Media and minority ethnic political identity in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal’s media have been lauded for their positive contribution to democratic political discourse amidst the turmoil of the post-revolutionary period (Onta, 2006), but today have become the focus of anxiety. Radio, in particular, due to the relatively low costs of production and accessibility to listeners with low or no literacy, has seen huge growth in Nepal and corresponding hopes for its potential to improve the lives of Nepal’s citizens. However, as a recent policy paper from an independent Nepali research organization, Martin Chautari (Anonymous, 2012, p. 2), explains: Despite their somewhat positive roles, FM radios have not been able to carry the voices of marginalized citizens. The concerns of the poor and marginalized citizens living in remote areas, local issues and the language spoken by the majority in those areas have not received appropriate space in FM radios. Not only are there few programs containing local concerns and in local languages, even when they do exist, with a few exceptions, they are given minimum priority in terms of time and space.