LOGIN DASHBOARD

    News

    2 MIN READ

    Media houses exploit Covid19 crisis to lay off journalists

    The Record, April 22, 2020, Kathmandu

    Media houses exploit Covid19 crisis to lay off journalists

      Share this article

    Many journalists, who have long been overworked and underpaid, have had their salaries scrapped

    (The Record)

    Some of Nepal’s biggest media houses, including Kantipur Media Group and Nepal Republic Media, are using the Covid19 lockdown as an excuse to lay off journalists and non-editorial staff while several others are forcing their staff to work without pay.

    According to the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Nepal Republic Media, the publisher of Nagarik and Republica dailies, has not paid their staff up to six months’ salary.

    “We would like to remind you that the FNJ had recently issued an ultimatum with warnings of protest after [NRM’s] administration failed to address the issue despite our repeated written requests,” FNJ general secretary Ramesh Bista has said in a letter submitted to the Office of the Press Registrar.

    NRM suspended its print editions on 15 April after journalists refused to work without pay. Republica journalists said that they refused to work after the administration informed them about further delays in payment. Nagarik, the media house’s Nepali language publication, is still running after its editors and reporters agreed to continue working without pay.  

    “We refused to work after we felt like the pay problem could go on forever,” a Republica journalist said upon conditions of anonymity.

    KMG, the publisher of Nepal’s largest selling Nepali language daily, Kantipur, has asked a growing number of staff to remain on leave without pay, citing financial duress. According to sources, the media house has told more than four dozen staff, including district reporters who have hardly been earning minimum wages, to stay on unpaid leave. Many of these journalists have continued to work for the publication for the last two decades under very trying circumstances including the 2015 earthquakes. 

    “The publisher is targeting staff that they wanted to fire long ago such as journalists associated with FNJ and labor unions,” a journalist with Kantipur told the Record on conditions of anonymity.

    Some Kantipur journalists have said that they are thinking of going to the labor court. 

    “KMG is doing this with the malicious intention to flush out workers who are unhappy for various reasons including low wages. Citing financial problems to lay people off makes no sense when the publishers are still riding vehicles that are so expensive that you could support workers for years with their price. Moreover, we have hardly seen a month of lockdown. How can they come up with such lame excuses,” said a perturbed Kantipur daily reporter who has been informed to stay on unpaid leave. 

    Revenue details are scarce due to an overall lack of transparent business culture in the country, but the Nepali media have only seen a slight fall in their advertisement revenues so far, although this could get worse amid extensions to the lockdown in coming months, according to media insiders. This makes hundreds of journalists, especially those working with online digital outlets, even more vulnerable to mass layoff. Journalists working with three online media outlets have already reported some delays in payment of salaries.    

    Nepali journalists are undoubtedly on the frontline of the Covid19 crisis. Yet, most have been forced to go into field reporting without masks, gloves or other basic protective gears, and worse, without proper insurance coverage. 

    ::::::::

    Feature image caption: Pioneering photojournalist Usha Tiwari (‘Titikchu’) using her SLR camera on one of the numerous political rallies that were regular features of the days of new democracy in the early 1990s



    author bio photo

    The Record  We are an independent digital publication based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Our stories examine politics, the economy, society, and culture. We look into events both current and past, offering depth, analysis, and perspective. Explore our features, explainers, long reads, multimedia stories, and podcasts. There’s something here for everyone.



    Comments

    Get the best of

    the Record

    Previous Next

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Perspectives

    7 min read

    Oli’s attempts to rule by dicta

    Robin Sharma - June 16, 2021

    Since coming to power, Prime Minister Oli has attempted numerous times — via ordinances — to bypass the legislation and vest the powers to make laws within himself.

    Explainers

    7 min read

    How the Oli government is weakening federalism

    The Record - October 21, 2020

    By shoring up all power at the centre, NCP head honchos are choking the life out of the country’s still-nascent federal units

    Features

    14 min read

    Menstrual health is everybody’s business

    Nishi Rungta - December 14, 2021

    Menstrual education in Nepal is woefully inadequate and, at times, actively harmful, posing risks to health while reinforcing existing stereotypes and stigmas.

    Features

    6 min read

    Hospitals complicit in the deaths of at least a dozen patients over Covid fears

    Roshan Sedhai - August 12, 2020

    Hospitals across Nepal have denied treatment to patients with Covid-like symptoms. So far, they have not faced any consequences

    COVID19

    News

    5 min read

    Covid19 Roundup, 7 May: Arrival of fresh kits brings hopes of more tests

    The Record - May 7, 2020

    A daily summary of all Covid19 related developments that matter

    Features

    8 min read

    The untouchability virus

    Rajendra Maharajan - June 26, 2020

    How apologists for untouchability are using the pandemic’s social-distancing rules as proof that societal notions of purity have merit

    Perspectives

    Opinions

    6 min read

    Prepare, don’t panic

    Kripa Regmi - March 11, 2020

    How to fight an info-demic during an epidemic

    Features

    6 min read

    Physical distancing a luxury many cannot afford

    Ayushma Regmi , Ishita Shahi - June 4, 2020

    Many migrant families in Kathmandu share cramped flats with each other, making physical distancing and self-quarantining impossible

    • About
    • Contributors
    • Jobs
    • Contact

    CONNECT WITH US

    © Copyright the Record | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy