Background:
The rapid development of the world is credited to the advancement in communication technology which has helped globalization and is leading the humankind towards a similar type thought, culture and lifestyle. Started with the invention of Gutenberg's printing press in 1456, the modern journalism has reached the summit of advancement with introduction of online media. Today we have internet that comprises the audio, video, photo and the text. Hence, the online publication can also be defined as the mingled form of radio, television and print journalism.As professed by the experts during the late twentieth century in Washington DC, the world today is observing a revolution in communication. It has put a firm effect towards the government, society, politics and human acts. The communication revolution is compared to the industrial revolution of the late eighteenth century Europe, substituting agriculture.
As Nepal is an important part of the world, it cannot remain isolated to the development of means of communication. Despite the pace and techniques, the information and communication technology, e-commerce and online journalism are growing in Nepal. Along with the sector of journalism, the arenas of business, academia, agriculture, environment and many more are also using the online media in today's Nepal. Under such background, here's an attempt to present the definition, situation and development of online journalism in context of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
What is internet?
Internet functions under the mingled technology of Telecommunication and computer. It is a platform that annexes the entire electronic signals of the world to a net and enables the users to access their required information, knowledge, ideas, entertainment, education, opportunities and more in digital form. The former vice president of United States Al Gore defined it as the information super highway. Telecommunication is the basic need for internet without which it's functioning isn't possible yet. In next words, the internet is a network of digital information worldwide.
History of internet:
The age of internet is hardly four decades. It was first used to transfer data under a network of four computers associated to universities researchers and later to the United States Defense Force during 1960's in which underwater cables were stretched and connected to the systems for transferring information. The project was named as Advanced Research Project Agency ('ARPANET' in short). The channel was simply used for secrecy in defense but not for any journalistic purposes. Later in 1990, the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee developed the necessary codes to publish a website named Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). It speeded the development of online publication. Today, the world is enjoying more advanced technologies such as CSS, PHP and MySQL for web publication. Web hosting and domain registration service provider agencies are established worldwide. The consequence is the availability of any needed or searched information of any longitude.
Internet in Nepal:
The credit of introducing internet in Nepal goes to the senior journalist Mr. Bharat Dutta Koirala. He introduced e-mail under the name of 'electronic mailbox' during immediate post Jana Aandolan period. The users of the mailbox were 'World View Nepal' and 'Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalist (NEFEJ)'. Next to that the then Royal Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (RONAST)' started using e-mail using the PC-trunk dial to India.
'Mercantile Communication' became the first professional organization to introduce net facility in Nepal with the service of e-mail in 2051 BS. Next to the Mercantile, 'Worldlink' started providing internet services in Kathmandu valley. The business competition between these two companies helped fostering and increasing the access of Nepalese people and organizations to internet. Today's giant ISP 'Nepal Telecom (Nepal Telecommunications Corporation)' started to provide internet on 2058 BS, causing thousands of Nepalese to subscribe and connect internet in their homes, rooms and offices easily.
Today Nepal Telecom has become the largest ISP followed by several companies such as United Telecom Limited, Mercantile Communication, Worldlink, Vianet, Spice Nepal, Broadlink, Everest, Speedcast, Websurfer etc. The rural districts of Manang, Mustang and Jumla are using VSAT internet. Wireless WI-Fi service has been started in Kathmandu valley by Broadlink. Mobile WAP and GPRS service provided by Nepal Telecom and Ncell in their GSM system has brought the internet to the hands and palms of hundreds of thousands Nepalese people.
Development of Online Journalism:
The internet was developed in the western hemisphere during 1970's, even before the introduction of IBM computer system. It sounds funny hearing that people would use internet in television and not in computer set during the starting phase. Up to 1970's, computer would be used to store and process data of internet and television screen would display it. It was because of the then computer's size, weight and cost, much larger and heavier than today's. Such technology in which a 'decoder box' would be annexed to viewer's television set for receiving data lasted as late as 1990.
Two different technologies of online journalism were developed during 1970's. The first is 'Tele text' and the second 'Video text'. Tele text technology was first used by BBC under the heading of 'Ceefax' in which news and graphs would be sent to the TV set and the users could read or view selecting from the primary listing of information via remote controller. It’s a single track communication technology, originally developed for the deaf audiences, in which users can't put forward their feedbacks. BBC has declared its Ceefax service will end by 2012 AD. On the next side was video text in which two way communications became possible. In this technology, computer was used to send electronic signals. Data transferred through it could be viewed in television, computer or video monitor. In this process, Telephone wire, two line or network cables and wireless technology are used to create a network. Today's World Wide Web is developed form of video text technology.
Online or e-journalism is the process of delivering or publishing news and information to the viewers via internet and computer. It was developed parallel to the internet. It displays texts, figures, audios and videos in mingled form, carrying the characteristics of print, radio and television journalism together. Today anyone can be a reporter, editor or publisher with internet based sites or pages.
The US based site 'Chicago Tribune' is supposed to be the first modern online publication. It was first appeared online on 1992 AD pioneering the path of internet journalism. Now-a-days, thousands of news portals and online version of various Medias can be accessed on internet. The news agencies like AP, AFP, Xinhua, Reuters etc and media organizations like BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Fox news, CRI etc are also available online. Besides, millions of informative and entertainment based sites and blogs are also available.
Development of Online Journalism in Nepal:
As the first Nepalese newspaper was published abroad, i.e. in India; the first online publication about Nepal was also published abroad, i.e. in United States. Nepalese people residing in US published a news site about Nepal named 'The Nepal Digest (TND) in 1992 under the leadership of Rajpal Singh. The publication was regular at the beginning but went irregular before it shut down after the 449th edition. Later, New York based 'TND Foundation' resumed its regular publication since 2003 up to 2005 AD.
In case of mainland Nepal, 'The Kathmandu Post' started its online version's publication on 1995 AD, as a joint venture to Mercantile Communication. Kantipur Publication claims it to be the first online version of newspaper in the entire south Asian sub-continent. The publication was available on Mercantile hosted and run business website: www.southasia.com. Despite the fewer number of online readers in Nepal, the site got much popularity outside Nepal. Later, Mercantile published a new and full fledged Nepalese news site on the domain of www.nepalnews.com. It was hosted since 1999 AD (Kartik 2056 BS), comprising the online newspapers of southasia.com and contemporary major print publications of Nepal. It's considered credible and accurate on Nepalese news internationally.
The first Nepalese online page to host on its own domain is Himal South Asia under www.himalmag.com which started publishing on1997. Many Nepalese publication houses were still indifferent to web at the moment Himal was clickable online. Afterwards Kantipur publication moved to web on the domain of www.kantipuronline.com and later www.ekantipur.com keeping it's dominance on Nepalese internet world as well. The site is a platform of its total publications - Kantipur, The Kathmandu Post, Kantipur Saptahik, Kantipur Qatar, Nepal and Naari. During the recent days, all major broadsheets are publishing electronically. The state run Gorkhapatra Corporation's news and informative publications are available on www.gorkhapatra.org.np. Similarly Kamana Publication is running its news site www.newsofnepal.com. Rajdhani national daily's www.rajdhani.com.np and The Himalayan Times cum Annapurna Post's www.thehimalayantimes.com are also online. The UCPN (Maoist)'s publications such as Janadisha daily and Janadesh Weekly are available on www.krishnasenonline.org. The famous weekly Jana Aastha is appearing on www.janaaasthanews.com and other weeklies are collectively published online via Mercantile hosted site: www.nepalnews.com. News sites hosted out of mainland Nepal such www.nepalipost.com, www.nepaljapan.com, www.nepalkuwait.com etc are also popular among the Nepalese internet users nationally and internationally.
Online Blogging:
The changed version of online journalism, where the unedited news, views, reviews and posts can be read or write is blog. The personal 'open diaries' publication in US Universities on 1996 AD can be assumed as the beginning of web blogging and today it has become a lifestyle. The western world has approved it as grass root journalism and the bloggers are considered to be the journalists. In case of Nepal it's simply limited to citizen journalism because of the limited access and availability of internet or computer knowledge nationwide.
The technology for blogging is easy and it's accessible to everyone. Registering a domain is not necessary for blogging, though some blogs are hosted on registered domains and operated similar to a website. The Google's blog hosting site www.blogger.com is especially famous among bloggers worldwide. Besides, www.wordpress.com, www.typepad.com and even the MSN, facebook, flicker and myspace pages are used for posting blogs.
Blogging is supposed to have started in Nepal with the publication of www.blog.com.np in which nearly half a dozen journalists are continuously posting their pages under the slogan of 'United we blog for a democratic Nepal'. Except it, there are hundreds of blogging pages hosted by journalists, authors, musicians, politicians and individuals. Some famous and highly trafficked Nepalese blog pages are www.mysansar.com, www.demrepubnepal.blogspot.com, www.dev.net.np etc. The site www.blogger.com.np publishes an alphabetical list of Nepalese blog sites. However, publishing the literary creations and news based articles on the blogs are now general but the accuracy and credibility of blogs are often questioned.
Prospects and Problems of Online in Nepal:
Internet or online journalism can be a significant solution of geographic difficulties for transportation (of information and news papers) in Nepal. According to Internet World Status, there are more then a million computer sets in the country today. The ratio of increment of computers is nearly 45 thousand sets every year. And 625,800 Nepalese are estimated to use internet within Nepal (up to 2010). Internet is also used in the field of commerce and banking. Similarly www.muncha.com, www.thamel.com etc have started online marketing in Nepal. The UTF-8 and UTF-16 system of Unicode fonts have helped Devnagari script to be published online helping the Nepalese art and literature to blossom. Nepalese users are now linked to various social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, myspace, hi5 etc and after all to the entire human kind of the world.
But still millions of Nepalese are illiterate and billions haven't access to the internet. The cost of computer and internet charges of internet service providers (ISP's) are very high in comparison to per capita income of Nepalese. Due to the expensive cost of internet, thousands of lower and middle class people are using the PC either as a typewriter or as a video monitor. The frequent power shortage or cuts in the urban areas and no electrification in the rural areas are forcing Nepalese to remain indifferent of computer and the information technology. Government of Nepal's plan to build IT park and launce e-governance is limited into papers. So, it can be declared that the case of absence of the private investors to internet market would keep Nepalese online sector at the primitive age.
Legal Aspects to Web:
The world is having a debate on the model of cyber law and internet related regulations. The worldwide accepted 'Internet Protocol' advocates uncensored sites. But United States, credited as the birthplace of internet, promulgated a cyber law named 'Communication Decency Act (CDA)' on 1996 and imposed censorship or ban on the pornographic sites. Since, numbers of nations have prepared cyber laws and are controlling terrorism and pornography related pages. For example, the neighboring People's Republic of China has developed a strong mechanism to control internet crimes and cyber disorders. The Government of Malaysia has banned more than 200 thousands web pages and blogs. Korea DPR doesn't allow internet's use within its territory but has developed the world's second largest intranet only after the US based Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), with all basic facilities of World Wide Web such as chat room, social networks, news pages, distance learning, business pages and multimedia.
In case of Nepal the Electronic Transaction and Digital Signature Act of 2004 (ETDSA), imposed through an ordinance states a provision of ban on the site disturbing national interests and integration. It regulates online commerce and financial transactions and criminalizes certain online behavior, including hacking and fraud and also provides criminal penalties, including fines and up to five years in prison, for the publication of "illegal" content on the Internet (though it provides no definition of illegal content), or for the publication of hate speech or speech likely to trigger ethnic strife. Similarly, Clause 19 and 20 of Telecommunication Act - 2053 allows the government to control and monitor any ISP or site. And the National Broadcasting Act of 1993 and the National Broadcasting Regulation of 1995 provide for fines and/or imprisonment for broadcasting content likely to cause ethnic strife or social unrest, undermine national security or moral decency, or conflict with Nepali foreign policy. During the 2061's Royal takeover, twenty Nepalese news sites were blocked under these acts and ordinance. Unfortunately, the Government that could ban the news sites is not monitoring the pornographic sites at all, leaving very bad consequences, basically to the child and teenagers. Various blog pages and sites are posting or publishing pornographic or copy righted articles, but the Government of Nepal seems to be total ignorant to these issues.
Conclusion and Closing:
If the nation and the people couldn't move forward with the pace of developing information technology, there will be left nothing at all. Moreover, the media person who couldn't join the race of information super highway will loose his ground very soon. One must accept the internet and online as the core of today's world and development. The government should make e-friendly policy and implement them. Finally, we would like to declare that tomorrows Nepal is e-Nepal and the next generation is e-generation.
References:
1. Internet World Status (http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/np.htm)
2. Computer Association of Nepal (http://www.can.org.np)
3. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Nepal )
4. Notes provided by the lectures & professors of R.R. Campus, Ktm
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