The Rising Nepal, the country's first English-language broadsheet, is celebrating the 59th anniversary of its publication. In its almost six-decade-long journey, The Rising Nepal is a witness to the sea change in the country's political, economic, and social spectrums and has been trying its best to inform its readers and the public, both within and outside the country, through news, reports, articles, and op-eds. This is one of the two flagship publications; the other is Gorkhapatra Daily, also the first Nepali language broadsheet, of Gorkhapatra Corporation, a publication house owned by the state.
This ownership by the state is both its boon and bane. While the state ownership has provided some financial stability to the corporation and its publications, which many other newspapers in the country would strive for, it sometimes limits its editorial freedom. That constraint resulted in, it is accused, in its news, reports, and opinions, being biased in favour of the government and the political parties in power, rather than encompassing a broader opinion of mainly the other side of the political fence or the political power structure.
But being a state-owned entity, it has the obligation to put forth the views and opinions in concurrence with that political system and ideology. First English daily The pioneer English daily began when there was no other English daily; journalism was just an emerging profession, and there were just a handful of weeklies published in the private.