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Posters of Than Shwe were attacked by protesters in the Philippines.

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About "Free Burma!"
International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons. These Bloggers are planning to refrain from posting to their blogs on October 4 and just put up one Banner then, underlined with the words „Free Burma!“.
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"Free Burma!"

About Nepalese Media Workers’ Demands: They Don’t Tell US

By Harsha Man Maharjan

We know this week there are tussles going on between Kantipur Publication Pvt. Ltd. and All Nepal Communication, Printing and Publications Workers’ Union (ANCPPWU). Agitating members of ANCPPWU even vandalized vehicles of publication’s management and press when the publication showed no concern to reinstate its nine suspended members.

Many media related organizations, political parties etc condemned ANCPPWU for disrupting activities of newspapers and vandalism. They equate these activities to attack on ‘press freedom ‘and people’s ‘right to information’. These loaded words helped media to eclipse demands of agitating workers. Actually the media have not told their audiences what the demands were. Most of audiences know nothing about the demands. Thus there reporting on the incidents are one-sided.

There are few exceptions. Government-owned media have presented some parts of demand this time. It is said the ANCPPWU presented 22 point demands to the publication. And the management of the publication and members of ANCPPWU came up with five points agreement on 9 September 2007. But the management changed one point while writing the agreement next day. And ANCPPWU declined to sign the agreement and allowed no advertisement to two newspapers on 26 September 2007. So we saw ad less Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post the next day.

The bone of contention in five points agreement was to make all workers who have worked for 240 days permanent. There are many genuine demands. But as mentioned above many readers have no knowledge of these demands.

These media emphasize people’s right to information in ANCPPWU’s action. But they forget it by not informing people about ANCPPWU’s demands. Readers’ have rights to know about the agitating workers’ demands.

At last Moment

Today’s Rajdhani contains few demands of these workers like sick leave, home leave, life insurance etc. These issues got place in news after the demands were handed to PM yesterday.

Links:
http://www.blog.com.np/united-we-blog/2007/09/27/maoist-trade-unions-naked-intervention-in-kantipur-publications/
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=123920
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23872

Politics of Omission in Nepalese Journalism

By Harsha Man Maharjan

Kantipur TV gave priority to a speech by Salikram Jamakattel on 1 October 2007 in its evening news. He was speaking near Kantipur complex after the publication suspended 9 agitating workers and the agitating workers’ vandalized publications’ vehicles and press.

In a footage he was saying Nepali people would lose nothing in absence of Kantipur Publication’s publications and Kantipur TV. He even challenged to stop KTV in four days and to physically attack owners if workers’ demands are not met. The news highlighted other parts of his speech too.

But it ignored other important parts. Students of Journalism and mass communication might raise questions: Are you mad? How all information of a speech can be incorporated in a news?They might doubt I am a student of mass communication and journalism.

This issue is far complicated than what we think. It is not a question of editing. This becomes clear to me after I listened to Sarad K.C’s reporting on the same speech. He even included that Jammakattel was still positive to talk.

So why KTV did not tell about this to its audiences? The answer is simple it wanted to create negative image of the agitating worker’s and Jamakattel. This way it can neglect workers’ genuine demands. Till Kantipur has not told its readers about its workers’ demands.

This can be said as highlight journalism. Here media organizations pick certain part of somebody’s view to grind their own axe.

It was so even in the case of opposition of Foreign Direct Investment in Media by Nepal Media Society few years ago. At that time NMS provoked its audience to boycott The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post. In it ensued incidents these newspapers were burnt and media organization was vandalized.

We got to read two opinions of same people after going these two papers and media of Nepal Media Society at that time. These two papers focused on condemnation of vandalization whereas others highlighted on condemnation of FDI in Nepali media. It is all media politics and audience should be aware of this.