The document discusses youth and media in Nepal. It notes that while youth make up a large portion of journalists in Nepal across different generations, they face several challenges. Youth issues are often overlooked in media coverage, and youth are frequently portrayed negatively. However, the rise of social media and blogging has provided alternative outlets for youth participation and citizen journalism. Overall, the relationship between youth and mainstream media is improving, with more collaborative and accommodating approaches emerging.

1. Youth and Nepali Media
Indra Dhoj Kshetri
Head of the Department,
Journalism and Mass Communication
Madan Bhandari Memorial College
March 30, 2012

2. Session Plan
• Defining Youth Friendly media
• Coverage
• Participation
• Problems for youth in journalism
• Alternative medium
• Conclusion
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3. Defining Youth Friendly media
Youth friendly media can be defined as media
systems and institutions that:
• address the issues of Youth;
• give sufficient space to their voices in their
coverage;
• Are easily accommodative to the presence and
participation of youths
• Project youth as the agent of positive change
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4. Four generations in Nepali media
• Mainly, FOUR generations of people are working
in Nepali media currently:
1. Those who learned and practiced [mission]
journalism during Panchayat era: either still
continuing their work in similar type of
journalism through Tabloid weeklies or moved
to mainstream journalism
2. Those who practiced and learned journalism in
post 1990 period of comparatively high
professionalism
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5. Four generations contd.
3. Those who formally studied journalism and
moved to the profession
4. Those who started practicing journalism
following mushrooming of radio and television
post 2006
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6. Youths in Media
• Most of the Latter THREE are still youths
• Many of the Second generation journalists are
now editors or in senior position in Nepali
media
• There is powerful presence of the third
generation journalists too.
• Fourth generation dominates the journalism in
many radios/television that started post 2006.
• Many new and innovative ideas are launched
by youths
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7. Problems of Youth in Journalism
• Negative portrayal of journalism as least
paying/not-paying at all job is a distraction to
youths
• There was a wide-spread belief among senior
journalists that academic qualification doesn’t
make them journalists – which has changed now
and media is more welcoming to those with a
journalism degree
• Opaqueness of media houses in recruitment,
nepotism and favor to certain politically aligned
entrants is distraction to many journalism students
to enter into mainstream journalism
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8. Problems of youths as journalists
• Owing to political transition, Nepal’s political
economic environment is polluted and many people
have utilized it to make quick bucks
• Mushrooming of different organizations of journalists
have turned them to agents, not neutral
observers/reporters
• It is alarming that most of these organizations are
constituted/led by youths
• There is huge degradation in compliance to ethical
standards both in institutional (media houses) and
individual (journalists) level.
• Consequently, a generation of journalists has
emerged which is less focused in hardworking and
professional growth and more concerned about
earning
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9. Youth and Nepali media:
Coverage of youth issues
• Some issues like foreign employment and abroad
study are widely covered
• Have cultivated few youths as role models, few in
politics and more in economic/business
• Young entrepreneurs getting more space in media
• Women in fashion and entertainment are widely
covered, however portrayal of these young women
is questionable from gender perspectives
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10. What is overlooked/
under-reported
• Adolescent issues are totally overlooked
• Not accommodative to the issues of sex
• Issues of political participation largely
overlooked
• No sufficient youth role models cultivated
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11. Youth as News-makers: Coverage
• Drugs
• Crimes
• Migration for study
• Foreign Employment
• Rapes, domestic violence and Violence
against women
• Vandalism
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12. Portrayal of Youths
• Youths projected as thugs, goons and
hooligans
• Boot-lickers of Party leaders, opportunists,
dividers
• Despite good number of youths working in
media, their portrayal is largely negative 
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13. Alternative Medium:
Blogging and Social Media
• Enabled many bare-foot citizens to be citizen
reporters
• Equipped each individual with medium and
tool to practice freedom thus widening the
scope of freedom of speech and expression
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14. Alternative media in Nepal
• Since 2004 when United We Blog (blog.com.np)
started, many powerful bloggers have emerged
and continue to act as watchdog of government
as well as private sector and media’s
wrongdoings
• Estimated 10,000 active bloggers in Nepal
writing in different issues ranging from politics,
technology, culture, travel and tourism, etc.
• Facebook and Twitter are emerging as powerful
tools of expression and mobilizing public opinion
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15. A positive outlook for future
• Most of the bloggers and social media activists are
youths and are making powerful presence
• There is increased collaboration between young
mainstream journalists and bloggers/social media
activists
• The mainstream media are being more
accommodative to youths
• Editors of many reputed media are youths
• Many youths are experimenting with innovative
ideas/works
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16. Feedback, Questions &
Answers are always welcome.
On Twitter:
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