| ashu |
Posted
on 11-Jun-01 11:44 PM
The Nepalis in the US, especially those settled or wanting to settle there permanently, need to cultivate good relations with the mainstream American media (meaning: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and so on.)
In a recent CNN episode with Jonathan Mann, Mann interviewed
Barbara Crosette, a former Nepal correspondent of The New
York Times. Mann also interviewed Ravi Adhikari, a Nepali
working for the News India Group in New York.
Crosette was articulate and diplomatic; but her analyses were weak. She seemed to have been on the program on account of her Nepal stint. But she's been out of this region for a number of years now. Ravi, who I consider to be a good friend, tried to do a good job, but his answers seem unfocussed and therefore unclear. Perhaps he was too dazed/shocked by the news coming out of Nepal.
Surely, Nepali communities can and should do better.
And so, the question remains: Isn't it time for our communities in the US to start developing good relations with the American media? Isn't it time for us to have articulate Nepali spokepersons who can talk to the media and provide perspectives that Barbara Crosettes of the world are simply not going to provide?
Before thinking big, maybe we can start small: That is to say, maybe reporters from The Cambridge Chronicle or the Boston Globe can be invited to GBNC functions/events so that they get to see the Nepali community up close. Maybe they could be given briefs about Nepal and Nepali communities. Nepali students at Harvard can especially assume leadership on this in that they have a relatively easy access to American jounalists through the
Nieman Foundation that's on, I think, Kirkland Street.
Maybe Nepalis elsewhere too can start cultivating good relations
with the press so that news about Nepal/Nepalis can ALSO be covered from the perspective of Nepalis.
oohi
ashu
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| puzz |
Posted
on 12-Jun-01 10:02 AM
There are several Nepali associations across the US. I hope most of them, if not all, have good spokesperson, and are on the same page on different Nepal-related issues. I agree that cultivating good media relations is good for the Nepali community in the US, and also for the people in Nepal. In regard to this, I overheard that Girija Prasad had a disgraceful interview with CNN when he was in NY for the UN summit. It is sad that leaders like Girija impoverish the role of a prime minister. I have also heard that the members of the Nepali team for the Bhutani refugee problem are always too unqualified to talk intelligently with the members of the Bhutani team. The members of the Bhutani team are said to be trained in some of the prominent schools in the US. No wonder why Nepal has not been able to get a penny's worth out of the meetings with Bhutan.
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