Editorial freedom is a must in newsrooms to strengthen journalism: PCN Chair Basnet

News editors are those who validate and add value to news content before it is disseminated and hence editorial freedom is essential to promote responsible journalism, said participants of a program organized in Kathmandu on Wednesday. 

Editors from different media houses: radio, TV, online, and news agencies who gathered to discuss 'Dimensions of the journalist code of conduct in news editing' were univocal on focusing on the capacity enhancement of editors, while guaranteeing editorial freedom to keep the charm of journalism intact.

Speaking at the program hosted by Press Council Nepal (PCN), its Chair Balkrishna Basnet, said editorial freedom is a must in newsrooms to strengthen journalism.

He urged journalists including editors to filter out information amidst the floods of information, misinformation, and disinformation from social networking sites and use them as the news source in the media contents. Information and news are different things and they should be rightly dealt with, he added.

Basnet advised every media house to also prepare an internal code of conduct and implement it to produce decent and credible journalistic products.

Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Chair Bipul Pokhrel said editing is a skill which should be properly reflected in the news content. Sharing his experiences in his journalism career, he said fact-checking is an indispensable part of the editing section to enhance the credibility of news content. "Editing is all about the verification of information, filtering of information, fact-checking, proofreading, copywriting, adding creativity, and so on."

The journalist leader said the editing chamber serves a fusion of beats, and additional skills are necessary to handle this effectively and efficiently.

He took time to highlight the need for coordination between the reporting and editing sections to produce quality products. He advised editors to keep themselves updated about the developments globally and know skills about the judicious use of technology to add value to the contexts before the dissemination.

 Voices of editors

The participants utilized the forum to share experiences and challenges they are bound to deal with in the newsroom.                                                                     

Editing is sometimes negatively correlated with a 'job of butchery ' which normally does not establish a sound relationship between reporting and the editing sections, they complained. 

Some of them complained of increasing corporate and marketing interests in the editing section, underscoring the need for the promotion of editorial freedom while some others said they sometimes feel discomfort chasing diverse content across multiple beats.

They were univocal that editing needs a specific skill and editors should have ample opportunities for sharpening their skills time and again. "Regular capacity enhancement opportunities for editors are warranted."

They shared about the increased workload in editing especially after the financial challenges in media with COVID-19 which led to the shrinking of media in terms of workforce.

Moreover, the Press Council Nepal was advised to accord priority to gender sensitization in newsrooms. They stressed the importance of motivating and empowering editors who do the role of 'gatekeepers' in news content but often work behind the scenes.

"Working in the news desk entails a responsibility that leaves no room for error, making it a position deserving of rewards, enhanced facilities, opportunities, and continuous motivation for editors," they asserted.