Kathmandu, 19 February: The National News Agency (NNA) is celebrating its 64th anniversary and has embarked on the path of further maturity from today. Today, the country is also celebrating its 75th Democracy Day. On this occasion, I would like to extend my best wishes to all concerned.
The National Communication Committee was formed on 20 February 2018, which was later changed to the National News Committee (NRC), with the aim of facilitating the flow of impartial and official news and information from the country and abroad among the countrymen and foreigners and to help create a solid public opinion by enhancing the sense of national unity.
A news agency called Nepal Sambad Samiti (NESAS) was established in Nepal on 16 December 1959. The founders were Gopaldas Shrestha, Govinda Biyogi, Madan Sharma, and Ganesh Manandhar. Another organization of a similar nature, Sagarmatha Sambad Samiti (SSS), was established in Nepal on 12 May 1960. Its founders were Manindra Raj Shrestha, Shankar Nath Sharma, and Pashupati Dev Pandey, among others. These two news agencies were merged to form the National Sambad Samiti on Falgun 7, 2018(18 February 1962). The committee received legal recognition after the enactment of the RSS Act 2019.
A news agency is an organization that provides news content to mass media such as newspapers and electronic media. A news agency generally does not have its own publishing and broadcasting house or media outlet. In some countries of the world, news agencies are found operating newspapers, radio or television. With a history of 64 years, the National News Agency, with the aim of providing pure information and news to its customers, has been diversifying its services according to the demands of the times and has been providing national and international news, photos, audio-visuals, articles, opinions, interviews and news content in the mother tongue online.
The meaning of traditional news is no longer limited to ‘letters’ or ‘words’. From print media to electronic media such as audio, audiovisual and online, mobile journalism, podcasts, news, news content and news work have become synonymous, and these media are also gradually developing as independent genres. RSS is well aware of the challenges and opportunities that have arisen with the development of new media and its expansion into digital platforms. In recent years, the development of technology has made it imperative for all communication work to be guided by it. We cannot be an exception to this.
It is a matter of pride that RSS, the only official, reliable and truthful news agency of Nepal, is also moving in unison with international photo journalism. RSS services have not only made it easier for the state and government to convey their activities to the public, but have also supported the mass media. It is clear that RSS is working to promote national unity and instill hope in the general public and civil society by incorporating diverse Nepali culture and various aspects of development. RSS is committed to continuing to fulfill this role.
We are deeply aware that RSS is run by the taxes paid by the people and we are constantly ready to fulfill our responsibilities accordingly. We have been focusing on service diversification by connecting ourselves with the people along with the states and governments. Therefore, in recent times, we have tried to make general changes in our content collection and flow and have prioritized the ‘coverage’ of the people. In line with this thinking, we have tried to give space to the views of the general public, and based on the opportunities provided by new media, we have started an audiovisual service, which we understand is very popular now. In the recent past, RSS has accepted the responsibility of expanding its Nepali news service 24 hours a day and providing round-the-clock service, while embodying the concept that there is no ‘deadline’ for the media.
The RSS has defined its responsibility in terms of protecting and promoting the media as well as preserving local languages, literature and culture by starting the work of broadcasting news in the mother tongue (Awadhi, Maithili and Nepali). Similarly, the RSS has recently established a media museum and a bulletin room and opened these rooms for general study and research, and has tried to add a brick in the direction of journalism studies.
Not only this, the RSS has been exhibiting photographs collected or taken by its ‘photo journalists’ and disseminated by the RSS from time to time on various subjects of different times. In this context, on the occasion of the 15th Republic Day, from 25 May 2023 to mid-June, we were able to organize an exhibition with more than 70 photographs under the title ‘Our Culture: Our Heritage’ and on the occasion of the 16th Republic Day from 2081 Jestha 10(23 May 2024) for a month, with about 95 photographs under the title ‘Achievements of the Republic: Infrastructure for Prosperity’.
We believe that through these exhibitions, we have succeeded to some extent in breaking the narrative that some people tried to develop that nothing happened in Nepal after the establishment of the republic. On the one hand, these exhibitions attracted great attention from the general public, enlightened civil society and those at the policy-making level, while on the other hand, they helped build a bright image of the RSS in the media and the entire state. In order to publish and archive those two photo exhibitions as an archive, we have also made an effort to publish a photo book titled ‘RSS Photo Book: 16 Years of the Republic’ on the occasion of our anniversary.
Amidst the current technological challenges and opportunities, we would like to take this opportunity to pledge to diversify and systematize the RSS services in the coming days, provide training on new topics and state-of-the-art photographic equipment to journalists and technical personnel, and continue our efforts to make the service more qualitative, reliable, and diversified, thereby making the overall service more reliable and serving the media world and the entire state.
