A rally was organised this morning in Kathmandu to mark the World Press Freedom Day 2018.

The rally led by Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) was held under the banner ‘Observation of Power: Media, Justice and Rule of Law’. The rally started from Babarmahal and converged into a corner meeting at New Baneshwar.

Addressing the corner meeting, FNJ President Govinda Acharya said, although press freedom was embedded into the constitution’s preamble, it was not being implemented in practice.

He cautioned over government’s effort to formulate new laws that could curtail press freedom. The FNJ President was of the view that media organisations must themselves hold regular monitoring to make the press disciplined and responsible.

According to Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), former FNJ President Mahendra Bista stated that the scenario of press freedom was improving, however, he stressed on the continuing incidents of physical attacks on journalists.

Likewise, former FNJ President Taranath Dahal noted the growing impunity in the backdrop of failure to bring into justice those who attack journalists.

The World Press Freedom Day is being marked across the globe today.