a hobby but not a profession. When I joined journalism, it attracted me slowly. But I had not fully decided whether I should make journalism as profession. The entry into The Rising Nepal was a turning point in my life.
My entry into The Rising Nepal was also a coincidence. I used to contribute articles to The Rising Nepal, which used to give both exposure as well as pocket money. One day when I was in the editorial office of The Rising Nepal, a senior editor asked me if I was interested to join paper. My reply was affirmative. Then he asked me to apply for the sub-editor as there had been an advertisement for the same. It was his advice that brought me to The Rising Nepal. If he had not told me I would not have been in the Gorkhapatra Corporation as I was not aware of the advertisement.
Working in editorial section was both easy and hard. Easy in the sense, it was like a family atmosphere. All colleagues were friendly and cooperative and no envy, joyously and leg-pulling, which existed in other depart of the Corporation. It was difficult because we always had to work under pressure. The specter of fear kept on haunting as one would lose job if there is a slight mistake on the news especially relating to the royal families.
Those days of fear disappeared after the restoration for multi-party democracy in 1990. We started enjoying more freedom. But the democratic era also were not free from problems. The parties and leaders who were in power would always want our publications not to go against their interests, which was very unfortunate. As a result the publications of the Gorkhapatra Corporation have not been able to make significant progress. The trend still continues. The 1990 change did bring openness in the official media as well. The post-1990 period also saw a height of factionalism on ideological ground in all sectors including the Gortkhapatra Corporation, which marred the corporation's overall well-being.
After the Jana Andolan II, Nepal has entered into a new phase. Political parties are campaigning for creating a new Nepal—a federal republican Nepal with equal access to power, resources and decision making for all citizens irrespective of their ethnicity, culture and regional identity. This notion has to be put into practice in every sector. The Gorkhapatra Corporation, which is a history of Nepali journalism, should also be transformed in line with the vision of creating new Nepal. But the changes have still not
been visible. The old working style and mentality can never bring about change and create a new Nepal. Perhaps, the Gorkhapatra Croporation needs to pay due attention to bring about positive changes in its publications which would make the publications more popular among the people. For this, structural and organizational change is necessary so that the Corporation can be people's publishing house.
It had never been my ambition to be a journalist. But it was by default that I joined this profession in which I have already spent more than two decades of my life.
Reading was my hobby. But writing was not my cup of tea in the beginning. Later I came to realize that only writing can make a man better and give more exposure. This realization inspired me to write. In the beginning, I used to write in Nepali and later I switched over to English as it was my major subject in college and university. The initial writings were so poor that I could not even dare approach the newspapers and magazine editors to publish my write ups.
I began my career as a journalist with a vernacular weekly that too was a party's mouth piece. It was Dristi weekly, which used to be published as a mouth piece of CPN-UML (then CPN-ML). It also happened by default. As a student and a school teacher, I was an activist of the CPN-ML during the now defunct Panchayat regime. The party assigned me to work in the party paper—the office of which had been located at Kalimati.
This was the beginning of my career as a journalist. The more I worked the more stimulus it gave me to pursue journalism as a profession.
Those were the days when political atmosphere was not conducive for free press. During the Panchayat regime, opposition was not tolerated. Political parties and political activities were restricted. So was with the press. Newspapers and magazines which were critical of the regime and rulers were often harassed, seized and even closed. The official media had wider reach, bigger circulation and more influence. The private papers, mostly weeklies, had also been divided into pro-government and anti-government. Most of the pro-government papers used to be run under the patronage of the state and financially backed by certain power center or politicians. These newspapers practiced more yellowish journalism.
The anti-government papers had to face not only wrath of the rulers but had also to work under severe financial constraints. The journalists working in these papers had to be every thing from reporter, editor, manager to publisher and financer. It was a kind of mission for democracy rather than a professional journalism. Despite these hardships, journalist pursued and practiced journalism with a zeal and mission for the cause of democracy and freedom.
The papers I was working with often came under severe attack from the state as it was sharply critical of the Panchayat and its rulers. Several editions of the papers were seized and editors and staff were arrested and kept behind bars, which was almost the regular phenomenon. The officials would go through every sentence and stuff and cesor harshly. Practicing journalism under such a circumstance was always a threat and pressure. Despite these harsh and adverse conditions journalists kept on keeping the struggle for democracy and freedom alive.
Entry into the Gorkhapatra Corporation:
The private press was not an attraction for those who wanted to make journalism as a career during those days. The private media were not as they are today. They were unable to pay good salary to the journalists as their income was meager. While the anti-government papers were under such a miserable condition, the pro-regime papers financially flourished and people working in these newspapers lived a lavish life. But in the eye of the people, they are always rated the worst, whereas the anti-government papers had won wide public faith and trust.
Although owned by the government, official media had credibility. From the financial point of view, the official media were the attraction. All renowned journalists had one way or the other served in the official media, In fact, the official media served as training and educating institutions for many a journalists in Nepal.
In the beginning, I did journalism for a hobby but not a profession. When I joined journalism, it attracted me slowly. But I had not fully decided whether I should make journalism as profession. The entry into The Rising Nepal was a turning point in my life.
My entry into The Rising Nepal was also a coincidence. I used to contribute articles to The Rising Nepal, which used to give both exposure as well as pocket money. One day when I was in the editorial office of The Rising Nepal, a senior editor asked me if I was interested to join paper. My reply was affirmative. Then he asked me to apply for the sub-editor as there had been an advertisement for the same. It was his advice that brought me to The Rising Nepal. If he had not told me I would not have been in the Gorkhapatra Corporation as I was not aware of the advertisement.
Working in editorial section was both easy and hard. Easy in the sense, it was like a family atmosphere. All colleagues were friendly and cooperative and no envy, joyously and leg-pulling, which existed in other depart of the Corporation. It was difficult because we always had to work under pressure. The specter of fear kept on haunting as one would lose job if there is a slight mistake on the news especially relating to the royal families.
Those days of fear disappeared after the restoration for multi-party democracy in 1990. We started enjoying more freedom. But the democratic era also were not free from problems. The parties and leaders who were in power would always want our publications not to go against their interests, which was very unfortunate. As a result the publications of the Gorkhapatra Corporation have not been able to make significant progress. The trend still continues. The 1990 change did bring openness in the official media as well. The post-1990 period also saw a height of factionalism on ideological ground in all sectors including the Gortkhapatra Corporation, which marred the corporation's overall well-being.
After the Jana Andolan II, Nepal has entered into a new phase. Political parties are campaigning for creating a new Nepal—a federal republican Nepal with equal access to power, resources and decision making for all citizens irrespective of their ethnicity, culture and regional identity. This notion has to be put into practice in every sector. The Gorkhapatra Corporation, which is a history of Nepali journalism, should also be transformed in line with the vision of creating new Nepal. But the changes have still not
been visible. The old working style and mentality can never bring about change and create a new Nepal. Perhaps, the Gorkhapatra Croporation needs to pay due attention to bring about positive changes in its publications which would make the publications more popular among the people. For this, structural and organizational change is necessary so that the Corporation can be people's publishing house.
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