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| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 06-May-03 09:50 AM
Below is the news on the US Envoy's interview to an NTV program called Dishanirdesh posted on Nepalnews.com on the night of May 5,2003. There is also another article that follows. What is surprizing is that the extract is identical to almost half the content of the main news of The Himalayan Times (THT) dated May 6, 2003. The other Nepalnews article, that also follows below, is exactly identicle to the box news of THT within the main news. [Check out the link http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata2vbqzqba6Qa1a8a.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20030506] NOTE: Can't find THT link to the box news under headline "Second round talks in two weeks". THT news has appeared under the by-line of a scribe named Rekha Shrestha. Whereas, the Nepalnews article is under the by-line of br, which I presume is senior journalist Bhola Rana. However, the Nepalnews content was posted on the web even before so-called "a great newspaper" The Himalayan Times had even gone to the press. What is even more surprizing is that the content that has been written by two different journalists is identical. THE HIMALAYAN TIMES IS INTO PLAGIARISM!!! A so-called great newspaper that has been struggling to establish itself into the Nepalis media as another renowned English daily is into ill practices that the GBNC community has been standing totally against for long. The Himalayan Times, in the interest of us the consumers, has to immediately explain and apologise for this and initiate action against its reporter. Please do launch your protest to the editors at The Himalayan Times at editorial@thehimalayantimes.com. Ashu, I suppose you have extremely good links in the media in Kathmandu. I request you to forward the issue to those concerned at THT as well as the other media. This is an extremely condemable act! Nepalnews content: US ready to withdraw terrorist label U.S. Ambassador Michael Malinowski said Monday Washington is ready to withdraw a terrorist label tagged on Maoists on April 30. "We have just put the Maoists on the watch list of 38 secondary type of terrorist organizations and we really wish that the Maoist will have their name out from the list as soon as possible. "It depends on them and their future action will determine where their place shall be," the envoy told Nepal Television. Washington has put the rebels on an observation list after they murdered two security guards of the Embassy and targeted U.S. interests in their attacks before the January 29 ceasefire with the government to negotiate a permanent peace. "We are watching them (Maoists) very closely. We did not put them on the list. They put themselves on the list. This has nothing to do with the Government of Nepal," the U.S. Ambassador said. Malinowski said the rebels can get off the "secondary list" if they stop violence, extortions and child abuse "Our interest is greater. The all-time interest is driven by the crisis. We are worried what it means to the region and to us," Malinowski said referring to the Maoist insurgency. The insurgency has fueled American security interest in Nepal, he said. "We don't want the birds to land in Nepal. The birds are flying after the nest was broken," Malinowski said about Al Quida. nepalnews.com br May 5 Govt., Maoist talks in fortnight The second round of talks between Government and Maoists will be held in two weeks again in Kathmandu, government talks spokesman and Minister for Physical Planning Col. Narayan Singh Pun told Channel Nepal Monday. The first round was held on April 27. |
| ashu | Posted
on 06-May-03 06:24 PM
>>>Ashu, I suppose you have extremely good links in the media in Kathmandu. I request you to forward the issue to those concerned at THT as well as the other media. This is an extremely condemable act! >>>> Sure, I'll forward your complaint to Jan Sharma, Peter Karthak, Ravin Lama and other editors/senior staff at The Himalayan Times. But that's all I can do. It's really up to them and their colleagues as to how they want to pursue this matter from there on. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 07-May-03 09:20 AM
Here's a copy of my letter to the editor for The Himalayan Times: Dear Sir, I am writing this letter in interest of the on-line news media in Nepal. I would like to raise strong objection over two news items under the headlines "US ready to withdraw terrorist tag from Maoists: Ambassador" and "Second round talks in two weeks" that appeared on The Himalayan Times dated May 6, 2003. The first article appears as main news under the by-line of Rekha Shrestha and the latter is a box news on the same newspaper. I would like to point out that half the content of the main article and the lead of the box news of The Himalayan Times has been directly lifted from a news posting on the night of May 5, 2003 of Nepalnews.com. The Nepalnews.com article had appeared under the by-line of br, which I presume is senior journalist Bhola Rana, long before The Himalayan Times had even gone to press that day. It is a matter of public shame that a newspaper such as The Himalayan Times that is trying its best to establish itself as another renowned English Daily and self proclaims itself to be "a great newspaper" in the struggling Nepalis media circuit is into such ill-practises of journalism. The act comes only days after the new media Code-of-Conduct (C-o-C)has been made public in the country. One of the highlights of the C-o-C is also to reveal the source of news. I am sure that a newspaper like The Himalayan Times would have not diminished its status if it only revealed its source as Nepalnews.com if the need for such a lifted main news was for its existence. Another point, I emphasise, is that the Online media has also now been included under the new C-o-C along with the print and FM stations. Plagiarism is the worst form of criminal act any journalist or media house could resort to. I am sure The Himalayan Times, in the interest of its consumers as well as the booming on-line media in the country, would apologize for its misdeed as well as publicly punish its concerned staff members to set a good example for all the exisitng media houses. P.S: I am quite not sure if The Himalayan Times has enough ethics to provide due concern to this letter. Hence, I am sending it as a cc: to other English newspapers along with Nepalnews.com. and Kantipuronline.com. Thank you for your patience for reading through this mail. |
| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 07-May-03 11:35 PM
The Himalayan Times is still not only silent over initiating any action against its staff members but also has not responded in any manner to its plagiarism charges. This is the press, the fourth estate, in the country!!! Plus, the reporter in question - Rekha Shrestha has another by-line story in today's edition of THT. Check out the link: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata2weqzqba6Ra7a9a.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20030508 |
| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 18-May-03 09:13 AM
Finally, got a reply from the person who calls himself Deputy Editor of The Himalayan Times. Not surprizingly, his letter below depicts "arrogant and shameless" behaviour of what the media should not be full of. We have had a solid example of a media institution trying to fight plagiarism in this site not long ago. This time, we have the other, The Himalayan Times, not admitting its mistakes and trying to propogate its wrong values: "In your May 12 e-mail, you take the freedom to accuse The Himalayan Times, in a grossly unfair manner, of plagiarism. We reject the charge as malafide, malicious and baseless. Our reporter Rekha Shrestha did talk to at least two American diplomats before she wrote the story. If you have the patience to compare the two copies, you will notice the differences. Let me cite some examples. The nepalnews.com story you mention refers to only two Maoist leaders, while THT story refers to three Maoist leaders. There are many quotes in our story that you do not find in the other story. THT has fairly good sources of information even if it has been in business for less than two years. We have worked hard to build our credibility, and we prize it very much. We will continue to defend and further promote THT's credibility in the days to come. Coming back to your malicious charges, let me close this debate once and for all. Please do not bother to write on this matter again. The communication on this issue is closed for ever. Sincerely yours Jan Sharma Deputy Editor The Himalayan Times jans@thehimalayantimes.com |
| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 18-May-03 09:57 AM
I still stand by my charges against The Himalayan Times. I reasons are below, pointwise: 1. Mr. Jan, in the letter I have pasted above, has failed to notice that the entire one and a half column of the entire four column main news, I emphasise, starting from the lead and written by so-called journalist Rekha Shrestha, is exactly the same as Nepalnews. 2. Despite Mr. Jan's reasonsings, I Quote: "The Nepalnews.com story you mention refers to only two Maoist leaders, while THT story refers to three Maoist leaders." End Quote, I emphasise has failed to understand what plagiarism exactly is. He feels it is O.K to cut paste ditto news for The Himalayan Times from other news media as long as its reporters add more quotes to it. 3. The article by Rekha Shrestha, which Mr. Jan proudly announces has more quotes than Nepalnews has no mention or any attibution at all that it's lead and one and half column that has been exactly lifted from Nepalnews.com. anyway. 4. The Nepalnews.com article was on the web a night before The Himalayan Times had gone to the press. 5. The Nepalnews and THT article was written by different reporters. Hence, how can it be same word-to-word? 4. THT that claims that to have fairly good sources despite being in business for less than two years still acts like a mere politician in calling a criticism as "malafide, malicious and baseless" without admitting its faults and commitment to improve them. 5. Mr. Jan wants to ignore the problem and "close the debate once and for all". But what about the plagiarism his paper has committed? The NYT had set a solid example recently. In Nepal, we still have fools like him running a so-called newspaper house. |
| Rat-a-Tat | Posted
on 18-May-03 10:03 AM
Here's a copy of the letter I sent back to Mr. Jan. Others too please do voice your opinion on this matter. I am starting to feel I might be advocating for a wrong cause: "Dear Sir, It was a strange experience to find a line like: "...let me close this debate once and for all. Please do not bother to write on this matter again. The communication on this issue is closed for ever." That too, after being in media for quite some time... I had so far thought that media should not shy away from discussing things... and that we should be open to criticisms... lest we may become too confident of ourselves that we are taken as arrogants. But then, I'm sure you've seen media for longer than I have and believe that the lines you've used must have come out of experience... But as a mediaman myself, I would be open towards things that bring more discussions and potential ideas that the discussions may grow... After all, we're here because we regard ourselves as progressive, correct me if I'm wrong... Anyways, it has been a nice communicating with you (I believe I've learnt something at least). And as you've told me, I won't bother to write to you again on this matter." |
| ashu | Posted
on 18-May-03 10:09 AM
Nepalnews content: US ready to withdraw terrorist label U.S. Ambassador Michael Malinowski said Monday Washington is ready to withdraw a terrorist label tagged on Maoists on April 30. "We have just put the Maoists on the watch list of 38 secondary type of terrorist organizations and we really wish that the Maoist will have their name out from the list as soon as possible. "It depends on them and their future action will determine where their place shall be," the envoy told Nepal Television. Washington has put the rebels on an observation list after they murdered two security guards of the Embassy and targeted U.S. interests in their attacks before the January 29 ceasefire with the government to negotiate a permanent peace. "We are watching them (Maoists) very closely. We did not put them on the list. They put themselves on the list. This has nothing to do with the Government of Nepal," the U.S. Ambassador said. Malinowski said the rebels can get off the "secondary list" if they stop violence, extortions and child abuse "Our interest is greater. The all-time interest is driven by the crisis. We are worried what it means to the region and to us," Malinowski said referring to the Maoist insurgency. The insurgency has fueled American security interest in Nepal, he said. "We don't want the birds to land in Nepal. The birds are flying after the nest was broken," Malinowski said about Al Quida. nepalnews.com br May 5 ********************** The Himalayan Times reports: US ready to withdraw terrorist tag from Maoists: Ambassador "Rekha Shrestha", Kathmandu, May 5, US Ambassador Michael Malinowski said today that Washington is ready to withdraw the terrorist label tagged on Maoists on April 30. "We have just put the Maoists on the watch list of 38 secondary type of terrorist organisations and we really wish that the Maoist will have their name out from the list as soon as possible. "It depends on them and their future action will determine where their place shall be," the envoy told Nepal Television. Washington has put the rebels on an observation list after they murdered two security guards of the Embassy and targeted US interests in their attacks before the January 29 ceasefire with the government to negotiate a permanent peace. "We are watching them very closely. We did not put them on the list. They put themselves on the list. This has nothing to do with the Government of Nepal," the US Ambassador said. Malinowski said the rebels can get off the "secondary list" if they stop violence, extortions and child abuse "Our interest is greater. The all-time interest is driven by the crisis. We are worried what it means to the region and to us," Malinowski said referring to the Maoist insurgency. Meanwhile, according to a senior official at American Centre, who preferred to remain anonymous, three top Maoist leaders had met United States' embassy officials just a day before they held first round of dialogue with the government on April 27. According to him, a three-member Maoist team led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai met officials, including a first secretary at the embassy. "The meeting was held on the request of the Maoists. The first secretary of embassy had raised concern regarding the violence against US citizens in Nepal. Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Ram Bahadur Thapa alias Badal accompanied Dr Bhattarai," the official told The Himalayan Times. "The first secretary had made it clear to them that the United States would not let anyone undermine the multi-party system of Nepal," the official added. The embassy officials also urged the Maoist leaders to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and human rights respected. When asked if there is another meeting planned with the Maoists, the official at the American Centre said, "No there will be no other meeting." When contacted, Maoist spokesperson Mahara flatly declined to provide any information on the matter. New Zealand Herald has quoted one of the Maoist negotiators, Dev Gurung, saying his party leaders believed that the United States was eyeing Nepal after it finished its operation in Afghanistan. The report adds that the threat of American intervention was a key factor prompting rebels to opt for talks. It should be noted that a report released by United States Department of State, South Asian Bureau, too had stated that the Maoist insurgency poses a threat to US citizens and property in Nepal. "Repeated anti-US rhetoric and actions suggest that Maoists view western support for Kathmandu as a key obstacle to their goal of establishing a communist dictatorship," the report says. It adds, "The Maoists have forged links with extremist groups across South Asia. Last year the Maoists threatened foreign missions, including the US Embassy, to discourage foreign governments from supporting the government of Nepal." The report states, "Limited government finances, weak border controls and poor security infrastructure have made Nepal a convenient logistics and transit point for some outside militants and international terrorists." The country also possesses a number of soft targets that make it a potentially attractive site for terrorist operations. Security remains weak at many public facilities, including the Kathmandu International Airport, but the United States and others are actively working with the government to improve security, it adds. ******************************************* VERDICT: Previously, I took rat-a-tat's word at face value. But, now, having read Jan Sharma's response, I revisited the issue. My conclusion is that YES even though the first five short paragraphs -- full of Malinswoki' quoted words -- in both stories appear to be identical, Shrestha, the THT reporter, went on to add more meat to the story. And so, pressed to the point, since Malinowski's words appeared in a public domain from which anyone was free to quote him, it's difficult to conclude definitely -- from the five short quote-laden paragraphs -- that Shrestha did indeed copy the stuff from Nepalnews.com. For now, as a reader, I'm willing to chalk this up to co-incidence, brought about by the very PUBLIC nature of the ambassador's interview. Rat-a-tat, you can't fight plagiarism by hiding behind a mask, yaar. Come on out in your own name, and your words will carry greatet weight. Else, just as Sharma dismissed your charges, you future charges will be dismissed again as just another idiotic complaint. :-( oohi ashu ktm,nepal |