MAN Chairperson participates in WAPC, SAAPC meeting
Mr. Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of Media Action Nepal (MAN) has participated in four different events organized in New Delhi from November 15 to 18, 2017. Pant, who participated in two separate meetings as an international expert each organized by World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) and South Asian Alliance for Press Councils (SAAPC) on November 16 and 17, 2017 has also attended the Valedictory of the National Press Day of India on November 16 and an International Seminar on ‘Challenges before Media’ on November 18 in New Delhi, India.
Speaking during the seminar on ‘Challenges before Media’, Pant said, “Both multiple and foreign investments in media have been jeopardizing the basic values of press questioning the accountability role of media”. The reluctance of leading media houses to spend on improving the quality of their product by investing in training and capacity building of their staff has had a cascading effect on the entire sector, Pant added.
Mr. Pant also participated in the executive committee meeting of the World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) along with representatives from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the meeting held on the same occasion among the Press Councils of the South Asian countries has formed a South Asian Alliance of Press Councils (SAAPC) designating Justice Chandramouli Kumar Prasad as the Interim Chairperson of the alliance. Mr. Pant also participated in ‘National Press Day’ and National Award for Excellence in Journalism Ceremony -2017 during the 30th anniversary and the closing of the golden jubilee of the Indian National Press Day on November 16. Vice President of India M. V. Naidu and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Smriti Jubin Irani addressed the ceremony.
Under the invitation of the Indian Press Council the three-member delegation of Nepal led by Mr. Kishor Shrestha, Acting Chairperson of the Press Council of Nepal, Mr. Laxman Datt Pant, an International Media Expert and the Chairperson of Media Action Nepal (MAN) and Mr. Deepak Khanal, Joint-Administrative Officer participated in these events.