Media Coverage of Asia Pacific Conference: A Comparative Study of The Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times and My Republica

The Asia-Pacific Summit 2018 was held on a grand scale from November 30 to December 03, 2018with world leaders presenting their keynote addresses and various other attendees and delegates present a wide range of topics such as terrorism, climate change, government-government cooperation, social security, regional development, among others.

The Summit began with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s inaugural address, where he called on for increased participation and collaboration of governments, the private sector and social groups for regional development. Former Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda addressed the gathering on the issues pertaining to terrorism and climate change, terming them as the world’s biggest challenges in the present scenario. Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi called on for collaborative work with regard to fighting terrorism, migration and displacement, injustice and, hunger and poverty.

The Summit created a huge hype among the media and the general public of Kathmandu valley. The news coverage from various media showed vast indifference throughout the event. The Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times, My Republica – all three leading newspaper dailies have highly highlighted the events, data, background, and evidence of the Summit. However, these three newspapers had different tones and angles to present the news. The coverage analysis of the three newspapers are discussed as follows:

1.   The Kathmandu Post

As one of the most read newspaper daily especially in Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post had nicely covered the event of Asia Pacific Summit, 2018. However, the tone to present the news is seen to be negative.  Within the news, the newspaper has splurged a few lines about the past controversies or any negativity within the event or the delegates present. For example: inside the headline: “International delegates arrive in Kathmandu for Asia Pacific Summit” the statements of people being affected through odd-even vehicle system was mentioned. With the news of the arrival of the delegates, the past controversial activities of the delegates were also mentioned such as Suu Kyi’s controversial history. Similarly, the headlines such as “People bear the brunt of odd-even vehicle rule”, “Ruling party leaders say hosting Asia Pacific Summit was a mistake”, “Summit all down”, “Former prime ministers ditch Asia Pacific Summit”, etc. showing the unlikely agreeable summit hosted in Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Post also covered the event through editorial with the title “Draw the line” where public bearing the difficulties through the odd-even system was mentioned.

2.   The Himalayan Times

The Himalayan Times showed neutral angle while covering the event of Asia Pacific Summit, 2018. This daily didn’t seem to show much bias throughout the event in the highlighted news. The Himalayan Times published the news such as: “Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives in Kathmandu”, “Suu Kyi, Hun Sen arriving tomorrow”, “Govt not sponsor, but supporter: UPF”, etc. Even the statements of negativity were supported by the source. There are some negative highlights regarding the issue where all the general public were disturbed with the decision of odd-even vehicle system such as: “NC slams govt for co-sponsoring Asia Pacific Summit 2018 with INGO”, “Asia Pacific Summit: Security beefed up in Kathmandu Valley”, “NC leader Gagan Thapa calls for civil-disobedience of Odd-Even rule”, “Controversial Asia Pacific Summit begins today”. The Himalayan Times showed balance with both positive and negative coverage of the event.

3.   My Republica

My Republica published positive news throughout the Asian Pacific Summit, 2018. With the headlines such as: “Asia-Pacific Summit 2018: A Glance at Latest Updates”, “Two-day Asia Pacific Summit 2018 kicks off today”, “Asia Pacific Summit 2018 begins in capital”, “Leaders stress ending poverty for global peace (photo feature)”, “Security beefed up in Kathmandu Valley in view of Asia Pacific Summit”, etc. Even when the accusations were reported regarding the summit being a plan of the government to make the nation into a Christian nation, My Republica positively denied such accusation with the news headline: “Asia Pacific Summit not meant to promote any religion”. My Republica was seen to report instant updates regarding the event with careful data and evidence highlights.