Hundreds of Nepali journalists have gone for protest in different demos against one of the biggest media houses of Nepal, Kantipur Media Group (KMG) for not paying their dues wages and arbitrary firing of employees. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) called for one hour daily protest right infront of KMG office from October 17. This move comes at a time when relations between the media workers and their employers has deteriorated reaching extreme levels This comes at a time when Journalists undergo some of the toughest conditions of working in the new era of media of Nepal.
The protests can be traced to allegations that KMG had unpaid employees for several months with radio and television reporters and staff going unpaid for up to six months. Also in the same year the FNJ accused the media group of unlawfully dismissing several employees or journalists without fair procedures. Such actions contain detrimental consequences to the dedicated incomes to journalists and the originality and security of the Nepali media sector as well.
KMG that controls a number of popular newspapers, television companies, and internet resources has recently become an object of increasingly severe criticisms over its relations with employees. More the company’s management has failed to come out in the open and respond to the specific claims thereby provoking more riots by the protesting journalists. The case has led to understanding the problematique of concentrated media ownership and the economic challenges that media firms are experiencing in Nepal.
The decision made by the FNJ to conduct protests on daily basis marks desperation on part of the Journalists and union’s of FNJ to fight for the rights of workers. People have been demonstrating near the company’s offices armed with banners and loudspeakers calling for better treatment and payment of outstanding wages. The protest actions have received support from journalists of Printing and Publishing Corporation as well as other Nepalese journalists and civil society organizations that pay attention to freedom of speech and workers’ rights in Nepal.
This latest incident of violence by the media management against journalists brings out the fact that many media operatives in the country are vulnerable. There has been expansion of the media industry in Nepal in the recent past following the establishment and increased use of new online newspaper and social media. Nevertheless, this growth has not offered significant enhancements of work conditions and employment for journalists. The following are among the challenges that many reporters and media professionals have been experiencing; low wages, no payments or being paid irregularly and no legal employment contracts.
The protest demonstrations have also raised debates about the legal impunity of media professionals in the Nepali context again. Most legislations protecting workers’ rights lack industry-specific provisions and those few that exist are rarely implemented to the letter- thus journalists are often at the mercy of their employers. The advocates insisted on complex measures for strengthening the control of compliance and increasing journalists’ rights for appeal to labor conflicts.
While new protests have emerged, there are fears about possible effects to reporting in Nepal and the media landscape as a whole. The conflict at KMG, one of the leading media companies in the country, could set a precedent throughout the media market. One concern is that tensions between pro-press and anti-press factions could result in sensationalizing a conflict, generating related concerns that anchoring institutions could impair academic quality impact on journalists and their works, especially regarding labour rights and corporate governance.
The situation has also attracted international organizations with Media rights organizations coming out to support the protesting journalists and demanding KMG to quickly hear the complainant’s grievances. In response, IFJ has come out in an open support of the FNJ and called upon the Nepali government to intervene and provide Media workers their rights.
It’s the second week of demonstrations and now, people, waiting for KMG’s response to the journalists’ requirements. The conclusion of this conflict might have significant implications for labor governance in Nepal’s media industry and could extend its effects to changes in other Nepalese news organisations’ human resources policies. For the time being, the daily protest act as a constant wake of the situation in Nepal and the need to continue to fight for journalists’ right and their ability to work.
