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Christians working in print, radio and televison in Nepal recently launched a Christian communicators’ networking group after a two-day meeting in Kathmandu.
At the end of their March 1-2 meeting, the two dozen or so participants, working in Christian and secular media around the country, decided to name their group Nepali Christian Media Network.
The group pledged to support Christian communicators, and said it felt a strong need to organize seminars and meetings between media persons and Church leaders.
An interim committee was selected to develop the group further. Participants also decided to call for a bigger gathering by mid-July to set up a permanent governing committee.
The participants felt that rather than register as another NGO they would seek affiliation with a popular group like the Federation of Nepali Journalists.
“We got to meet each other after waiting for too long — but better late than never,” said Lokmani Dhakal, founder and chief editor of the Hamro Ashish (our blessing) Christian monthly newspaper.
During the meeting, organized by Micah Network Nepal, a Protestant evangelical group, participants shared their observations of the Christian media scene.
Keshav Luitel, station manager of Grace FM radio station which transmits Christian programs for two hours daily from Dhulikhel, a town 30 kilometers east of Kathmandu, said that “many non-Christians tune into the program.”
He noted that there are now over 200 local FM stations in Nepal, with some programs such as Back to the Bible and Voice of the Martyrs run by Christians.
Pastor Lok Nath Manen, a writer and producer of Christian films and music, said Christian communicators could spread the Gospel message by contributing to mainstream media.
“Let us bring hope,” said Pastor Manen, who was elected chief coordinator of the Nepali Christian Media Network.
Narayan Wagle, chief editor of the popular Nepali language daily, Nagarik Awaz(citizen’s voice), stressed the need for people such as women and minorities to be given more opportunities to work in media.
C. Kishore Lal, a news analyst, stressed the need to push the government to establish a Religious Ministry and interreligious meeting places to defuse religious tensions.
There are an estimated 7,500 Catholics in Nepal and more than 1 million Christians of other denominations among the country’s 28.5 million peoples.
SOURCE
Christian media workers set up networking group (UCA News)
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