Article 7 of the Constitution is about our fundamental rights. Section 3 of that important article declares that “A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to information”. By this provision, any citizen has the right – a fundamental right – to ask the government for any information. And the government must provide that information, whatever [...]
The Bhutanese, Bhutan’s latest newspaper, was launched today, coinciding with His Majesty the King’s 32nd birth anniversary, in a quiet ceremony in their offices in Chubachu. The Bhutanese is our 11th newspaper. But it is the first to use the broadsheet format. So while we’ve become used to reading small, comfortable tabloid papers, The Bhutanese [...]
There’s excitement in the air. The media fraternity has finally launched the Journalists Association of Bhutan. The journey has been long: it began way back in 2006, and has included a UNDP funded project and the establishment of the Bhutan media foundation. So, naturally, our journalists are excited. I’m excited too. I congratulate our journalists. [...]
Bhutan Today’s headline this morning was shocking. “People living in miserable conditions: OL” it screamed. Shocking! But not quite true. The recent earthquake destroyed many houses. According to government reports more than 4000 houses have been damaged. So many people are unhappy. And they are frightened. And they are impatient. They want the authorities to [...]
Today’s banner features 75-year old Jabari Dan Rai who hails from Dumtoe, a remote gewog in Samtse. By seven every morning, this remarkably healthy septuagenarian arrives at the Lungtenampa bridge to distribute that day’s newspapers to pedestrians making their ways to school and work. Bhutan’s media has come a long way. From very humble beginnings [...]
Yesterday, members of the National Assembly met to discuss the preliminary agenda for the Assembly’s next session. During the discussions, the members also considered if the entire proceedings of the National Assembly should once again be broadcast on live TV. After exchanging the same old arguments – from the need to promote transparency by those [...]
My post entitled “Playing the media” drew many responses. Two of them were from Tenzing Lamsang. In his first response, Tenzing argues that “sources” play an important role in revealing crucial information, often by taking great risks. He writes that: Investigative Journalism internationally has to rely on confidential sources and so is the case in [...]
Social media was the subject of Bhutan’s attention on two occasions last month. In one, the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy organized a conference to discuss “… the current social media scene in Bhutan and … how this can be used to benefit Bhutanese society.” The conference, which also provided “… a step by [...]
Back in 2008, Tenzing Lamsang, working with Kuensel at that time, wrote a series of stories about the impending pay hike for civil servants. His stories, based on information from unnamed “sources” in the government, added fuel to the wild rumors and speculation that were already rife throughout the country. The government was obviously leaking [...]
Tshering Tobgay is a Member of Parliament representing Sombaykha Constitutency in Haa. He is the Leader of the Opposition Party in the National Assembly of Bhutan.
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