‘Please give me a Gorkhapatra named Kantipur.’

Before getting addicted to newspapers with tea in the morning, readers who came to buy Kantipur daily would ask the newspaper shopkeeper in this way. Even though it was the first broadsheet Samaj daily in the private sector, ‘Gorkhapatra’ was synonymous with newspapers.

Before Goenka Publications Pvt. Ltd. started Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post on 2049 Falgun 7, Maniraj Upadhyay, in collaboration with Madanmani Dixit of Simakshi Weekly and Gopaldas Shrestha of The Commoner, had brought Samaj to broadsheet publication. The broadsheet edition of Samaj did not last more than a year. Dixit and Shrestha parted ways with it. This tabloid-sized magazine, which started in 2011, was closed forever in 2053 BS.

When the society was closed, Kantipur had been transformed into Kantipur Publications with a new business plan. 'Communication' was established as an emerging industry, which was led by Kantipur, weakening the influence of Gorkhapatra, the standard of newspapers. Kantipur's presence determines a new timeline in the context of the development of journalism in Nepal. Due to its influential presence from the beginning and strong intervention in the culture of news consumption, Kantipur has reached the position of 'paradigm shift' of Nepali journalism.

Despite the extreme control of the state in the Panchayat era, weekly newspapers played a leading role for freedom. Along with politically motivated content and mass movements, the influential journey of those weekly newspapers, which were vocal for democracy, went downhill from Kantipur's timeline. After the change of 2046 BS, it is believed that a wonderful revolution in the country's media sector began after 2049 BS. After the liberal provisions of the Printing Press and Publication Act, 2048 BS and the National Broadcasting Act, 2049 BS, the standard of journalism shifted from Gorkhapatra to Kantipur.

The efforts started by Kantipur were successful from the perspective of both the professional development of journalism and news dissemination, but seeing that success, many broadsheets that entered the competition continued to be born and die. This article assesses the past and contemporary environment based on the timeline starting from the beginning of Kantipur.

In the early days,

When Goenka Publications published Kantipur Dainik, Yogesh Upadhyay was the editor. When obtaining the certificate of registration of the newspaper from the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, the condition of publishing at least 1,000 copies per day was mentioned. This shows that after the political change in 2046 BS, when the private sector established journalism as a business, the market was low. At that time, neither customers nor advertisements. There was a world of weekly newspapers, but the 'mission' against the Panchayat was still alive and well, so party favoritism seemed to persist. Weekly newspapers were not able to become commercial.

As trust in the open economy and the private sector grew, Kantipur took the lead in communication. It did not take even two years to break the standard set by Gorkhapatra. Because the content and style published in it were different from the traditional ones, which the readers preferred. It was during this period that the financial, aviation and other sectors in Nepal began to take off due to private sector investment.

What is interesting is that in the early days, Kantipur's newsroom was either journalists who had gained experience in weekly newspapers or those who had left the government-run Gorkhapatra. Therefore, when analyzing the content of the first page of the early Kantipur, sometimes it looked like Kantipur Gorkhapatra and sometimes like the 'revolutionary' weekly of the Panchayat period. Whoever was in the leadership of finalizing the news, the newspaper news took shape in the same way.

Although it started before Kantipur, it emerged in the media industry with broadsheet only after Kamana Prakashan. Before that, Himalaya Times had made its presence in the market through broadsheet. Then, the rush to open broadsheet dailies began. If we consider the period from 2049 to 2062 as a period, at least half a dozen broadsheets were born or died after surviving for a few years.

In the face of Kantipur's success, the entire newspaper industry went towards a series of failures. The conflict situation was the main reason for this. The violent conflict of the Maoists reduced journalism. The overall economy of the country shrank. In that environment, the popular press flourished in Nepal. Tabloids, which were printed with the tagline ‘evening’ and came out in the afternoon, carried the style of media materials that today are ‘sensational’ – with a ‘romanticized’ mix of truth, lies and sensation.

Before the news came every hour on private radio, people used to depend on such materials with sensational lies. The practice of distorting and reproducing the content published in mainstream newspapers with the aim of making immediate profit did not last long. This timeline saw the Nepali media being squeezed by the conflicting parties. Until the government and the conflicting Maoists came together, they were eager to use the media in psychological warfare for their victory.

This environment remained until the first Constituent Assembly elections. In some cases, the media also played the role of a catalyst in ‘glorifying’ the conflict. It seems strange today that newspapers are competing to charter helicopters to capture scenes of double confrontations. Because the current media does not want to leave the ring road except during the election season. Limited reporters and resources have weakened journalism.

Investment and risk increase

News factories are now dominating Nepali journalism rather than strong newsrooms. The conflict is over, the country has entered a new political phase. The constitution was promulgated. Radio and television channels began to open as alternatives to newspapers. The disease of opening a newspaper and going bankrupt financially, like Kantipur, has now spread to radio and television. Online news sites began to open. Online news took the lead as an independent online news outlet.

In the post-2063 environment, so many television channels and radios were established that the investment made in them neither contributed to the professional development of journalism nor to economic growth. The dire situation of digital development explains the crisis of contemporary journalism. Our interest in researching the media never reached its peak. The competition to invest continued without paying attention to how much media the market could support. The result - journalism could not become professional, it was only shrinking into business.

News factories are now dominating Nepali journalism rather than strong newsrooms. The content produced by parties, factions, leaders, corporates and middlemen enters the newsroom directly through digital means. Whether the editor is aware of it or not, it spreads as news. Because today, any online-based newsroom is involved in the race for digital production. The audience is also confused about the news that comes scattered around.

The rise in the number of digital media has surpassed the number of traditional radio or television in terms of coefficient. Now that it is election time, digital platforms are growing even faster. Today, there is an unannounced transition of social media to all components of the state. At the center of social and digital media is favoritism. Such platforms are active in both love and hate, or divinity and demonization. At the instigation of them, incidents ranging from toxic expressions to arson have taken place on the media. This is why the court that dispenses justice is forced to give justice by looking at 'where is the crowd'. Leaders are floating in the flow of the crowd. Society is drifting in the same turbulent river. And the media? When all components are floundering, the editors and directors at the helm of the media have not been able to stand firm.

When I surveyed the customers of four newspapers, including Kantipur, during the 2078 elections, 91 percent admitted that the way they consume news had changed. Their argument was that newspaper customers were being pushed to rely on digital media. It has increased even more. The COVID-19 lockdown formed the basis for that. Kantipur, which gave Nepali journalism a professional turn, became a religion after the lockdown.

News content alone is not enough to establish the standards of journalism. On the one hand, it was unfortunate that Kantipur had to reduce the number of journalists, while on the other hand, the dominance of social media influencers increased. On the one hand, this led to a decline in the production of quality content, while the market for producing content that was ‘outside anyone’s control’ expanded.

Future journey and expectations

Today, journalism is being branded as ‘12 brothers’. The newsroom is not happy without self-evaluating the reasons for such criticism of journalism. The consequences of no one being able to monitor the media that monitors everyone are now being suffered. The private sector, civil society, state apparatus and academia, including universities, must also take their share of responsibility in such a bad situation.

Traditional newsrooms seem to be the most persecuted by digital content producers who collect views by 'reverting' the content prepared by the newsroom with their hard work. Today, content based on favoritism is in the crosshairs of arbitrariness - news media based on mediation. Newsrooms are being chased by 'clickbait'. Influencers are dominating. The influence of influencers has become widespread with sensational topics and presentations. There is a risk of further attacks on professional journalism in the coming days, including the use of artificial intelligence.

Yesterday, Nepali newspapers lobbied for a radio license and the right to broadcast news on the radio, while the world had the exact opposite scenario when the new medium came. Newspapers objected when radio came, and when television came, newspapers and radio protested. However, in Nepal, the old media remained steadfast in favor of the new medium. Can those who work in digital media be liberal towards the old media?

It seems that the traditional newsroom is being persecuted the most by digital content producers who collect views by 'reversioning' the content prepared by the newsroom with hard work. This cannot be expected to make things easier in the coming days. Therefore, if we are concerned about the future, we must restore the dignity of journalism. There is no option but to bring influencers to the ethical standards of journalism.

After the 1850s, yellow journalism had created a similar chaotic environment around the world. More than painstakingly prepared news, stories about who murdered or raped whom, which man the actress in the play was having an affair with, and stories about the extramarital affairs of famous athletes were the best sellers. Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his professional legacy by promoting such journalism, did not think what was happening was right. In 1910, he provided one million US dollars to universities and urged them to teach the 'ethics' of journalism. A decade before the written code of ethics came into being in journalism, media tycoon Pulitzer had taken the initiative to save professional dignity. The faded journalism was reborn. The popular press was shrinking, the scope of professional journalism was expanding.

Today, the medium has changed. As the media expert McLuhan said, 'the medium is the message' has reached a point where it has become, due to mobile devices. Newspapers, radio, television are all included in one mobile phone. Does this mean that journalism is over? No. The medium may change, but journalism does not change. After the flood of false content has caused havoc, people will start looking for the old-style Kantipur and its news again.

But will newspapers like Kantipur wait until then? No. Reforms will begin today. We can take the ‘Hutchins Commission’ as a reference for the start of reforms.

While recovering from the devastation of World War II, the American media industry was in the hands of limited companies. They had more commercial objectives, due to which biased and, as is the case today, favoritism-based content found a place. The press was not providing true and balanced information, which was increasing distrust of the media among the public. युद्धपछिको प्रोपागान्डा र सरकारको नियन्त्रणमा पर्ने त्रास मिडियामा बढ्दो थियो ।