Press Council flooded with complaints

Kathmandu / July 1: The number of complaints at the Press Council Nepal against news publication and broadcast in violation of the journalist code of conduct is increasing by the day.

The complaints registered with Press Council as of last week of June was counted at 103 including 21 pending cases as of November last year. In fiscal year 2071-72 BS, the Council received 54 complaints including 14 pending cases. Likewise, in fiscal year 2070-71 BS, 41 complaints were registered including 8 pending cases.

The complaints against Arthik daily and Jana Astha vernacular weekly was the highest with each receiving 5 complaints each. Two complaints have been filed against Nagarik daily, setopati.com, Annapurna daily and onlinekhabar. Among them many have refuted their news stories while some are sticking firmly to their stories.

Complaints on television and radio stations against violation of journalistic code of conduct have also been filed with the Council. Majority of the complaints are with accusations of ‘broadcast and publication of false news’.

Council Chairman, Borna Bahadur Karki, said preparations were being made to implement the new journalist code of conduct strictly although the older version may be more lenient. He added that the number of complaints at the Council is increasing with heightened sense of consciousness among the people to complain. RSS