Kara noted that Amy Waldman had an article on page three of the paper this morning's New York Times: "Nepal's King Cracks Down on Politics and News Media." My apologies for missing that because I know Amy Waldman and Ian Fisher are two huge favorites of community members.
Here's the opening of the article:
Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice.
In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss.
"Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away.
"Our hands are tied," the journalist said.
Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. Nepalis have been facing something between fear and a farce since then, adjusting to a combination of royal rule and martial law. Those in politics and the news media feel particularly under siege.
Waldman's done strong reporting in the past (and hopefully will continue to do so) so if you have the opportunity, please read her article. Nepal's not getting a great deal of attention. (Though Waldman began filing strong reports on this last week for the Times.)
