I fear local media could be misused during polls: Jitendra Raut Media played vital role during the Jana Andolan II and it received praises from all corners of the society. Since then, the political parties, diplomats, human rights activists and civil society leaders have stressed the importance of the role the media should play in holding the constituent assembly elections freely, fairly and on the scheduled date. At this point of time, the media are seen shouldering the responsibility to run the election campaigns, while political parties remain engaged with other issues. There are also fears that media could be manipulated by the political forces for their gains in the polls. Jitendra Raut, producer with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Nepali Service talked with Indra Adhikari of Nepalnews on the role that media have to play and cautioned concerned authority about the possible misuse. Excerpts:
You worked with both national and foreign media. In what way they differ in terms of their coverage of happenings in Nepal? What influence do they have in national politics?BBC Nepali Service, where I work, is basically targeted to Nepal audiences. The friends in national media here have more access to resources and have more mobility. In contrast, we work with limited manpower and access. We have only three correspondents in Kathmandu. We rely on them, though the London team directly contacts our news sources. Under such circumstances, we give priority to only the important current affairs. We do two longer stories related to Nepal in a week, so we need to choose specific subjects.
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2007/others/five_questions/aug/five_question01.php
