Mr. Laxman Datt Pant
Founder & Executive Director
Mr. Pant is an advocate for the independent media, known for his commitment and actions to media development and press freedom at national, regional and global levels. In 2015, Pant founded Media Action Nepal (MAN), a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting independent and accountable media. Under his leadership, Media Action Nepal joined the leading global media development and press freedom networks and alliances, including the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network (MFC-CN), ACOS Alliance and the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). He served as Media Action Nepal’s Chairperson for two terms until December 2024 and was appointed as the organization’s Executive Director on January 1, 2025.
From February 2022 to August 2024, Pant served as an elected Co-Chair of the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network (MFC-CN), an international network comprising 22 national, regional, and global organizations. In this role, he provided strategic leadership and facilitated collaboration between the Media Freedom Coalition, a high-level, multi-stakeholder initiative of 51 countries advocating for media freedom and journalist safety, and a broader civil society network of over 150 organizations.
An Adjunct Professor of Media Ethics at the Tbilisi State University under the Erasmus+ program, an Invited Lecturer on Media and Globalization at the University of Georgia, and Social Media Management at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, he also serves as the Country Representative for Nepal at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). He has held teaching roles in development journalism at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh (2008–2009), and various media studies courses at Kathmandu University, Nepal (2009–2018).
A former UN Programme Specialist, Pant oversaw and implemented the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity at UNESCO (2012-2015) and led the nationwide communications and media campaign for the Local Government and Community Development Programme (LGCDP)/ UNDP (2009-2012). He has also collaborated with several esteemed organizations as a Consultant, including the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), UNEP, UNFPA, the World Bank, GiZ, WWF, Article 19, IFEX, the Public Media Alliance, IPI, and others, primarily focusing on initiatives to promote press freedom, media development, and inclusive journalism.
Pant began his career over two decades ago as a journalist, progressing through roles ranging from reporter to editor in various media institutions. He has co-edited significant research publications, including Supporting Safety of Journalists in Nepal: An Assessment Based on UNESCO‘s Safety Indicators- A Media safety Landscape of Nepal (2016), and was the lead researcher for the UNESCO/PMA study on the on Impact of COVID-19 on media freedom, journalist safety and media viability in Southeast Asia (2021). He has also contributed to the Advisory Editorial Board for IGI Global, USA, authoring works such as “Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety (2020)” & “Discrimination, Gender Equality and Safety Risks in Journalism (2021)” .
Pant’s recent works include leading studies and publications such as ‘Code of Conduct to Improve Conflict Sensitive Reporting and Safety of Journalists in South Asia, 2021‘, Media, Elections and Human Rights : A Study on Media Coverage of Elections from Human Rights Perspectives, 2022 and Conflict Sensitive Journalism and Communication in Nepal: A Baseline Study, 2023.
He is also an international expert facilitator, moderator, and speaker, renowned for his extensive experience in leading dialogues and discussions on press freedom and media development at a global scale.