KATHMANDU: Press Council Nepal has decided to form an advisory committee comprising former heads of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and the Council to make election-focused media monitoring effective.
A board meeting of the Council held on Sunday decided to form the committee under the leadership of Press Council Chair Balkrishna Basnet.
As the media world play a monumental role in making the elections fair and fearless, the committee will also give necessary suggestions to strengthen the role and make the monitoring effective, said an statement issued by the Council.
Press Council Nepal has been conducting a special monitoring of the election code of conduct in the since October 14 with regard to the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly.
To make the monitoring more efficient and effective, the Council’s Board meeting on Sunday decided to form an election-focused code of conduct monitoring and advisory committee.
The meeting also decided to discuss and cooperate with the FNJ to enhance media neutrality and implement the code of conduct during the elections.
The statement signed by Press Council Spokesperson Deepak Khanal stated that it has been decided to write to FNJ and Department of Information and Broadcasting, seeking details of members across the country, also to issue press ID card during election.
Press Council has been carrying out election monitoring both objectively and subjectively.
Since the interest in the House of Representatives election is high, it is said work is being done in accordance with the international practice of monitoring the parties and candidates participating in the election and things such as how much space is being given to the parties and candidates by the media, what topics were raised, what was the state of compliance with the code of conduct, among others.
For monitoring, various ‘desks’ have been established in the council for studying the trends of newspapers (print media), radio, television, online media and social media.
The Council has also requested stakeholders to support this special media monitoring and provide necessary suggestions by giving high importance to the role of the media to make the election successful in a fair and fearless manner.
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