Indian Embassy and B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation organized the 5th edition of VOICES, a B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation initiative at Nepal-Bharat Library on September 26, 2013. On its fifth edition, Voices brought together two eminent media personalities of Nepal – Prateek Pradhan (editor of Nagarik Daily) and Guna Raj Luitel (editor of Annapurna Post).

Editors Prateek Pradhan and Guna Raj Luitel started the discussion by comparing media practices during 1990s and now.

“Before 1990, it was more a mission journalism than freedom of expression,” shared Prateek Pradhan and added how the privatization of media freed journalists to express their views on insurgency, autocracy and individual rights.

According to Indian Embassy press release, both Pradhan and Luitel enunciated together, “As journalists, we have closely experienced insurgency, monarchy and instability. We have made sure from our ends that we keep penning down to raise awareness against the ills and odds of the society.”

“It however saddens us today to see how the media has been diluted and neutralized over time. The threat we receive, the political influences and violence is still deeply rooted. There are so many things that journalists want to reveal to the people but the direct physical threat they receive on writing is what has been keeping them quiet,” Pradhan and Luitel elaborated.

Furthermore, the two editors highlighted the challenges journalists in Nepal face. The event concluded with intriguing discussions with audience.