183 Online prosecuted for stealing news

The Press Council of Nepal has taken action against 183 online websites under news theft in the last one and a half years. The council issued a statement and said that since the last fiscal year, 183 online media and web portals have been taken action for stealing news (copying and pasting), not taking permission.

It is mentioned in the statement that 143 media outlets have been asked for clarification and 11 media outlets have been alerted. Most of the media who were asked for an explanation had submitted an answer with a commitment that they would not do such a thing in the future. Correspondence has already been sent to Nepal Telecommunication Authority for necessary action against 29 web portals which are not registered/listed as media. It is said in a statement issued by Ram Sharan Bohra, Co Administrative Officer of the Council.

A meeting of the Press Council Journalist Code of Conduct Monitoring Sub-Committee was also held on Wednesday. The meeting has decided to proceed with the process of further action to discourage this trend. In the meeting, it was decided to alert 89 media. It has been decided to draw attention not to publish without permission in the coming days and to warn that further action will be taken in accordance with the prevailing law and code of conduct if complaints and complaints are received that repeat such a trend.

Similarly, it has been decided to instruct one to correct the mistake and one to publish a rebuttal and to call the editor for a discussion because the answer of one media outlet is not satisfactory. It is mentioned in the statement issued after the meeting.

In the meeting of the sub-committee chaired by Council Chairperson Balkrishna Basnet, Chairman of  Federation of Nepalese Journalists Bipul Pokhrel, Council members Deepak Pandey, Durga Bhandari Paudel, Thakur Belbase, Lalbabu Sheikh, Sharad Prasad Adhikari, Ganesh Prasad Pokhrel and Representative Secretary General Anjita Khanal on behalf of Nepal Bar Association and Co-Administrative Officer and Co-Spokesperson of the Council Ramsharan Bohra participated.

Chairperson Basnet said that the Council will be stricter in the coming days to increase not only the numerical but also the qualitative growth of online and to stop the trend of stealing news. "Journalism cannot flourish if the media does not present its original and investigative presentation. Credibility also decreases. Being serious about this, the council has been monitoring, facilitating and taking action", he said.

Till date, 220 complaints and 12 public complaints have been registered in the council against various media. In the last three months, 51 complaints, 53 complaints including 2 public complaints have been registered, and during this period, the previous year. 160 complaints have been dismissed. The Council has requested the media, ordinary journalists, and media persons not to transmit the content directly without citing the source without the permission of the original source.