A rural municipality in Pyuthan district has issued a letter to https://sworgadwariupdate.com/ (online news portal) seeking clarification over a news story on August 23. Pyuthan district lies in Lumbini Province of Nepal.
Managing Director of the portal Lava Kumar Adhikari shared with Freedom Forum that news about Mandavi rural municipality's administrative chief's fraud in a contracting process was published on the portal on August 21. In response to news, the rural municipality issued a letter ordering MD Adhikari to appear in the office today (August 24) by 1:00 pm sharp and furnish clarification over the published news.
According to MD Adhikari, the municipality's administrative chief had asked them to change the headline of news but Adhikari refused to do so unless the municipality released separate press release justifying the change.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident. The concerned authority can approach Press Council Nepal in case of dissatisfaction over news content. The municipality office is not a regulatory body to seek clarification from media over news contents. Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned to respect rights of media and cooperate media instead.
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