Bigu Municipality of Dolakha district in Bagmati Province issued a statement on June 17, accusing local media and journalists of publishing fabricated news and advertisement of the municipality without knowledge of the municipality officers. The municipality has threatened to take legal action if media do not stop publishing ‘fake news.’
Responding to the municipality’s statement, journalists’ local network also issued a statement on the same day. Through the statement, they expressed dissatisfaction over the municipality’s accusations. News published in the local media were based on the report of Office of Auditor General. The report discussed corruption and monopoly at the local levels in Dolakha.
Journalist Deep Shankar Chaulagain told Freedom Forum that the accusation of the municipality is worrying. Similarly, the media or journalists must abide by the code of conduct, he added.
The local government's blanket approach of discrediting media is a wrong trend.