Gorkhapatra’s Technological Transformation

By Harsha Man Maharjan

Gorkhapatra Corporation, which publishes Nepal’s oldest newspaper, Gorkhapatra, could be the best organisation to know how technological transformation took place in news media in the country. This is a transformation from handwriting to computerised writing and to online newspaper. And, this transformation was perilous. This is one way to know the relationship between news media organisation, technology and society.

Domination of Handwriting

If we compare the use of typewriters and computers before newspapers in Nepal started to make available their content on the Internet, we see the domination of handwriting. Even in 2017, a few journalists preferred handwriting and could not use computers inside the Gorkhapatra Corporation. It was natural for journalists to prefer handwriting, as they felt easy to do so. This was so also because they mastered writing alphabets and words after practicing them for long time. Usually journalists wrote on the wastage pieces of newsprint. Often such pieces were easily available in Gorkhapatra Corporation. In his article, Tek Bahadur Khatri reminisced the moment in the 1950s when he hurriedly wrote an editorial on such news print when a compositor requested him to provide the editorial fast.

Handwriting was also dominant in Kantipur Publications till 2000, too. This practice ended after the newsroom decided not to entertain the content written by hand. Then some journalists who could not type learned typing in typing institutes. So, many Nepali journalists directly moved to computers than typewriters, the medium that bridges the move to computer. 

Typewriters: Underused Analog Technology

In Nepali newsrooms, typewriters were underused analog technology. They are analog as they belong to natural world, not the world of computer called digital. The early typewriters invented around 1860s were very crude in nature and the typewriters that could be sold for mass consumption, appeared in the US market in 1880s after Remington Company made them available. According to David Arnold, the mass import of typewriters in India began in 1901. Typewriters were in use in Nepali government offices from 1940s. 

So, it is safe to say that typewriters entered into Nepali newsroom after 1950. Only a few early journalists who worked in The Rising Nepal (TRN) in the 1960s knew typing. There were typists inside the newsroom who typed news content. Even some journalists who did not know how to type learned typing themselves and encouraged new generation journalists to type using two fingers. Thus, many journalists who worked in TRN could type on typewriters. 

However, the vast majority of journalists who wrote in Nepali did not learn typing and depended on typists. There could be at least three reasons for under used of typewriters by journalists. One, the type of typewriters used in the Corporation was manual and they were not digital in which, journalists could not save what they had typed. This demanded typing twice: first by journalists and then composers. Two, these journalists were ease with handwriting than machine writing. Third, many journalists did not want to type as they related it with the work of typists, the class lower than journalists belong. Typewriters were bridges to computers. One who can type on typewriters can easily type on computers as both have same QWERTY keyboard.

Computers: Underused Digital Technology

The Gorkhapatra Corporation utilised a crude computer in 1982 for pre-press functions that was not directly used by journalists. According to Kamal Dixit, a board member of Gorkhapatra Corporation, the company was trying to buy a similar kind of machine called a photocomposing machine in 1981. In 1982, the Gorkhapatra Corporation started to use a crude kind of photo typesetting computer for pre-press work under General Manager Bharat Dutta Koirala. In an article, Koirala explains that, unlike an ordinary typewriter, users could type, edit, correct, and save the text on this machine. Koirala also expected that more journalists would continue to work on the photo-setting machine. Later some journalists did. For example, Gopal Sharma, a journalist who worked for The Rising Nepal, wrote a few reports on the machine out of curiosity. In the late 1980s, desktops were made available to the journalists who worked in English. Though the Corporation sent many journalists working in Nepali to learn computer in a computer institute, many did not use the machine.

Online Newspapers: Slow but Distinct Transition

The transition to Gorkhapatra Corporation to online began on 23 February 1997 when Internet Service Provider, Mercantile Communications (MC), approached it. Then, the Corporation took the service from MC to make available some content of The Rising Nepal. In 1999 the Corporation made an agreement to provide all content of its publications to MC. This is the first phase of digital transition of the Corporation.

In the second phase Gorkhapatra Corporation launched its own website www.gorkhapatra.org.np on 7 May 2002. It was possible as the General Manager of the Corporation, and editor of Gorkhapatra, Kishore Nepal took initiative and made the team having journalists from The Rising Nepal and Gorkhapatra and technical team. The team also uploaded fresh content. Then after about a year when the term of Kishore Nepal ended, the new management decided to call back the journalists and relieved technical staff members. The Corporation took services from technological companies till 2012 July to upload contents and focus mainly on the content printed on newspapers. There after the website remained un-updated for few months. In 2012 December, the new management took initiative to start the online again and a team of journalists and administrative staffs were created to work on the online. At that time, the domain name was changed into www.gorkhapatraonline.com. The website for The Rising Nepal, www.therisingnepal.org.np was launched in 2014. 

The websites of Gorkhapatra Corporation are elegant and distinct. One of the features is they don’t contain commercial advertisements. This becomes interesting when almost all Nepali news website had roadblock advertisements, which do not allow users to access news content before they view or skip advertisements. These websites serve to users all over the world who are interested to know about Nepal. Due to the lack of human resources and information technology infrastructure, the two websites are also slow in comparison to other online newspapers, and do not contain any audio and video content. Therefore, the online of Gorkhapatra Corporation stands out in the crowd of online news media that give priority to crass commercialism, sensationalism, popular content and fast news, inundating users with information. 

Technology and News Media Organisation

The nature of its ownership that is government-owned public media, politicisation in this organisation, affordance of technologies has shaped its technological transformation from handwriting to online newspaper. The innovations in this Corporation were possible due to the collaborative activities of some of leaders in the management who took initiatives and risks, and people who supported them.

(Maharjan is associated with Martin Chautari)

Originally published in The Rising Nepal on May 8, 2019, also available at http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/30911.

What About Multiple Media Councils ?

By Harsha Man Maharjan

The Media Council Bill tabled by the government has stirred up opposition from Nepali media fraternity. The voices keep coming to scrap the bill altogether. Provisions related to the structure of the organisation and penalties for violation of code of ethics are a couple of thorny issues for others demanding amendments. Chairperson of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) has strongly challenged the government’s proposals. Media organisations have maintained the possibility of establishing their own councils. Scholars have been debating whether Nepali media sector is ready for such a transition.

Collision
The opposing proposals are headed for a collision course. But this does not have to be the case. Official media councils and professional media councils can co-exist. Official media councils will be headed by representatives from legislative or judicial or executive, or the state will cover all the expenses. Unofficial media councils are formed and funded by media industry. In this article, I propose such a provision.

There was no law to govern the Press Advisory Council formed in 1969. The amendment of the Press and Publication Act in 1970 August created the provision for Press Council consisting of eleven members including standing judge as the chair. When the new council was formed in the following month, Surendra Bahadur Basnet was appointed as the chair. He was the member of the Rastriya Panchayat at that time. Since then, all other committees of the Press Councils were chaired by a judge till 1990. This changed after new Act governing the press council was enacted in 1992. It allowed a retired judge of supreme court or a person who has contributed in the field of newspaper to be appointed as the chair. Following the act, the government started to appoint journalists as the chair of the council.

The government selected all the members of the council. The council did not have much autonomy and was not independent. The need of media reform was being felt. High Level Media Commission (formed in 2008) suggested making PC more inclusive by having representatives from communities such as women, dailit, indigenous, and madhesi. It also recommended that the members of the council be not engaged in media organisations. A media-law study by Taranath Dahal and Bhimarjun Acharya suggested going back to appointing a senior judge as the chair. They also advised to take out the classification of newspapers from the purview of the council. Similarly, another study by Binod Dhungel suggested making it more autonomous by restructuring the council. He proposed to shift the ownership of press council from governments to the parliament.

The issues of autonomy and recommendations have been ignored by the bill. The council will consist of nine members including, the chair with Bachelor level education and ten-year experience of journalism. A committee coordinated by the secretary of the ministry suggests the chair.
Several provisions have to be amended to make the council more autonomous. The council should be chaired by a retired judge and not journalists. Different types of media such as print, radio, television, online and the public should have representations. The representatives from the ministry should be token. There should be minimal interference from the government in the committee that selects the chair. Finally, the council should be under the parliament and not the government.

Media sector has concerns with the changing role of media council to take legal decisions and slap fines. A provision in the bill allows the council to fine journalists or media companies NRs. 10,000 to NRs. 10,00,000 if any aggrieved person files a complaint before the council in violation of the code of ethics. Then the journalists and media companies could appeal in higher court within 45 days against the decision of the council.

This is an attempt to convert the ‘toothless tiger’ to ‘the tiger with teeth’. In the Press Council Act, 1992 the maximum step the council could take is to recommend the government to suspend the facilities of a journalist. Such punishment was given after failure to follow council’s request to publish an apology, or statement of the aggrieved party. Annual reports of Press Council show many cases of non-compliance with the recommendations given by the council. As a last resort, the proposed draft of Press Council Nepal Act, 2074 BS contains an extra provision of forwarding such non-compliance cases for legal action. The draft Act is available on press council’s website. The government should not make the press council a ‘toothless tiger’. For this, it should consult with media fraternity and come up with ways to make Nepali media more responsible to the public.

Private media need to establish their own media council with an aim to promote quality journalism and to have better relationship between state, media and public. They need to prepare a blueprint of the modality of their members and the chair that is inclusive of all media and the public they cater to. Foremost, it has to be ensured that big media houses do not influence the council or that big investors don’t have a bigger say. Public will not trust yet another council for the sake of it. And rightfully so. The media fraternity would need to think that this forum is for debating the vital issues of the media sector, not to fulfill their own stress. Having representatives from the public could be one way to make it credible. Learning from the mistakes is another.

Autonomy
Strong case can be made for setting up multiple media councils. Autonomy and independence are the two popular arguments. The official council with less interference from the government could execute its vision towards promoting press freedom. The unofficial councils can be central platforms to discuss about the genuine issues of media sector. We need more systems that make Nepali media accountable.

Originally published in The Rising Nepal on June 1, 2019;  http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/31670