Yesterday I got started talking about the news media in Nepal. I’m sure you can draw the same conclusion that the transparency and freedom of the press are things we can’t take for granted and the people of Nepal should be diligent to keep them growing. I’d like to point out some of the online news resources for reporting from Nepal. Other than the countless blog entries from free-spirited hikers who pass through the established sight-seeing trails (myself included) there are a few active news sites published from Nepal that give its citizens and the world outside an update on daily matters. Of course there is a lot of debate and criticism of conditions in the country in the villages and city centers, but people generally feel they need to watch their backs for the wrong ears hearing their critical opinions. English language news organizations within Nepal are closely monitored and somewhat constricted by the political administration, but there are also some news agencies reporting from outside the country’s borders that take an interest in Nepal’s issues.

The news portal site NepalNews.net is hosted in Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Persian Gulf with a community of Nepalese laborers. It links to news reports from other sites worldwide and is open and unbiased since it is run outside of Nepal. NepalNews.com and NepalTimes.com are hosted by Mercantile Communications in an office right across the street from the Royal Palace in Kathmandu, and you can infer that they tend to report in terms that are flattering to the current political leadership. (When it comes to flattery though, no one in the world beats North Korea.) GorkhaPatra.org.np, which translates to The Rising Nepal, is practically a fansite for the king. A website that is popular with the more liberal and conscientiuos Nepalese is KantipurOnline.com, published from Kathmandu. In the past it has been outspoken and has tested their limits, but has recently been forcefully restricted. These viewpoints add up to at least a blurry picture of daily events.