Unveiling media capture in Nepal: Insights from disclosures of journalists and media workers

Abstract

Media capture in new democracies is often masked by what are thought to be teething problems of the polity. It gets overlooked because of the difficulty of isolating how capture operates in environments characterized by low data availability on advertising and private media finances, and high political polarization among media and journalists. Existing research has barely scratched the political economy of Nepal’s media, which the capture approach allows to unpack. This paper analyzes media capture from a political economy perspective to explore the influence of commercialism and partisanship on content. Two qualitative data sets have been used, one derived from third-party interviews and another from interviews with key informants. The data obtained have been analyzed thematically and interpreted to draw inferences on how the less visible drivers, such as exchange of monetary and non-monetary favors operate leading to capture.