Gorkhapatra Sansthan is a Nepalese publishing house owned and operated by the Government of Nepal. The company publishes a number of newspapers, the most significant of which are Gorkhapatra and The Rising Nepal.
Media assets
Publishing: Gorkhapatra, The Rising Nepal, Madupark, Muna, Yuvamanch
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Gorkhapatra Sansthan is a fully government-owned company, managed by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. In September 2021, the government appointed Bishnu Prasad Subedi, a journalist by profession, as the chairman of the corporation.
Source of funding and budget
Gorkhapatra Sansthan receives the majority of its funding from the government. State subsidies represent the largest component of the publisher’s budget. Additionally, the publisher receives funding from a state advertising fund, which is used to finance media outlets in Nepal, according to data from local experts and journalists interviewed for this report in March 2023 and June 2024.
Editorial independence
As with all state media in Nepal, the media outlets run by Gorkhapatra Sansthan are perceived to be pro-government, according to an assessment conducted for this report by local experts during March-April 2023.
It has not been possible to identify any domestic legislation or independent assessment or oversight mechanism to validate the editorial independence of Gorkhapatra Sansthan’s publications.
September 2024