Kathmandu: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said that the incumbent government was working towards strengthening media sector and promoting the welfare of working journalists. Addressing the 27th general convention of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) here today, Minister Sharma shared that the proposal relating to increasing the minimum wage for journalists, which was the same for last six years, was being deliberated in the committee of council presently. Sharma, also Spokesperson of the government, said that the government was confident that if the proposed laws and decisions taken forward by the government were enforced, it would restructure Nepal's mass communication sector as well as journalism sector would feel the wind of change. She was hopeful that this general convention would serve an opportunity to review the earlier executive committee's performance and offer guidelines to the new leadership besides considering some concrete policy-level decisions. Minister Sharma was also expressed the belief that the policies and decisions endorsed by the general convention would help further streamline mass communication sector by ensuring the physical and professional security and stability for the journalists. The general convention could be fruitful in offering the government feedback for the policy, and for legal and structural development of the mass communication sector, she expressed. The Minister acknowledged the role of FNJ in working tirelessly for development of journalism sector, protection and promotion of journalists' rights and interests, safeguarding press and freedom of speech, nationality, democracy and people's rights. "FNJ's role in ushering country towards the progressive political outlet by institutionally endorsing the agenda of republican governance system at people's level for the first time is written in golden letters in Nepal's history," Minister Sharma observed. Sharma argued, "Since freedom of press is not possible without political rights and political rights would not be complete without freedom of press, Nepal has a history of politics and journalism moving ahead in tandem." She opined that since political rights and freedom of press rights would move hand in hand, Nepal's journalism sector had been playing an important role in any huge struggles for political changes lately. Furthermore, the Minister saw the need for politics and journalism to advance the same mission to further establish the political and press freedom related rights thereby bringing about good changes in the lives of people in the wake of the change in the governance system. The Minister for Communication and Information Technology viewed that only a practical implementation of the full press freedom provision enshrined in the very preamble of the Constitution will be considered to have guaranteed the rights of the Nepali journalists. She informed that for the past one year, the work of creating and reviewing laws related to communication is going on to further ensure the freedom of the press. Minister Sharma said that the government has prioritized the drafting of laws based on the direct involvement and opinions of media-related organizations and experts in this field, as well as the creation of laws through a transparent and democratic method, including the opinions of stakeholders and ordinary citizens. "Accordingly, the Media Council Bill, which has been prepared with a focus on promoting self-regulation in the mass media sector, has recently been registered in the Federal Parliament, while the Mass Media Bill is in the process of being submitted to the Cabinet soon," she said. Similarly, Minister Sharma said that the bill to regulate the use of social media is also being prepared to be submitted to the Council of Ministers soon. "After the formulation of the Mass Media Act as an umbrella law, the government is thinking of establishing the Mass Media Authority as an umbrella body for the management and facilitation of mass media, promoting the media, protec ting the professional rights of working journalists and operating the public welfare fund from a single agency," Minister Sharma added. She further said that the Bill on Public Media, which was advanced with the aim of making the government-owned media more autonomous and effective, is being discussed in the thematic committee of the House of Representatives. "At present, we are moving ahead taking the National Mass Media Policy, 2073 BS as guideline while drafting the law. With the change in information technology, new possibilities and challenges have emerged in the mass media sector, so I think that a new mass media policy should be formulated to deal with it," she said. She expected the necessary advice and suggestions from the field of journalism, stating that the Ministry is continuously cooperating with the Federation of Nepali Journalists in activities for the development of the overall journalism sector, including policy and law making. Stating that the journalism sector, like the entire other se ctors, is in a state of crisis today due to the current global economic slowdown and dissemination of false and misleading information, Minister Sharma said, "There is difficulty in media operation Due to the economic contraction and when the sources of advertisement have also shrunk, and it has a direct impact on both media owners and working journalists. The government is sensitive to facilitate this and facilitate the media and the physical and professional safety of journalists." Minister Sharma said that the Ministry is discussing topics such as establishing the media as a national industry and making the advertising market transparent. Source: National News Agency RSS
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