Struggle for Survival

Struggle for Survival

Status of Press Freedom, Right to Information and Freedom of Expression in Bhutan 2019

ACRONYMS
FORWARD
SUMMARY
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
ORGANISED EFFORTS
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
POLITICAL COMMITMENTS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ATTACK ON MEDIA
JAB AND ITS ROLE
CONCLUSION
ANNEXURE

Acronyms
BBSC – Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (also refer as BBS)
BCMD – Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy
BICMA – Bhutan Information, Communication and Media Authority
BKP – Bhutan Kuen-nam Party
BMF – Bhutan Media Foundation
DNT – Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa
DPT – Druk Phuensum Tshogpa
ECB – Election Commission of Bhutan
EVM – Electronic Voting Machine
GDP – Gross Domestic Product
GNH – Gross National Happiness
IFJ – International Federation of Journalists
INGO – International Non-governmental Organisation
JAB – Journalist Association of Bhutan
LDC – Least Developed Country
MoIC – Ministry of Information and Communication
NA – National Assembly
NC – National Council
PDP – People’s Democratic Party
PSB – Public Service Broadcasting
RCSC – Royal Civil Service Commission
RENEW – Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women
RSF – Reporters Sans Frontiers
RTI – Right to Information

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FORWARD
Even after a decade of parliamentary democracy introduced, institutionalising press freedom is still proving to be problematic. The governments and political leadership have expressed solidarity to respect freedom of the press, but it seems only lip service is being paid to it, with them not bringing legislation favourable to press freedom and not providing enough state support and not taking initiatives to help media professionals facing challenges. The only union of the journalists Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) has almost become the rubberstamp of the government. The right to information is the fundamental rights enshrined by the Constitution but the lack of legal mechanism to access the public information for last 10 years itself speaks the volume of Bhutan’s state of press freedom.

The continued decline in the World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) also portrays the deteriorating media environment in the country. The anti-press activities definitely do not augur well for the image of the government, both nationally and internationally. The delay in promulgating laws related to media freedom and right to information darkened the country’s image. To demonstrate that it will work as per the spirit of the new Constitution, the government has no option but to amend or revise some of the draconian provisions in the related acts to guarantee complete press freedom. The Judiciary too must extend the helping hand in defining the grey areas of laws. While the government has the obligation to live by the Constitution, the media must also play its role of a watchdog to see that no attempts are being made to compromise on press freedom. The Bhutanese People should be informed of unfiltered information.

Tashi Delek!
Karma Dupthob

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Summary
A landlock Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between China and India with 735,5531 people living in 38,464 sqm of land, Bhutan is known for using new development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) against the traditional Gross National Product (GDP) as development indicator. This Least Development Country (LDC) with limited freedom and guided democracy introduced in 2008 will be graduating into Middle Income Country by 2023.2

For last few years, there was none to monitor the situation of press freedom and freedom of expression in Bhutan. Journalists themselves are more keen to defend the status of media situation in the country and project Bhutan as the best country. Their defence reflected their inability of working to promote independent journalism and freedom of speech and expression and seek guarantee from the state for safety.

The last few years did not portray a picture of improved working conditions for media professionals. It was busy with some unexpected incidences and outcomes. The expectation that working environment would improve with the maturity of political system and democratic practice did not really materialised.

Social media posts during the third parliamentary elections, unfriendly Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) and Bhutan’s press freedom ranking by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) were primary focus.

Office of the media arbitrator under ECB came under fire for asking a private newspaper to take action against a reporter and editor for one of its stories. However, the ECB was powerful and budding media outlet received no support from the fraternity but forced to suspend its managing editor for a month.

ECB faced hiatus challenge during elections when hate speech and bullying to other party members and candidates outnumbered expectations. The decisions were, in some cases, bias.
The Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) failed to stand up against the ECB but could challenge the RSF that Bhutan’s press freedom ranking reasoning it to be flowed. And JAB failed to speak when journalists were slapped with jail term or fines for Facebook posts. It will not be otherwise to say JAB has become government’s obedient follower and propaganda machinery.
The new government does not appear any better for media. In the first press meet, the prime minister scolded the media professionals and termed them very incompetent – for not asking interesting questions. For the new ministers, questions on their choice of subject are interesting or rather subjects already decided by the ministers prior to press meets.

In this report, the state of press freedom and freedom of expression of the Bhutan citizens is examined.

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Right to Information
Bhutan’s media industry is much older than its guided democracy. The days were and are challenging when the reality is very unfriendly working conditions. The state seldom stood in support of free press and freedom of expression. The bureaucracy has come long way serving under the absolute monarchy – where words from powerful individuals become the law of the land – and had never been friendly to any forms of media. Those cultures and behaviours still linger within the current bureaucracy which see media to be nation’s foe and threat to their personality and power. Private media houses are established by wealthy business families to carry out their political ventures they have their undeclared biases on what news are to be covered.

In a decade the kingdom has adopted guided democracy, media remained in poor state. The new political leadership present the media as threat to democracy and their interests. In the last 10 years, state has not invested hardly in establishing institutions that strengthen free media, freedom of expression and right to information that ultimately would strengthen democracy and promote liberty.

Part of the Article 7 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan3 lists rights entitled to Bhutanese citizens including right to information and expression but these rights are hardly been translated into reality. The provisions remain as a showcase to promote that Bhutan support media freedom, freedom of expression and right to information. Here are some of those sub-articles.

2. A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression.

3. A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to information.

5. There shall be freedom of the press, radio and television and other forms of dissemination of information, including electronic.

19. A person shall not be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence nor to unlawful attacks on the person’s honour and reputation.

These constitutional provisions remain obscure and inactive with no political parties or individual politicians ready to actively engage in having a Right To Information (RTI) Act in place to ensure citizens’ fundamental right to information is protected. The RTI bill was passed by National Assembly on February 5, 2014 but the upper house Nation Council (NC) failed to endorse saying it requires more discussion, amendments and changes. Ritu Raj Chhetri, the then Chairman of the Legislative Committee in NA, said ‘it could be considered that the RTI bill is dead for this term (PDP government term 2013-18).4 The previous DPT government (2008-2013) had promised to pass the RTI Bill during its term in office but failed do so. A decade has passed and still the RTI Act is in the back burner.

While NA appears liberal to widening the scope of RTI, the upper house does not budge from its position that the Act is not a need of the Bhutanese society at this stage. The decision is heavily influenced by few individuals in the NC who have closer link with royal family including the five members appointed by the king. The new party that was voted into power through 2018 election had hardly spoken about the need for an RTI Act. Thus, it is very unlikely this party would advocate or work out for enactments of the law during its term in office.

While looking at the history of actions and commitments, PDP appears to be more liberal and open for growth and widening the scope of media freedom. The weekly press meet initiated by the PDP-government had given some sort of access for media into the government functionary.

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Organised Efforts
Bhutan has very few institutions working for or advocating in favour of the press freedom and freedom of speech and expression. But when it comes to number, they are enough for collective action considering the size of the industry.

At the state level, Bhutan Information, Communication and Media Authority (BICMA) works as the watchdog of media regulation, certification and carryout government orders.

The country lacks an independent media arbitrator. The case of ethics, conflict of interests and other issues related to media are directly handles by BICMA – a government department that works under government direction and is bias towards the private media. The bureaucracy here is derived from the central bureaucracy that has negative perception of a free media and freedom of expression.

JAB represents itself to be a union of working journalists. The activities of the JAB are heavily influenced by the government agenda. The organisation lack independent authenticity for its inability to work in favour of the working journalists. It has practically become a mouthpiece of the government. JAB derives grants and other financial assistance from the government and from foreign agencies (also channelled through government), that puts pressure on the association to avoid criticising the government.

The royal family has its own Bhutan Media Foundation (BMF). Since its establishment, the BMF has invested heavily on promoting the positivity around royal family and their involvements in business in social welfare programmes.

The journalists prefer to be associated to be with BMF than their own JAB. The editors and publishers of the media houses have their own association that hardly meets and discusses the challenges of the private media and state of working journalists.

Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) works on increasing media literacy with funding from INGOs. With BMF becoming more active and influential, the activities of BCMD has shrunk last year. The NGO is more focused on programmes strengthening the role of civil society in the democracy. Though it has few programmes related to media, the NGO is not directly associated to advocate press freedom and freedom of expression.

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Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression is heavily scrutinised. Questioning the government and member of bureaucracy by an ordinary citizen is violation of law. An editor of a most popular private newspaper expressing the fear to tell the truth and consequences of doing so vividly exposes the ground reality of Bhutanese media and its operational base (see the pic). Lamsang is chief editor of The Bhutanese.

When free expression is suppressed, the technology has provided individual with alternatives to voice their concern – social media has become very handy for these individuals.

Social media became the alternative platform for people to express their dissatisfaction. It has given good, bad and ugly results. Raising social awareness, reporting issues of public concern and raise the voice could be some positive outcomes of social media in Bhutan but they are also used for smear campaign for the political candidates and their supports during elections. The issues of fake and derogatory news also became the primary concern for the authorities as they heavily influence the outcome of the political game and democratic exercise. Social media had become a hotspot for all sorts of political debates including mudslinging and defamatory comments.5

Bhutanese newspapers have limited circulation and readership, national TV is not effective and radio do not necessarily provide effective media when people wanted to see the real face of their leadership. Thus, social media stood out as viable alternative. Social media also became the accessible platform for political leadership to reach out to the public more easily and efficiently compared to the traditional media such as TV, radio or newspaper. The Bhutanese political leadership has not resorted to advertising on social media as yet but have used the tool to their best to reap the benefits. ‘Politicians have now realised the importance of social media and indispensable campaign tool’.6 Chinese social media platform WeChat is more popular for private and group chats while American social media Facebook has become the preferred platform for public comments.

There are estimated 370,000 Facebook users in Bhutan. ‘The country does not have comprehensive social media policy.7 The scratch of the policy tells what government employees can do or cannot.

There were reports of several fake social media IDs created and written defamatory posts against the parties and their leaders on the eve of election. Many cases were reported to the Election Commission but there are hardly case action taken due to lack of capability to identify the persons behind such defamatory attacks.8

The growth of hate speech and smear campaign has given rise to social and political division in the country. While they used social media to the full potential during campaigns, ‘the political parties have pledged to review the social media policy’9 to reduce this impact to continue in the community. However, every few years as country plunges into electioneering, the real face behind the fruitless effort to build fabric for communal harmony comes out in public.

In 2018 elections, the fight on social media on the eve of the election was between the DPT and DNT and their supporters alleging each other with defamatory statements. Though only 22 Facebook post complaints that were objectionable,10 it created a big tension in the budding democracy.

Former journalist-turned politician, who later become the chairperson of upper house National Council, Sonam Kinga’s Facebook post against the DPT became hotcake in the political and media circle. He was alleged to have campaigned against the DPT.11 The issue became a big scandal. The ECB failed to take action against Kinga but asked him to remove the post.12

Media fraternity believes, social media is dividing society. These modern tools are changing the way information is created and shared in the society. It is through these outlets that we know how divisive our society is becoming by the day.13

The current DNT government is trying to develop sung joen apps. Modelling the Wechat apps under the guise of free internet service to public. But fact is that government might be trying to control and spy the people’s social media activities as this platform will provide government with unlimited access to the information shared and chat history of the individual users.

The ECB unilaterally imposed the restriction on what party candidates can debate about during elections. The foreign policies debate with regard to relations with China and India was prohibited. Yeshey Penjor,14 DNT candidate of Nubi-Tangsibji in Trongsa, Namgay Rinchen, DNT coordinator of Punakha, Samten Wangdi, registered member of DNT (Trashi Yangtse), Tendi Zangpo, Tshering Dargay, Kezang Norbu (PDP member in Samdrup Jongkhar) and Namsey Wangdi (PDP member in Pema Gatshel) were fined and censured by ECB for expressing foreign relations (about India) in WeChat forums. There was no restriction on what issues candidates can discuss during 2008 and 2013 elections. Candidates had expressed their thoughts on domestic and foreign affairs freely in the previous years. This is gradual process to restricting the length and breadth of the free expression.

Kalay Dukpa, resident of Tsirang district was detained by ECB for two days on April 9 and 10 and interrogated. He had questioned the trustworthiness of the Electronic Voting Machine and the Postal Ballot System in WECHAT group discussion.15 Courts and media would not question the ECB why individuals do not have right to expression opinions in about their doubts in the use of these machines. The role of ECB should rather be educate those individuals and build trust on the system. EVM are used in all elections in Bhutan and were donated by India. Many democracies do not used EVM owing to its vulnerabilities to possible rigging.

The ECB’s action in several incidences during the elections were questionable. ECB promoted DNT and demonstrated its favour towards this party. Anything spoken against its leaders was intolerable for the commission. Cheku Wangyel from Pemagatsel district was warned and fined Nu 6450 for criticising DNT president. In a WeChat group, he said DNT president, Lotay Tshering and the party supporters are useless and that the party has no capable candidates.16

ECB also fined DNT’s Namgay Rinchen from Punakha for spreading false news in WeChat by stating that DPT has tainted Indo-Bhutan friendship and that India would withdraw development assistance and imports if DPT forms the government.17

The party candidates were not permitted to articulate party manifesto in local language or dialects other than national language Dzongkha. The people in south and east were especially handicapped in understanding party manifestos and pledges as majority of people hardly comprehend Dzongkha. The ECB allowed other languages only for informal discussion.18 This is more closed to the imposition of Driglam Namzha where everyone in Bhutan must speak the Dzongkha language – the lingua franca from western Bhutan promoted to be national language in 1960s.

Questioning the authority is taken as dissidence and betrayal to the country. Bhutan is not different to its neighbours where those in authority abuse their power in their favour. Additionally Bhutan is where you obey the order of the authority without question – be it bad or good. Loyalty rules over integrity. Driglam Namzha creed is to respect the elders and people in authority.

Not just general public are shut to speak out, Bhutanese media practice self-censorship. Media does not cover news on many issues that government considers sensitive. The government subtly influences the media from any critical coverage of southern neighbour India fearing such publicity might have repercussions on foreign policies. The media’s duty of informing the public is highly circumscribed by the government.

Agencies such as Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB), paralyse media on verbal command. During election period, it puts pressure on the management and editorial team of media house to have self-censorship. Such orders are not passed on written but are verbal in nature that leaves opportunities the commission to later claim it had never controlled media on what to cover or not. A private newspaper was forced to suspend its managing editor for a month for publishing a profile story of a political candidate.19 The political debates and discourses are controlled by ECB and media have to obey the order or face penalty.20 The JAB is loyal follower of the government and hardly advocates that media outlets have the right to cover issues political parties and their contestants bring up.

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Political Commitments
Similar to other countries, the political parties promise for golden days for media and journalists while they are on the campaign trails. Hardly any of these promises are translated into reality in the case of Bhutan. As it concludes its five year term in office, the PDP government did not regret for failing to fulfil its promise to enact RTI Act. In the entire period of five years, the government failed to lobby at the NC to get RTI Bill pass through. The party also failed to introduce private TV21 which it had promised during 2013 campaigns.

In none of the arbitrary actions of the ECB and BICMA against the media professionals, the political parties have come forth to express their solidarity towards the media. The pledges they made reflect their intentions to gain greater attention and publicity during campaigns as any parties are have demonstrated full commitments to independent media.

Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) had pledged to build responsible public media and broadcast service, and career development through increased funding and policy support. Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) pledged to review the standing policies that were created to engender a vibrant news media, review the Right to Information Legislation that was drafted since 2007 and consider it for enactment. Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) has pledged to ensure access to all public-interest information, and an independent media.22

The newly elected government of DNT shows no signs to discuss the future of independent media and review the RTI Bill despite its pledges.

Journalists leaving their job to join politics and they themselves becoming not friendly with the industry they once worked23 is a growing curiosity. This has further complicated the case of independent media to improve their stability and gain support from the political leadership.

At a press meet in December 2018, Prime Minister Dr Lotey Tshering said he was disappointed to media for not asking questions what he was expecting. Media disputed this and termed PM’s statement to be authoritarian.

‘The Prime Minister’s statement refusing to entertain any question outside the theme from the next session is, therefore, purely authoritarian. It also conveys a negative message on the way the Prime Minister’s office is trying to dictate the media. And it definitely does not bode well for both the new government and the young media’.24

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Professional Development
The country is likely to have a separate body to enhance and promote its professional standards. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) said it was working towards establishing a media council. The ministry in July said about 80 percent of the work has been completed.25 Though the government has promised this in July, the promise has not been translated into reality in more than half a year later when this report was prepared.

Training opportunities for new and aspiring journalists in the country are limited or call it rare. Other than few INGO-funded JAB’s brief journalism trainings, Bhutan has only one institution – Sherubtse College – that provides education on basics of media and journalism.26

The private media houses operate in very poor financial situation. Survival of the private media is a major challenge. Several publications have closed over the years due to financial constraints. The private sector is very small and does have capacity to provide continued advertisements to the media outlets. One of the first private newspapers of the country – Bhutan Observe did not survive for a long time.

In February 2019 privately run Dzongkha weekly Druk Neytshuel was shut down. This is the fifth newspaper to shut its operations in the last few years. Bhutan first saw the private media in 2006 when the country was preparing to introduce parliamentary electoral system. By 2010, there were 12 print publications in the country which by 2017 reduced to nine. With Druk Neytshuel’s closure, there are now only seven print news publications in the country, including the state-run ones.

This event explicitly conveys us the message about the difficulties private media in the country are facing and lack of the government initiative to support private media.

The new government told the parliament that it plans to provide printing subsidy of Nu 2.609mn, which sums up to about 50% of the cost of the private media. In addition, content development grant of Nu 3mn are in the budget allocation bill.27 The government had earlier initiated similar programme to support the private media but it really didn’t produce any results. The Cabinet had approved to support 50 percent of the printing cost to a maximum of 1,000 copies a month for a period of two years. The subsidy amounts to Nu 2.725 million annually. The finance ministry is directed to instruct Bhutan Media Foundation to decide on the printing house.28

Preliminary work on converting the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC) into a Public Service Broadcaster (PBS) has started after the PDP government mooted for PBS status for BBS in 2014. BBSC has not made any formal presentation but shared a draft copy of the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) bill to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) when the People’s Democratic Party was in power. The bill is now with the incumbent government and the ministry has not been approached formally when this report was prepared. BBS plans to seek advice from the Office of Attorney General before making final submission.

If the PBS status is approved, the government will bear all the operational costs whereas it generates 50% of the expenses from advertisements today.

One of the reasons that BBSC is pushing for PSB status is to prevent it from becoming the mouthpiece of a political government. The BBSC was delinked from the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) in 1992.

If BBS does turn into a PSB, it opens up the sector to private TV channels, according to the National Broadcasting Policy.29

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Attack on Media
A journalist choosing anonymity said that the freedom of speech in Bhutan is restricted and media houses are gender insensitive.30 [Bhutan} might not have had cases of journalists being held ransom, kidnapped or murdered but the media health and vitality remain poor.31

On August 6, 2018, Tsirang District Court32 sentenced journalist from Kuensel based in Tsirang district, Nirmala Pokhrel33 to three months in prison for libel. The judgment ordered the Kuensel reporter to pay Nu 45,000 in compensation to the victim and post an apology statement to the victim on Facebook. The fellow journalists did fundraise to pay the court in lieu of jail sentence.

The reporter had written about a woman mistreating her six-year-old stepdaughter on Facebook from her personal account in June last year.

The post went viral prompting police and district representatives from relevant agencies, including RENEW, to visit the woman’s place for investigation.34

The Journalist Association of Bhutan failed to act – not even issuing a statement in favour of its member.35 The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) South Asia Coordinator Krishna Acharya said IFJ failed to act on the issue only because its partner in Bhutan did not respond to their repeated request for information about this case.

In 2016 Namgay Zam faced with the challenge to counter high profile individual who sued her for Facebook post she shared. The former presenter of Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation faced imprisonment or a fine equivalent to 10 years’ salary if she is found guilty of defaming a prominent businessman.36 The businessman abruptly withdrew the case from court and paid Nu 45000 to Namgay Zam as compensation for causing inconveniences and wasting their time. She went a self-exile in Nepal. She has recently returned to country and has been appointed as new Executive Director of JAB. Whereas the businessman who filed case against her has now been exiled.

The Civil Bench of Thimphu District Court ordered Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) to pay a penalty of Nu 45,000 to Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) for breaching the journalist code of conduct on January 28.

The case pertains to BBS-BICMA row over a television news piece on the controversial film ‘Hema Hema’ directed by Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.

BBS was alleged of airing clippings of the film ‘Hema Hema’ that was not certified by BICMA, disseminating incorrect information and for misinforming and misleading the public in December 2018. BBS was also accused of running the story without the views from the BICMA officials.

The media regulator, BICMA, had slapped BBS with a fine of Nu 224,625 for failing to abide by its directives to pay penalties and for misinforming and instigating the public by providing incorrect information and broadcasting a one-sided story.

This was by far the highest penalty ever imposed by BICMA.

The penalty imposed on BBS was for violating section 111 (1) of the BICMA Act, 2006, which states: “No film intended for public exhibition shall be advertised to the general public though any medium before the grant of a certificate by the Authority.”

BBS had refused to pay the fine and subsequently BICMA filed the case to the court. BBS has appealed to the High Court37 and no judgement has been issued by the time this report was prepared.

Those in authority take it granted to spit venom on media professionals if they read anything against their interest. One senior journalist noted, ‘It was as if everyone had the license to scold us. To our credits, though, we did our jobs well and since people had to find faults anyway, even trivial mistakes like not getting titles or designations right were objects of ridicules and rebukes. I was even criticized officially for not wearing woven gho on TV.38

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JAB and its Role
JAB is the only organisation in the country that represents the working journalists. Established in 2012 and legally registered in 2014, JAB aims to protect and promote the constitutional right to information, freedom of expression and media and protect journalists from hazards such as threats, harassments, litigation, etc. from interest groups.

Account to the membership registrar for 2016-2018, JAB has 147 members and majority of them are from BBS (57) and Kuensel (31). Many individuals who had worked in the media but have left the industry also have taken membership (19) as freelance journalist.

JAB is derailed from its objectives in the last few years. Its activities have contributed in improving skills through trainings and grants. However, the primary mission to protect its members and strengthen freedom of press and freedom of expression was ignored. Its statements resemble government view.

Reporters Without Border (RSF) in its Press Freedom Index 2018 reported that the criminalising of defamation and practicing of the self-censorship as main concerns in the Bhutanese media culture. RSF described Bhutan’s media status as ‘Stifling Self-Censorship’.

The country’s state of media freedom had dropped. RSF39 pointed out that the adoption of the Bhutan Information Communications and Media Act in 2006 and the creation of a media regulatory authority have reinforced the government’s armoury of draconian legislation, which already included a national security law that punishes any attempt to create misunderstanding or hostility between the government and people.

Amid outcry by Bhutanese journalists over the country’s ranking in the latest world press freedom index, the RSF retracted its report, outlining that several Bhutanese journalists were exiled from the country.

Besides highlighting Bhutan dropped 10 places to 94th position in press freedom, the report mentioned, “The level of self-censorship is high and even increased after the recent approval of a law criminalising defamation, which drove several Bhutanese journalists into exile in 2017.”40

“I am very doubtful how Reporters Without Borders reached to the figures and what kind of research they do, where they sent out their questionnaires to. Because I have been in the media for a long time, I haven’t received single questionnaire from them,” said the Executive Director of JAB, Needrup Zangpo, adding: “I think the figures they put up on their website could be based on assumptions”.41

The reason behind JAB speaking against the RSF report while remaining quite on coercion of its members by influential individuals in the courts raises the questions of JAB’s ability to defend for freedom of press and freedom of expression.

In 2018 JAB, without holding election, decided to extend the term of its president and continue with the existing committee for next term. The JAB members were aware of this situation only following the decision. Protesting the decision, 31 individuals from media industry, submitted petition to the JAB against the decision.42 A year later in February 2019, JAB called for re-election of its president, but results have not been release until this report was prepared.

Journalists are more loyal to BMF than to their union JAB. The erstwhile Executive Director of JAB Mr. Needrup Zangpo is now the Executive Director of BMF.43 The JAB has almost become non-existent in terms of activities or advocating press freedom and safety of the working journalists. Until the JAB remains loyal to government, the situation of media professionals would not improve and the shall lack fairness in the news that media outlet carry. In a country where journalist themselves feel that their profession has lost attraction and is very unsafe,44 there is hardly any meaning to claims Bhutan’s media outlets are still surviving.

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Conclusion
Criticism of influential public figure is not legally prohibited, except the royal family, but the critic would be dragged to lengthy and expensive court process that is beyond the capacity of the journalists or opinion writers. The Supreme Court of Bhutan judgment on defamation case on DPT vs Penjor Jigme Dorji45 and Namgay Zam vs Sonam Phuntsho46 were withdrawn by respective plaintiffs on the eve of judgment day, depriving the Bhutanese people a precedent on such important cases. The judiciary rulings would have defined the freedom of expression including grey areas but it was deliberately coerced to withdraw the case, and thereby denying the people to have a reference or precedence.

The district court’s verdict in the case of Nirmala Pokhrel is a clear indication that the country’s judiciary too is not media friendly and does not support freedom of expression.

The need for independent body to look after the grievances of the industry is the need for Bhutan today. Further, the political leadership and the bureaucracy must change their negative perception against free media. Establishment of Media Council and enactment of RTI must be the priority agenda for new government.

JAB requires a stronger base and capable leadership who can face the government and press for its independent status but not just being a loyal follower. JAB must not submit its existence to BMF.

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Annexure
From Business Bhutan, May 9, 2018
Bhutanese Media, From There To Here To Where?
By Dorji Wangchuk

May 3 is the World Press Freedom Day, whatever that means. As a former journalist-broadcaster I assume it is a day of celebration of the modern mass media. So, let me share some quick passing thoughts on this industry that has hosted me for over three decades.

Media then
The Bhutanese mass media in the pre-2008 era served a different purpose and thus, any comparison with today’s media is not even remotely possible. Although there was the move towards an autonomous media, which gained momentum after 1998, the development communication model still prevailed. The other comparison often made used to be between Kuensel and BBS that served different audiences with different levels of education and exposure.

What I can share, nevertheless, is what was it like to be a media person. Let me say that it was anything but glamorous. No one knew what the purpose of BBS was – other than to play songs and weather report of the day that was already gone. We also worked under a different kind of pressure from every corner of the officialdom – being a part of the government machinery. It was as if everyone had the license to scold us. To our credits, though, we did our jobs well and since people had to find faults anyway, even trivial mistakes like not getting titles or designations right were objects of ridicules and rebukes. I was even criticized officially for not wearing woven gho on TV (My passion for navy gho goes so far back in time).

While development journalism was the model we adopted in BBS, it was still journalism nevertheless and slowly we crawled into the area of truth-seeking and highlighting developmental issues. We worked hard, had fun, stood our ground when we were right and apologised when we made mistakes. And gradually we won the confidence of the government as people around the country started talking about same topics or singing the same song. Still, getting people to come on shows was more difficult than making your child take antibiotics. So the talk-show format, which is common these days, failed twice before it finally succeeded when we made a third attempt with Q&A with Dorji Wangchuk. The series ran for 112 episodes from 2003 to 2005.

Sometimes we went hungry when we miscalculated our food stock on long production trips in rural areas. No mobile phones, no ATMs. Sometimes we walked out of office under the scorching Sun or a pouring rain to get a 30-second recorded statement and rushed back to the studio to meet the deadline. No enough cars, no complaints – only some childish sense of delights to hear yourself on the radio or bully your friends and family to watch you on TV.

In the greater scheme of things, though, we played our part. The TV talk shows planted the seeds for political debates while Kuensel’s editorials and reportages set the culture of public discourse and scrutiny of public policies. The efforts of both the BBS and Kuensel – joined by new voices such as Bhutan Times and Bhutan Observer in 2006 laid the important democratic fundaments as we headed to the polls for the first time in 2008. Furthermore, radio, continued to bring the country together every evening for a round of news, public service announcements and programs ranging from new farming techniques to music request shows. In fact the slogan, which my friends and I coined for BBS back then, was Bringing the Nation Together. They changed it later to a less meaningful, The Bhutanese Expression. In the pre-cellphone era, radio requests went something like, “This request goes from Dorji in Thimphu to his parents in MinjayKurtoe that he is coming by bus on 3 April and to send horses to pick him from the road head.” We did bring the country together.

Nation-building is a process whereby a society with diverse cultures, traditions, languages, ethnicities and religions come together towards a shared common goal and aspiration. Mass media, I always believed, is the best tool to help achieve it. In creating a shared experience of watching and listening to the same news, same songs and speaking the same language, we kept the nation glued together from Tendruk to Tashigang. Until then, I assume, everyone returned home when the Sun went down to their own lives, issues or ara bottles. And those who had a radio, listened to foreign broadcasts. In fact, as late as 1985, my last schooling year, we were listening to All India Radio and Radio Nepal and singing Bollywood songs – and had absolutely no idea of what was happening in Thimphu or elsewhere in the country. Looking back I feel proud to have been part of the team that turned that huge tide around – and thus helping to create a sense of nationhood and national identity. While BBS and Kuensel targeted different audiences, the key message was the same: we are a Bhutanese nation. In my opinion, no other agency has done more than BBS to propagate Dzongkha, the national language, which is, as British scholar Anderson says, one of the most important markers of a nation.

Media now
Media today plays the dual role of nation-building and creating a public space for meaningful debates and discussions within the overall process of democracy. The traditional Bhutanese media – radio, TV and newspapers, however, face a new set of challenges brought about by the changing time, contexts and circumstances. New emerging power centers may be exerting new kinds of pressure, while the existing powerful bureaucracy and its closed mind-set has primarily remained unaltered. Then there is the discerning and more demanding public that has set an unrealistic benchmark by watching CNN or NDTV.

The increased demand is further aggravated by the fragmentation of the audience by the social media and mobile phones – making the traditional media look slow, irrelevant and outdated. However, what the public and the government need to understand is that there is a huge difference between noise and information, and between information and message. There is so much noise on the social media that it is difficult even for someone trained to get some information out there – let alone the message. For example, what is the message from all the Facebook updates and outpour of love and gratitude to teachers? What remains of the big celebration that we had yesterday in Changlingmithang, which through the marvel of technology, I could watch the livecast – some thousands of miles away, here in Macau. This is where the good old traditional media comes in. They provide the message because they can see the objective essence. One should not live under the illusion that Tweeter feeds, Facebook updates and Snapchat flashes suffice as information – lesser still as the message.

Finally, the audience should be careful with the basic difference between activism and journalism and between hate speech and free speech. These untoward behaviours have found a fertile ground in the social media. And under no circumstances the traditional media should dance to these tunes.

The way forward
Good journalism remains a necessity to create a vibrant mass media, which in turn, as a cliché goes, is an important element of a strong democracy. This is vital in this era of noisy social media and fake news that can sway any local population by hostile foreign powers. Of all the countries, the US has learnt it the hard way in recent time. After a spell of euphoria of the new media and death-of-newspaper narrative, agencies like New York Times and Washington Post have registered a million plus new subscribers in the first year of the current administration.

So much is being done in our country to build the necessary democratic institutions so that our experiment with this new system of governance succeed. Dare I say that I see no way that it would, if mass media is neglected – and left to its own device. I hope it won’t, but there will come a time when the government and people will stand on polar opposites and a need for a strong third arbitrating voice will be felt to bring them to the middle ground. Besides, as I pointed earlier, in the era of post-truth and fake news traditional mass media as a credible source of information should be developed and celebrated – and not scoffed or disdained. It is not nation-building anymore. It is national security.

Another issue that will never go away will be press freedom and censorship. Here, media persons in Bhutan should not assume that just because the Constitution guarantees freedom of press, that people will let them do their job. What is written on paper remains on, well, paper. One has to claim the space or keep asserting. It is like land records. Having the thram is only a necessary condition but not a sufficient one to own a land. If you don’t occupy your land, you will lose it – because someone will encroach in it.

Finally, media and democracy are a process. It is continuous journey and dynamic undertaking of contestation, negotiation and compromise. It will be in the hands of the new generation of media persons to forge the new purpose as per new demands and circumstances. It will be a difficult choice though – between credibility and visibility, between depth and trivial and between social and the substance. Old hands, like me, can only advice.

The Bhutanese mass media has, all said and done, come a very long way and has done its fair share in the overall process of nation-building, democracy and development communication. In the age of DTH channels, BBS TV continues to galvanise the country with programs such as Ngagay Drendur and Druk Superstar. Meanwhile Kuensel keeps playing the role of the nation’s conscience.

There is every reason to celebrate this day.
(The writer is an ardent blogger and blogs at https://dorji-wangchuk.com)

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  1. 2017 Population and Housing Census of Bhutan, National Bureau of Statistics, Thimphu.
  2. Four countries on track to graduate from UN list of least developed countries, UN News, March 18, 2018
  3. Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008, National Assembly, http://www.nab.gov.bt/assets/templates/images/constitution-of-bhutan-2008.pdf accessed on 25 December 2018
  4. No hope for RTI Act, Alka Katwal, Business Bhutan dated 27 April 2017
  5. Social Media Turns Political Battleground, Tshering, Business Bhutan, October 3, 2018
  6. Could Social Media Be The Deciding Factor In NA Elections?, Rabi C Dahal, Business Bhutan, July 4, 2018
  7. Social media: Boon or curse?, Ugyen Penjor, Kuensel, July 14, 2018
  8. Social media monitors report 13 cases to media arbitrator, Sonam Palden, Kuensel, September 12, 2018
  9. Candidates pledge to review social media policy, Tashi Phuntsho, Kuensel, September 1, 2018
  10. Social media contents top complaints lodged with ECB, Tashi Dema, Kuensel, October 12, 2018
  11. DPT lodges complaint against Dasho Sonam Kinga, Sonam Pelden, Kuensel, September 6, 2018
  12. ECB asks Dasho Sonam Kinga to remove Facebook post, DPT to denounce violence, Sonam Pelden, Kuensel, September 10, 2018
  13. Anti-social media?, Editorial, Kuensel, October 13, 2018
  14. Update On Election Disputes, Election Commission of Bhutan, http://www.ecb.bt/?p=6265
  15. ECB forwards Kalay Dukpa’s case to OAG, Nirmala Pokhrel, Kuensel, May 9, 2018
  16. Man warned and fined for criticising DNT president, Kelzang Wangchuk, October 10, 2018
  17. DNT’s Punakha dzongkhag coordinator penalised, Tashi Dema, Kuensel, October 11, 2018
  18. ECB allows local dialect in informal common forum sessions, By Nirmala Pokhrel, Kuensel, September 29, 2018
  19. ‘The Journalist’ newspaper suspends its Managing Editor, Sherub Dorji, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, March 14, 2018
  20. JAB discourages arbitrary decisions against media houses, Tashi Dema, Kuensel Corporation, march 14, 2018
  21. PDP government and the Media, Karma Cheki, Kuensel, August 18, 2018
  22. Parties pledge professional development of journalists, Phurpa Lhamo, Kuensel, August 28, 2018
  23. Face To Face With Passang Dorji, Chencho Dema, Business Bhutan, February 18, 2018
  24. Foster Media For A Vibrant Democracy, Business Bhutan, January 1, 2019
  25. Media council to be established soon, Sonam Choden, BBS, July 12, 2018
  26. Media Courses In Country Strive To Groom Future Journalists, Sangay Dema, Business Bhutan, 23 January 2018
  27. Govt. Outlines Plans To Support Mainstream Media, Phub Dem, Business Bhutan, 9 January 2019
  28. Govt. grants subsidy to private newspapers, Tshering Palden, Kuensel, April 14, 2018
  29. No Developments On BBS Proposal To Turn PSB, Chencho Dema, Business Bhutan, January 8, 2019
  30. Media Courses In Country Strive To Groom Future Journalists, Sangay Dema, Business Bhutan, 23 January 2018
  31. Journalism: A Calling, Business Bhutan, May 9, 2018
  32. Reporter sentenced for libel, Namgay Wangchuk, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, August 6, 2018
  33. A Local Journalist Faces Defamation Charge For Facebook Post, Chencho Dema, Business Bhutan, November 8, 2017
  34. Reporter sentenced for libel, Namgay Wangchuk, BBS, August 6, 2018
  35. Journalist under threat in Bhutan, Bhutan News Network, August 26, 2018
  36. Bhutan journalist hit by defamation suit for sharing Facebook post, Alexandra Topping, The Guardian, November 18, 2016
  37. BBS Penalized For Breaching Journalist Code Of Conduct In BBS-BICMA Case, Chencho Dema, Business Bhutan, February 13, 2019
  38. Bhutanese Media, From There To Here To Where? Dorji Wangchuk, Business Bhutan, May 9, 2018
  39. RSF Press Freedom Index 2018
  40. RWB shelves report on ‘Some Bhutanese journalists exiled’ after media outcry, Sherub Dorji, BBS, May 4, 2018
  41. JAB condemns Bhutan’s ranking in RWB’s world press freedom index, Sherub Dorji, BBS, May 3, 2018
  42. JAB president reappointment sparks controversy, Rajesh Rai, Kuensel, November 16, 2018
  43. http://www.bmf.bt/about-us/bmf-team/
  44. Situation Assessment of journalists in Bhutan, Journalist Association of Bhutan, Thimphu, Full report here http://www.jab.bt/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SituationAssessment_final.pdf
  45. DPT to withdraw the case filed against Dasho Paljor J Dorji, Tshering Dorji, The Bhutanese, April 25, 2015
  46. Sonam Phuntsho withdraws defamation case against Namgay Zam and Dr Shacha Wangmo, Changa Dorji, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, January 24, 2017

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