COVID-19 Pandemic has had serious impact on journalism of Nepal. A national survey report of Nepal Press Institute and Bournemouth University UK said the pandemic caused psychological and financial impact to the working journalists as well as reduction in the news output. Link

A total of 1,134 journalists representing from all seven provinces had taken participation in the survey. According to the report, COVID-19 has affected the mental wellbeing of a majority of journalists in Nepal with 83 percent of journalists reporting sense of vulnerability, 75 percent journalists feeling increased anxiety.Similarly, 62 percent journalists reported grief and 25 percent mentioned that they suffered from depression.

The pandemic has also significantly affected Nepali journalists financially as 74 percent of journalists have responded that they have been impacted financially due to COVID-19 whereas 38 percent faced pay cut.

The global health crisis has had a severe impact on news organisations as well. News output of the news organizations have experienceda substantial decline in the production of original news content, and decreased news dissemination.55 percent of respondents who worked for print outlets have reported reduction in number of pages published and 48.4 percent respondents have reported reduced print frequency.Broadcast, too, followed the same pattern, with 51.8 percent of respondents from the radio and television sectors respectively acknowledging reduced broadcast production. This trend was attested by print, online, and news agency journalists.

The survey had also assessed journalists' preparedness against disaster based on Net Promoter Scale that indicated low level of disaster preparedness among Nepali journalists.

The survey report has also recommended to increase investment for the capacity building of the journalists.