Gaunle Deurali: Barefoot Community Journalism in

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Global Media Journal
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Volume 5, Issue 8 | Spring 2006 | Table of Contents
Article No. 6
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Gaunle Deurali: Barefoot Community Journalism
in Western Nepal
Arjun Banjade
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Executive Summary
This study is based on (1) a content analysis of the newspaper, Gaunle Deurali Weekly,
published and distributed by a non-governmental organization Rural Development Palpa,
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and (2) an in-depth interviews with its editor. The newspaper, a product of barefoot
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Gaunle Deurali truly represented the rural villages in Palpa district and provided equal
journalism, is used as a platform for local leaders and villagers to express what is important
to them rather than being a channel for the government or political elite to push their
agenda. Two-thirds of the news items dealt with development issues, and nondevelopment news did not get special treatment in terms of use of accompanying photos or
graphics.
access and participation to different villages. Moreover, most of the development news was
related to soft development issues, mostly covering activities of local organizations and
clubs in social awareness programs, instead of physical infrastructure development.
Overall, the types of stories, their source, and the language of presentation as well the
distribution mechanisms made Gaunle Deurali a true community development newspaper.:
Introduction
News media are widely regarded as important tools for national development. However, the
way development journalism is practiced in Third World countries has been problematic. A
heavy dependence on official sources exists in gathering and presenting development
news. Some critics regarded such journalism as the Third World countries’ a disguised
effort to manage the news content in order to give flattering publicity to political figures
(McDaniel, 1986: 167). A quarter century ago, Lent (1978) termed the Asian development
news as “government-say-so journalism.” Similar arguments are found in the Manual of
Development Communication, the text that is widely used to train development
communicators in Asian countries. It warns that
Development communication in some countries is confused with publicity for government
projects. The government as the chief designer and administrator of a country’s
development plans should rightfully tell people what is being done for them. But
http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/sp06/gmj-sp06-banjade.htm
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development communication is more than that. (Rajasundaram, 1981: 17-18)
Critics argued that development journalism should also present an alternative to official
viewpoints. In development news
… the journalist… should critically evaluate and report the relevance of a
development project; … the difference between the planned scheme and
its actual implementation; and the difference between its impact on people
as claimed by government officials and as it actually is. (Aggrawala, 1978:
200)
Development is a complex phenomenon and development communication is the
systematic use of communication for national development (Lent, 1979). Furthermore, how
development journalism should be practiced depends largely on how the term
‘development’ is defined. As Singhal & Rogers (2001) note:
Development is a widely participatory process of directed social change in a society,
intended to bring about both social and material advancement (including greater equality,
freedom, and other valued qualities) for the majority of people through their gaining greater
control over their environment. (p. 33)
Research shows that official sources were most often quoted in the Indian dailies (Shah,
1990), whereas weekly newspapers in rural Georgia devoted less space to development
news, emphasized physical facilities development, and rarely quoted government sources
(Griswold & Swenson, 1992). Indonesian newspapers published more development news
than non-development news and used straight news and features format when presenting
development news (Sutopo, 1982). Studies on media ownership and proportion of
development news coverage showed that conglomerate-controlled newspapers covered
more governmental news than development news in comparison to independent
newspapers (Vilanilam, 1979b).
The newspaper publication in Nepal has a century-long history. The Gorakhapatra, the
oldest and for a long time the largest circulated newspaper, was started by Rana Prime
Minister Dev Shamsher in 1901. Since then the condition of the press has changed with the
changing political climate in the nation. However, the content of print media in Nepal is
generally heavily dominated by politics.
It was only in the 1980s that development journalism was introduced in Nepal. “It was
argued that stories about social and economic development activities could be as
interesting as political stories provided they were written in a different and more interesting
way. Well-written development stories could inspire people to become more involved in the
development process” (Koirala & Bista, 2001). Similarly, Kasajoo would argue that
coverage of local activities increases the circulation of a newspaper. “I was a reporter for
Dainik Nirnaya [Daily Decision] published from Bhairahawa in 1965. The newspaper used
to cover mainly politicians or high- profile personalities and national news. I started
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reporting village news. It increased the sale of the newspaper” (personal communication,
2004).
[1]
A good example of a community based development newspaper is Gaunle Deurali.
Literally, Gaunle Deurali means a meeting place in the villages. Launched with the support
of Nepal Press Institute and the Asia Foundation in 1993, it is a weekly, rural-development
newspaper published by a local non-governmental organization called Grameen Bikash
Palpa [Rural Development Palpa] (RDP). Based in Palpa district, some 310 kilometers west
of the capital city of Kathmandu, RDP's professional staffs work with community–based
contributors, mostly barefoot journalists, to produce the newspaper.
Gaunle Deurali consists of development news, covering a wide range of subjects -- from
HIV/AIDS to crops and environment, to campaigns against alcohol and drugs. It focuses on
both the success and failure of farming patterns and plantations. Grameen Bikash Palpa
received an offset press from the Asian Foundation and periodic financial assistance from
MS Nepal. Financially, it is more or less self-sufficient. Gaunle Deurali mobilizes the
community members in planning, reporting, editing and publishing the newspaper. Its 1,500
copies are distributed in different rural villages in Palpa district as well as to different
organizations in 50 of Nepal’s 75 districts. The newspaper has been used by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting adult literacy. Published every
Wednesday, the 16-page newspaper is valued at Rs. 5 [U.S. 7 cents] per copy (Meghraj
Sharma, personal communication, 2004).
The following paper on this product of barefoot journalism is based on an in-depth interview
with the editor of Gaunle Deurali Weekly and a content analysis of the newspaper. The
study sought to assess the content of development newspaper published for rural people in
terms of the news source, development issues, as well as the importance accorded to
various news items.
Since Gaunle Deurali is a community development newspaper, it was assumed that the
newspaper heavily publishes development news. It was also assumed that emphasis
accorded to stories would be reflected in presentation of longer stories (with a higher
number of words) and frequent use of relevant photos or graphics. Since Gaunle Deurali is
purely a community development newspaper, an association between the development
stories and the appearance of villagers or local leaders, instead of experts, was assumed.
Background
Newspaper publication in Nepal has a century-long history. Jung Bahadur Rana, the first
prime minister and who established a century–long rule of hereditary premiers since 1846,
brought a manual press from an official visit to England in 1851 on his return. However, the
first weekly newspaper Gorakhapatra was started after half-a-century in May 6, 1901 during
the premiership of Dev Shamsher Rana. It became a daily newspaper 60 years later, and is
one of Nepal's largest dailies today. Before the publication of Gorakhapatra, literary
Sudhasagar Monthly was published in August 1889, and it is considered to be the first
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paper published in Nepal. No private press existed during the Rana regime (1846–1950)
except for a few Nepali language monthly publications, including the monthly literary paper
Saradha that started in 1934.
The change in Nepal’s political system from the Rana autocracy to a democracy in 1951
resulted in the rise in the number of newspapers in the country. The number of registered
newspapers and magazines reached 221 within a few years. The first daily newspaper
Aabaj [Voice] was published in 1950, right after the establishment of democracy in Nepal,
as the first private sector daily newspaper published from the capital city of Kathmandu.
Two years later, a number of weekly, fortnightly and monthly papers were published from
outside Kathmandu as well. The multiparty democracy ended in 1960 with a coup that
brought King Mahendra to the throne. The king started his direct rule - which ended in 1990
- and the period saw very limited development in the media sector. Following one of King
Birendra’s speeches mentioning a need for media for development, the government
adopted the National Communication Strategy with the slogan “Communication for
Development” in 1971. In the 1980s, the press became comparatively more active and
writing critical of the power holders began appearing in the press.
In 1990, the public uprising was successful in restoring the multiparty democracy curtailing
the king’s power and the press enjoyed unprecedented freedom. Within 10 years, over
1,600 newspapers were registered across the nation and big business companies started
to invest in print and electronic media. Broadsheet daily newspapers published from the
private sector, non-existent before 1990, dominated more than 50 percent of the market in
2001 with the circulation of about 300,000 copies a day (Pandey, 2001, September 7). As
of January 2004, there were 3,617 newspapers (daily, weekly, monthly, etc) registered for
publication throughout Nepal. Among them, 253 were daily, 9 twice a week, 1262 weekly,
252 once in two week, 1066 monthly, 252 bi-monthly, 383 tri-monthly, 19 four monthly, 56
half yearly and 65 yearly (Bhattarai, 2004 Feb. 3).
Although the number of registered newspapers seems large, the actual number of
newspapers in publication was quite low. The Annual Report of the Press Council Nepal for
2000-2001 revealed that out of 1,756 registered newspapers (daily, half-weekly, weekly
and bi-monthly) only 431 were publishing, and only 213 newspapers were published
regularly. No magazines or newspapers of any kind were registered in 19 of the 75 districts
(Press Council, 2001). By 2006, the registered newspapers reached to 2038 out of which
514 were publishing (Press Council Nepal, 2006).
The media presence in Kathmandu Valley and rest of the country was quite imbalanced.
The Kathmandu Valley, comprising of three districts and the capital city and a population of
about 1.5 million, is home to over half the newspapers registered in Nepal, which has a
total population of 24 million people. According to Press Council report 2001, out of regular
213 newspapers, 87 were published from the Valley. None of the newspapers published
from outside the valley had a circulation above 10,000 copies. All the 10 broadsheets – six
in Nepali and four in English – were publishing from Kathmandu. Except one, all the "A"
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category newspapers were publishing from Kathmandu.
Nepali is the primary language of newspapers. Out of 1,756 registered newspapers, 1455
were Nepali language newspapers. The number of newspapers published in other
languages follows: English 16, Newari 4, Hindi 3, Bhojpuri, Marwari, Maithili, Tharu,
Tibetan, Nepali-Hindi, Newari-English, Nepali-Kirati and Nepali-English- Hindi one each.
Some newspapers occasionally insert some pages in the local dialects and languages
(Press Council Nepal, 2001).
Before the restoration of democracy in 1990, newspaper publication was not considered a
profitable business. It was considered unethical to make money from journalism. Work of
the most of the journalists was inspired by “mission journalism” and the mission was to
restore the multiparty democracy in the nation. Many journalists and editors faced jail
sentences during king’s direct rule for expressing their views. During the period, the
average investment in paper did not exceed Rs. one million [US $ 14,000]. Less than a
dozen newspapers earned enough to support production and editorial expenses through
advertisement and sale. The newspapers with their own printing facilities were sustaining
themselves drawing upon income generated from other printing jobs. Very few staff
members were fully paid. For many editors it was an honorary work. Many worked full or
part time with some other organization.
Furthermore, the newspapers could be identified with the editor or publisher and their
affiliation with a political party or a leader. Often time, there have been cases when a
political party would summon a newspaper editor to its office asking for clarification on the
news he/she published. Thus, the newspapers were mostly mouthpieces for political
agendas, and opposing factions hardly bought and read such newspapers.
There have been significant changes in the development of mass media, both print and
broadcasting, in recent years, especially after the restoration of democracy in Nepal in
1990. However, these media were largely concentrated in the capital and in big cities.
Besides, newly started newspapers and broadcast media were slanted as commercial
ventures rather than as tools for national development.
Most rural villages in Nepal have been un-served or underserved by the mainstream
media. The national newspapers are not accessible to the majority of the people, especially
to those living in the rural villages, because of the formidable barriers of illiteracy and a lack
of adequate transportation facilities. Even though there are newspapers published in the
country, these, as Koirala argued, “deal predominantly with politics, are targeted at the
urban elites, use difficult Sanscritized language, and contain very little material of
educational value for the masses of people and are, therefore, of little relevance to the bulk
of the population” (Koirala, 2002: 7).
Furthermore, the mainstream media in Nepal is to a large extent irrelevant to the concerns
of the common people because it is controlled and run by the state, political parties, and
Kathmandu’s ruling elite “who in reality have forged a hand-in-glove relationship instead of
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an adversarial one” (Sharma, 1999). Under such conditions, many thought that community
media could be an effective, credible, cheap and accountable media in Nepal.
Various experiments have been carried out worldwide in the field of community media,
including the publication of community development newspapers, small media initiatives
such as street drama or people's theater, handwritten or printed wall newspapers, rural
newspapers, community audio towers, and even community radio. They aim to address
people's problems, creating awareness about relevant subjects, giving voice to the people,
and advocating for social changes.
Increasing number of small scale FM radio stations, mostly owned by small NGOs, prefer
to call their stations as community radio station. In contrast, prominent journalists working
in small scale newspapers prefer to call their paper as national paper rather than
community paper. They try to copy the Kathmandu–based broadsheets and forget their
particular role and target readers (Kasajoo, personal communication, 2003). Before 1990,
the weekly newspapers were the only sources of news and media for alternative views –
mostly for political parties. However, the weekly have no longer remained the only sources
– there have been daily newspapers from the private sector and FM radio stations – they
have been providing up to date news.
Community newspapers are to be found throughout Nepal with varying degrees of
circulation and influence. According to a Press Council report, there were 107 regularly
published community newspapers in the different development regions (DR) of Nepal.
Among these newspapers, about two dozen have wide circulation and influence in the
community. There were five community newspapers in the Eastern DR, 6 in the Central
DR, and 10 in the Western DR and two each in mid-Western and Far-western DRs.
In order to provide relevant information to villagers in remote villages of Western Nepal,
and to enable them to live with dignity and expedite the development process in the
villages, Rural Development Palpa (RDP), a local non-governmental organization, has
been publishing a community newspaper, Gaunle Deurali, since 1993.
Research Design
This research used content analysis of Gaunle Deurali Weekly newspaper and in-depth
interview with the editor. An in-depth interview attempts to extract the interviewees’
experiences and their inherent meanings. It is a guided conversation, which seeks to
discover the informant’s experience of a particular topic or situation (Lofland & Lofland,
1995: 18). This study included an in-depth interview with Meghraj Sharma, the editor of
Gaunle Deurali.
This study also used content analysis, which is defined as “a research technique for the
objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of
communication” (Berelson, 1952: 18). The purpose of the content analysis was to
investigate the coverage of development news in Gaunle Deurali. Thus, this research
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addressed questions such as what is the proportion of development versus nondevelopment news. What are the content characteristics of development news? How often
do government authorities and influential personalities appear in development news?
Sampling
Guido H. Stempel III (1952) found that “increasing the sample size beyond 12 does not
produce marked differences in the results” (p. 333). This study used the criteria suggested
by Stempel with some modification. This research covered the year April 2002 to March
2003. First, the whole year was divided into 12 months. Second, each month was divided
into 4 weeks and one week from each month was selected randomly in order to construct a
year. Thus, there were 12 weeks in the sample. All news stories except advertisements
published in each selected issues of the newspaper were coded and analyzed. The unit of
analysis was a news story.
Operational definitions
The printed materials in Gaunle Deurali were analyzed using the following dimensions:
(a) Space: Number of words used for each news item and its heading were counted to
gauge the space provided for development and non-development news item.
(b) Type of item: News items were classified into straight news, features, letters, and
others. The following definitions, used by Janowitz (1952), were employed:
1. Straight news: Factual reports (these included all factual reports regardless of the
importance of item if the item was designed to report on the occurrence, past or
future, of some event).
2. Feature: Items dealing with home economics, cultural materials, and commercial
entertainment.
3. Letter: Those items addressed to the editor of the newspaper.
4. Others: Other items not included in above categories.
(c) Prominence: It was defined in terms of whether or not the item was supported by an
appropriate photo or a graphic. However, the author’s photo was not considered as a
photo for this purpose. Only those photos or graphics that were used to support the
news items were coded. The following codes were used: 1. Items with photo or
graphic, 2. Items without photo or graphic.
(d) Scope: It was defined as the geographical area in which the events described in the
item took place. Following codes were used: 1. Village Development Committee in
Palpa district, 2. Tansen municipality, 3. Outside Palpa district, and 4. Not
classifiable/others.
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(e) Subject matter: All the development news items were coded using the following codes:
1. Health/environment, 2. Education, 3. Personal/success stories, 4. Meetings or
conferences, 5. Socioeconomic/cultural issues, 6. Communication & transportation, 7.
Agricultural/forestry/animal husbandry, 8. Corruption/conflict/ natural disaster, and 9.
Other development news.
(f) Main actor or agency: It was defined in terms of the main source of news item. The
following categories were used: 1. Experts, political personality, or government
authority (district level or above). 2. Experts or political personality or government
authority (village level). 3. Villagers or farmers, and 4. Others.
(g) Categories: Items were categorized into development and non-development news. The
definition of development news used by John V. Vilanilam (1979a) was adopted as an
operational definition for this study. He defined development news as:
. . . news relating to the primary, secondary, and tertiary needs
of a developing country. Primary needs are food, clothing, and
shelter. Secondary needs are development of agriculture,
industry and all economic activity, which lead to the fulfillment of
the primary needs, plus development of education, literacy,
health environment, medical research, family planning,
employment, labor welfare, social reforms, national integration
and rural and urban development. Tertiary needs are
development of mass media, transport, tourism,
telecommunication, arts and cultural activities. (p. 34)
Research questions for content analysis
A newspaper was considered as giving emphasis to development activities if the
newspaper devoted higher proportion of space to development news, or published a larger
number of stories related to development activities, with a relevant photo or a graphic,
whatever was necessary. This study attempted to answer the following questions:
Question 1: Does the newspaper Gaunle Deurali publish a higher proportion of
development news? Does it devote a higher proportion of space for
development news?
Question 2: What were the types of development news topics that were covered?
Question 3: Does the newspaper quote government authorities and influential leaders very
often rather than villagers when covering development news?
Question 4: Does the paper publish development news with a photo or a graphic?
Question 5: Where is the event that covered in the news item based? Is it local or
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otherwise?
Question 6: What aspects of development issues does the newspaper emphasize?
Analyzing Gaunle Deurali
Gaunle Deurali gives special importance to literate adult readers living in remote villages,
who often do not have access to other reading materials. The main objectives of publishing
Gaunle Deurali are:
to give a voice to villagers and to create a forum for exchange of information, opinion
and experiences
to encourage village literate people to continue reading
to inform villagers about development activities in rural areas
to expose village problems to government authorities and NGOs
to strengthen democratic process and practices in rural areas by creating dialogues
between villagers and the decision-makers
to support and encourage the activities geared towards income generation
to inform rural people about appropriate modern technologies
to raise awareness about human rights, conservation of environment and
sustainable development
to provide exposure to innovative villagers
to support the development activities of children, women and underprivileged people
to dignify rural life, etc (RDP, 2003).
Meghraj Sharma, who joined the Association for Nepalese Journalist in 1971 and became
the vice-president of its national committee, is one of the reputed journalists in Nepal. Born
in 1949 (right before the establishment of democracy in 1950) in Tansen of Palpa district in
western Nepal, he entered the field of journalism at the age of 20 years. Starting with
Aarpana Nepali Weekly, Sharma, a graduate in Arts, worked for different weekly
newspapers before serving as the deputy editor for Gaunle Deurali. Meghraj Sharma
served as a guest editor for Satya Weekly (Nepali) before he started working for Gaunle
Deurali Weekly in 1993. Since Binaya Kumar Kasajoo, editor of Gaunle Deurali, has been
associated with Media Services International and is living in Kathmandu, Sharma makes all
editorial decisions.
There was no weekly newspaper published in Palpa district since 1961. In order to fill the
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void, Satya Weekly was published in 1983 under the editorship of Binaya Kumar Kasajoo.
The newspaper contributed in raising awareness for human rights and the restoration of
democracy in the nation. It was successful in exposing the wrongdoings and antidemocratic characteristics of the late Partyless Panchayat System (1960-1990). The
newspaper received recognition at the national level for its efforts in promoting democratic
values. The newspaper was closed in 1994, after the restoration of democracy. By that
time it was published regularly for 12 years (500 issues) (Meghraj Sharma, personal
communication, 2003 December 26).
Satya Weekly’s objective of restoring democracy in the nation through public awareness
met with success. In the new and open environment after the restoration of democracy in
Nepal, many new publications came into the market. However, such publications mostly
covered politics, were published in big cities, used elitist language, and were distributed in
urban areas (Meghraj Sharma, personal communication, 2003 December 26).
Binaya Kumar Kasajoo, Meghraj Sharma, and others realized that there was no single
newspaper for villagers in the nation. In this context, Gaunle Deurali was published by
Rural Development Palpa to cover villagers’ news, to give them a platform for participation
in local media, and to give a voice to the voiceless and marginalized sections of the
population. Bharat Dutta Koirala, a pioneer of development communication in Nepal,
helped RDP to receive funding for Gaunle Deurali. As a result, RDP was successful in
securing financial assistance from the Asia Foundation for the initial three years and a
printing press, computers and other necessary equipment (Meghraj Sharma, personal
Like any other community media, sustainability has been a big problem for Gaunle Deurali.
The author, in informal discussions with various people in Palpa, observed that many
people believe that Gaunle Deurali still receives funding from donor organizations. They
argued that it is not possible for the newspaper to survive and to continue publication and
distribution without any outside funding given that advertising is not a reliable source for
media in Palpa district. However, Meghraj Sharma denied that any major funding was
received at present. The fact that the number of staff has been reduced to three from the
previous 11 because of financial constrains demonstrates the financial difficulties (personal
Meghraj Sharma expressed his frustrations that everyone praised the paper in meetings
and conferences and recognizes Gaunle Deurali’s contribution in giving voice to the
voiceless people, and even extol the need for such a newspaper in the district, but no one
comes forward to help the newspaper financially (personal communication, 2003
December 26).
There were about 800 regular subscribers of Gaunle Deurali in Palpa and in other districts.
Among the 800 subscribers, the annual subscription fees of Rs. 55,000/- [1 US $ = Rs. 71]
for 200 subscribers in different villages was sponsored by the Local Initiative Promotion
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Services (LIPS) of Helvetas, a Swiss International Organization working in Palpa district.
The same amount of annual subscription fees for another 200 subscribers in eastern Palpa
has been supported by a Japanese social worker Kajumasa Kakami, known in the local
community as Okayabaje [Okaya grandfather]. He has been helping the marginalized
people with his own personal initiative and resources for more than 10 years. Besides,
Save the Children Norway, and Indrayani Club of Palpa sponsor 150 subscriptions each.
Other subscribers include individuals, organizations and schools in various parts in the
country. Besides these subscribers, the newspaper is distributed freely to various
publications (about 100) throughout the country that send their copy to Gaunle Deurali.
Journalists (about 100), the newspaper’s Readers’ Clubs (there are currently 305) and a
couple of social organizations also receive free copies of the newspaper (Meghraj Sharma,
personal communication, 2003 December 26).
Except for not very many individuals, who pay for their subscriptions, most subscribers
receive Gaunle Deurali free of cost. As described above, a large number of subscribers in
villages receive a free copy of Gaunle Deurali since their sponsors, national and
international organizations pay for it and others receive free a copy because they belong to
its Readers’ Club. This contributed to the people’s perception that Gaunle Deurali still
receives funding from donor agencies. Meghraj Sharma expressed frustration that the
newspaper has to publish the issues that are important to those sponsoring organizations
but does not receive any financial support beside the help in getting subscriptions (personal
According to Meghraj Sharma (personal communication, 2003 December 26), Gaunle
Deurali has managed with an expense of Rs. 25,000/- [about US $ 350] per month for
everything, including the salary of the three staff. The present monthly expenses also
include remuneration for contributors, mostly villagers and barefoot journalists who receive
Rs. 0.20/- per word for their published news. He felt that the newspaper could be smoothly
run if it could afford to spend at least Rs. 50,000/- per month (about $700 U.S.).
Gaunle Deurali covers the news that is important to villagers. Although the newspaper
lacks the work force to collect news from various parts of the district as well as from other
parts of the country, it has no shortage of news stories. This was possible because
individual villagers, members of its readers’ club and barefoot journalists send news from
their respective areas. This serves two purposes -- it provides news stories from villages,
which was not possible otherwise, and, at the same time, it gives a voice to the voiceless.
When the villagers’ and the underprivileged people’s problems and feelings are printed,
they feel empowered. They realize that they are as important as the so-called experts are;
their knowledge is as valid as that of the experts; and they feel included in the dialogue and
decision-making process. This process increases their self-esteem and confidence. “The
result is even greater when rural people can produce their own newspaper articles,
respond to others’ views, and participate in the production of the newspaper” (RDP, 2003).
One study revealed that Gaunle Deurali is most widely distributed in Palpa district followed
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by in Syangja district of Gandaki zone. Rupendehi and Nawalparasi districts of Lumbini
zone also have a relatively larger number of readers. The same study found that the
newspaper was used as post-literacy material in classes by Redd Barna Nepal, Women’s
Development Section, Women Welfare Committee Palpa and Aguwa Nepal of Nawalparasi
and by others (Koirala & Bista, 2001).
Gaunle Deurali Weekly newspaper was intended for the rural people living in the mid-hills
of Nepal. The newspaper gives special importance to women and farmers, to the
underprivileged and to those who are lagging behind, to the downtrodden and to those who
are the victims of various prejudices, and to the neo-literates and post-literates, as well as
to the intellectuals in both urban and rural areas. People read Gaunle Deurali because it
covers events in villages, it publishes materials that are useful for villagers and it presents
news and views without taking political sides. The newspaper uses very simple language
that is easy to read and understand. It gives ideas for income generation, it covers
women’s issues, health issues, village news and it provides inspiring news and success
stories (Koirala & Bista, 2001: 9).
A development newspaper like Gaunle Deurali cannot generate adequate income through
sale and advertisement. Since most people in remote villages cannot afford to subscribe
the newspaper, externally donor-supported free subscription is desirable. At the same time,
it is not easy to secure advertisements for a newspaper that does not take any political
side. Although the participants in meetings and conferences (mostly the government
authorities) express a need for such newspapers like Gaunle Deurali, they do not provide
any financial support. Instead, they help those newspapers, which provide flattering
publicity for them or write news taking political sides. Although RDP has a printing press
and provides printing services, the income from the printing job could not make any
significant income to make the newspaper self-sustainable because Palpa is not an
industrial and business center (Meghraj Sharma, personal communication, 2003 December
26).
National and international organizations that have been involved in improving people’s lives
through raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, health, and environment could help Gaunle
Deurali by helping villagers to subscribe to the newspaper. However, such organizations
spend a lot of money in conferences in expensive hotels, spending tens of thousands of
dollars that could perhaps be better used for increasing the marginalized people’s access
to information (Meghraj Sharma, personal communication, 2003 December 26).
In addition to financial challenges, Gaunle Deurali has other challenges. Since the
newspaper receives news stories from villagers as well as from barefoot journalists who
received training from RDP, most of the news stories and feature articles require major
editorial changes. Many stories and features lack the basic standard and essential
components. Although the newspaper tries to publish as many articles as possible, it is not
possible or practical to publish all the news stories and feature articles it receives from the
villagers. Thus, the newspaper receives many complains from villagers that they were not
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given enough opportunities (Meghraj Sharma, personal communication, 2003 December
26).
Since Gaunle Deurali is a community newspaper, it has certain responsibilities towards the
community. Despite suffering from financial constraints, the newspaper does not accept all
kinds of advertisements. The newspaper has rejected very attractive proposals for
advertisements from beverage, cigarette and fast food (packaged-food) companies.
Explaining the rational for rejecting such advertisements, Sharma argued that many
villagers in remote areas do not have access to other newspapers except Gaunle Deurali.
Those people who do not have access to any other newspapers believe whatever has
been published in Gaunle Deurali. It is morally not right to publish advertisements for
beverage and cigarette companies for the villagers, and the villagers should not be buying
expensive packaged-foods that lack nutritional value. The newspaper could financially
sustain itself if it disregarded its social responsibility and accepted all kinds of
advertisements (personal communication, 2003 December 26).
Content of Gaunle Deurali
Development and non-development news
Among the 339 news items published in the selected 12 issues of Gaunle Deurali Weekly,
229 (67.7%) dealt with development issues whereas 110 (32.4%) news items dealt with
non-development issues. This clearly demonstrates that the newspaper covers significantly
higher proportion of development news. It might be obvious because Gaunle Deurali is not
a regular newspaper; rather it claims itself as being a community based development
newspaper. Gaunle Deurali proved to be a truly a development newspaper as it preaches
to be in terms of the coverage of development issues.
Space accorded, sources and presentation
The study used the number of words used for each story in order to calculate the space
provided for the story. There were altogether 339 stories coded for the study. The space
(the number of words) used for a story ranged from seven words to 1356 words with 265.5
mean number of words. The average number of words used for development news items
was 289 whereas it was 202 for non-development news items. This shows that
development news items were longer in length than non-development news items (Table
1).
A slightly higher than one-fourth news items featured a district level chief, a higher-level
government authority, or a political personality. The sources for a large proportion (35.6%)
of the news items were villagers.
Table 1:
Space accorded, their sources and presentation of development and non-development
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news items published in Gaunle Deurali Weekly in 2059 B.S. (April 2002 - 2003 March)
Development
Non-
Total
Development
Space
Mean
289
202
265.5
Minimum
7
22
7
Maximum
1356
1165
1356
Median
177
111
146
22.3%
30.2%
24.4%
16.2
3.5
12.7
41.0
20.9
35.6
20.5
45.3
27.3
With photo or graphic
24.0%
18.6%
22.5%
Without photo or graphic
76.0
81.4%
77.5
Sources
District level or higher
personalities/authorities
Village level leaders/authorities
Villagers
Others
Chi-square = 30.753, df = 3, sig.=.000
Presentation
Chi-square = 1.049, df = 1, sig.=.306
A sharp distinction can be seen between the development and non-development news
items in terms of sources of news. A larger proportion of non-development news (30.2%)
featured district level chiefs, higher government, or political personalities than the
development news items (22.3%). The source for a large percentage (16.2%) of
development news items was village level political leader or a government authority as
compared to only 3.5% in case of non-development news items. Similarly, 41% of the
development news had sources as villagers whereas only 20.9% of non-development items
had them as the source of the news. Since the news items coded as “others” included
those items that lacked a clear source for the issue discussed or failed to mention one, only
one-fifth of the development news items were in this category whereas slightly less than
half of the non-development news items fell into this category. The results suggest that the
difference between development and non-development news items in terms of their
sources was statistically significant (Pearson Chi-square = 30.753, df = 3, sig.=.000) (table
1).
The study indicates that Gaunle Deurali was not a mouthpiece of government authorities;
7/28/2008
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rather it was a platform for villagers to express their genuine development efforts and raise
issues that matter to them. Such is not the case with other media outlets. For example,
McDaniel (1986), using content analysis of English language newscasts on the national
television services of Malaysia and Pakistan, found that “development journalism is being
used as a vehicle not only for publicizing government programs, but for the promotion of
government personalities” (169). As McDaniel (1986) has further pointed out, politicians in
developing countries “wish to be seen as champions of development issues” and warned,
“it might undermine development as a responsibility of the whole population, picturing it
instead as an activity of the influential and politically powerful” (p. 170). In contrast, this
study suggests that Gaunle Deurali, by giving space and importance to village-based
activities and the needs of villagers, includes people in remote villages as a part of the
communication and social change process.
Furthermore, using a content analysis of South Asian English language online newspapers,
Banjade (2002 July) also found that newspapers in developing countries devote a large
proportion of space for development news. Media in developing countries do not
necessarily refer to or quote government authorities and influential political personalities
when covering developing news. Most of the development news published on the South
Asian online newspapers centered on economic activities. For these issues, the
newspapers tend to refer to private spokespersons rather than to government authorities
(Banjade, 2002 July). The mainstream and development newspapers both publish
development news. However, development newspapers like Gaunle Deurali are different
from the mainstream newspapers in term of the degree to which development activities are
covered, the sources of the news items, and that the news items in development
newspaper were submitted by villages rather than by outsiders. As John Vilanilam argued
that villagers need timely information provided by fellow villagers who is familiar with their
realities. He said:
What the villages need is timely information given to them regularly
by people who are part of the village scene- people who live with
them, speak their language, follow their lifestyle and share in their
hopes and dreams. Others who report the rural scene once in a while
are news gatherers from a different world, and not participants in the
village communication scene. Communication by local people at the
grassroots is a must in order to achieve local group cohesion, to
mobilize local resources and to solve problems with local initiative
and local know-how to the furtherest extent possible. (Cited in
Maslog, 1985: x)
Although, Gaunle Deurali privileges development news, the present research indicates that
it did not favor the presentation of such news items with photos or graphics any more than
non-development news items. The table shows that more than one-fifth (22.5%) of the
stories were supported with photo or graphic. Among the development news items, almost
one-fourth (24.0%) were with a photo or a graphic whereas less than one-fifth (18.6%) of
7/28/2008
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the non-development news items were supported with photos or graphics. However, the
difference was not statistically significant (Chi-square = 1.049, df = 1, sig.= 0.306). This
shows that the newspaper did not give preference for development news in terms of use of
photos or graphics. This might be due to the lack of resources, i.e. cameras in the rural
areas.
Types of news items and their origin
Table 2 shows that among the 339 news stories coded for the study, more than 43 percent
were published in the straight news format, 34.6 percent were features, 17.5 percent as
letters, and the rest 4.4 percent were in other formats. Interestingly, villagers are reporters
as well as the receivers of the news stories. This not only helps the newspaper to collect
news, it empowers the villagers, making them a part of the local communication processes.
Table 2:
Types of news items and their origin for development and non-development news
published by Gaunle Deurali in 2059 B.S. (April 2002 – March 2003)
Development
Non-development
Total
Straight news
42.4 (97)
46.5 (53)
43.5 (150)
Features
44.1 (101)
9.3 (22)
34.6 (123)
Letters
10.5 (24)
36.0 (18)
17.5 (42)
Others
3.1 (17)
8.1 (17)
4.4 (24)
VDCs in Palpa
47.2 (108)
15.1 (17)
36.9 (125)
Tansen municipality
16.6 (38)
23.3 (28)
19.5 (66)
Outside Palpa
21.4 (49)
32.6 (36)
25.1 (85)
Others
14.8 (34)
29.1 (29)
18.6 (63)
100.0 (229)
100.0 (110)
100.0 (339)
Types of news items
Chi-square = 49.171, df=3,
sig.=.000
Origin
Chi-square = 28.159, df = 3,
sig.=.000
Total
The presentation style and simple language used in news stories make Gaunle Deurali
very easy to understand. It is because of this quality Gaunle Deurali is being used in Nepal
by different NGOs in their post-literacy or neo-literacy programs. Generally, rural people
7/28/2008
Page 17 of 22
would find it difficult to understand the mainstream media with its sophisticated elitist
language. Because of illiteracy and sophistication in presentation, villagers cannot decode
the meaning of the messages as intended. One study by the National Development
Services and UNICEF in Nepal in 1976 revealed that most people identified objects in
pictures without understanding the messages intended. They concluded that villagers did
not expect to get messages from pictures, that they looked at pictures literally, that they did
not necessarily look at a series of pictures from left to right, and they did not see
connections between pictures in a series. Also, villagers in Nepal who were not used to
looking at pictures, found it difficult to see which objects were portrayed and they did not
understand the symbols used in pictures (Communicating with, 1976).
The table 2 shows the different formats used for development and non-development news.
A sharp distinction can be seen in the use of the feature format and letters. About 44
percent of the development news items were in feature format whereas only 9.3 percent of
non-development news items used this format. Likewise, only 10.5 percent of the
development news items used the letters format whereas more than one-third of nondevelopment news items used this format. This indicated that the letters concerning
political issues and other general issues were more often published than the letters with
development issues. The Pearson chi-square test indicated that the difference in term of
news formats while reporting development and non-development news items was
significant (Chi-square = 49.171, df=3, sig.=0.000).
It is very important to see from where the news items originated. The result (Table 2) shows
that more than one-third (36.9%) of news items originated in different Village Development
Committees in Palpa district and almost one-fifth in Tansen municipality alone. Only onefourth of the stories were about events outside Palpa whereas either less than one-fifth of
the news items were without the origin mentioned or the stories were of general topics
applicable to all. The 125 news items, which originated in the VDCs of Palpa district were
from 48 different VDCs of the district (not shown in the table). This shows that no single
VDC or a particular group of VDCs dominated the news stories. It also shows that the
Gaunle Deurali truly represented the rural villages in Palpa district.
A large proportion of development news items originated in different VDCs compared to
non-development news. The largest proportion of non-development news originated
outside Palpa whereas the largest percentage of development news items originated in
different villages of Palpa district. The findings indicated a sharp and statistically significant
distinction between development and non-development news items in terms of their origin
(chi-square = 28.159, df = 3, sig.= 0.000).
Development subjects covered
The level of development news reported depends on the levels of training journalists
receive (Shah, 1990). Journalists who receive special training on issues like rural
development, health, population and social issues tend to cover a high proportion of stories
7/28/2008
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dealing with such issues (McKay, 1993).
Rural Development Palpa (RDP), with assistance from MS Nepal (a Danish Organization)
has conducted Barefoot Journalism trainings in 42 out of 75 districts in Nepal. About 1,000
individuals in Nepal have received such training through this initiative. Those who received
the training have been involved in the media throughout the country and Gaunle Deurali
receives news articles from them. These individual trainees include women, teachers, NGO
workers, as well as people from the underprivileged sections of the population.
Table 3:
Aspects of development issues covered by Gaunle Deurali in 2059 B.S.
(April 2002 – March 2003)
Development issues
Frequency
Health/environment
17.0 (39)
Personal/success stories
14.0 (32)
Agricultural/forestry/animal husbandry
10.9 (25)
Meetings/conferences
10.9 (25)
Socioeconomic/cultural
7.9 (18)
Education
7.4 (17)
Communication & transportation
6.6 (15)
Corruption/conflict/natural disaster
6.6 (15)
Other development
18.8 (43)
The health and environment category included regular stories on HIV/AIDS. Personal
achievements, problems, and success stories included farmers and individuals that were
either successful in their work or faced problems. The deputy-editor of Gaunle Deurali
Meghraj Sharma told the author that people criticized the paper for publishing flattering
success stories. The category meetings, conference and training included a large number
of stories about local clubs and groups’ activities reported from the respective villages. Anticorruption and conflict stories (Maoist insurgency) mostly originated from villagers in the
form of letters.
Summary and Conclusions
The purpose of the study was to assess Gaunle Deurali, a community based development
newspaper, in terms of the news source, development issues, as well as the importance
accorded to various news items. This study used an in-depth interview with the editor of the
paper and carried out content analysis of the paper in order to achieve the purpose of the
study.
Our analysis of Gaunle Deurali shows a sharp distinction between the development and
non-development news items in terms of their sources. A relatively smaller proportion of
district level chiefs and government and political personalities appeared in development
7/28/2008
Page 19 of 22
news items than in non-development news items. Villagers were the sources for a larger
proportion of the development news compared with non-development news items. The
difference in terms of sources of news items was statistically significant. Thus, the findings
suggest that the newspaper has not been used to tell people what the government or
political elite has to say but rather to give a platform for local leaders and villagers.
The use of photos or graphics was used more often while reporting development than nondevelopment news items. However, the difference was not statistically significant.
Furthermore, the newspaper used the straight news format more often than features and
letters for both development and non-development news items. However, the feature
format was used more often for development news items than for non-development items
whereas letters dealt with non-development issue more than they did development issues.
This indicated that the letters concerning political issues and other general issues were
published more often than the letters with development issues.
A large proportion of development news items originated in different VDCs compared to
non-development news. The largest proportion of non-development news originated
outside Palpa whereas the largest percentage of development news items originated in
different villages Palpa district. Origin of news stories in Gaunle Deurali indicated that no
single VDC or a group of VDCs dominated the news stories and it truly represented the
rural villages in Palpa district.
Most of the development news was related to soft development issues instead of physical
infrastructure development issues. One reason for this may be a lack of physical
infrastructure development in the district because of the Maoist insurgency. Further, the
activities of local clubs on social issues were deemed as being important to cover. Political
stories included regular articles by former District Development Committee Chairman. This
may contribute to the people’s feeling that the Gaunle Deurali gives more stories from
those who are politically left of the center.
Like many other community media, Gaunle Deurali faces financial challenges. “A villageoriented organization like RDP and villager-oriented publications can hardly be capable of
becoming self-sustaining in the rural context of Nepal in the near future… What is more
important at this stage of development is to make it more effective and result-oriented
rather than evaluating it on the basis of sustainability” (Koirala & Bista, 2001: 16).
In conclusion, in this age of information, while people in the developed world are facing
information overload, their counterparts in the developing countries live in a relative
information-famine. Furthermore, the gap of access to information in developing countries
is wide between those who live in big cities and those who live in remote villages. While
Gaunle Deurali has not been able to play an influential role in the national political and
socio-economic scene of Nepal, it enjoys both authority and respect in its far-flung remote
regions and the communities.
7/28/2008
Page 20 of 22
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[1]
Gaun is the Nepali word for a village. Gaunle refers to something that is associated with
a Gaun (village). Deurali is a public place in the village – usually a market with a dozen
or so shops and usually situated higher up in the village - where people hang-around.
About the Author
Arjun Banjade is a Lecturer on leave from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal.
While on the faculty he served as Consultant with Johns Hopkins University/Population
Communication Services in Nepal. He is currently based in Richardson, Texas.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] , [email protected]
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7/28/2008

Gaunle Deurali: Barefoot Community Journalism in

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