As part of NIMJN's ongoing initiative to support journalists' well-being, NIMJN organized a well-being conference in Pokhara, Nepal, on December 19 and 20, 2024. The conference brought together 45 journalists from all over Nepal, from the Baitadi district in the far west to the Panchthar district in eastern Nepal.
The conference focused on the mental well-being of Nepali journalists in newsrooms and strategies for tackling mental health issues.
The first panel, titled ‘Status of Mental Well-being in Nepali Newsrooms,’ featured NIMJN fellows from various media outlets who shared their mental health challenges. They discussed the incidents they have encountered and the tips to maintain mental well-being in their newsrooms. The panelists included journalists Radhika Adhikari, Krishna Bist, Manju Telor, Pushpa Thapaliya, and Urmila Yadav. NIMJN fellow Ruma Rijal moderated the discussion.
When asked about the availability of newsroom spaces for journalists dealing with mental health issues, panelist Radhika Adhikari highlighted that journalists who cover societal issues often overlook the mental health challenges they face while reporting. Manju Telor pointed out the lack of sensitivity toward the stress experienced by journalists while reporting, noting that it often goes unaddressed in many newsrooms.
The second session explored solutions, practices, and initiatives in Nepali newsrooms to address the mental health challenges. Panelists included Bharat Koirala, Editor of Samadhan Media Group; Makar Shrestha, Editor of Edukhabar.com; Reena Thapa, Reporter at Lokantar.com; Alina Rai of Bijayapur FM and Prof. Dr. Nirmal Lamichhane from the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital.
Journalists Reena Thapa and Alina Rai shared their self-care practices. They highlighted the role of colleagues as a support system in addressing mental health issues in the newsroom.
Editors Makar Shrestha and Bharat Koirala shared initiatives and practices to create a comfortable environment where journalists feel safe sharing, discussing, and addressing mental health challenges. They also spoke about coping techniques, drawing from their own experiences.
Prof. Dr. Nirmal Lamichhane provided recommendations for improving the mental well-being of Nepali journalists. These included ensuring adequate wages for livelihood, fostering a friendly environment where journalists can share and support one another, and including psychosocially aware journalists in newsroom teams.
Prof. Dr. Nirmal led a stress management session where participants learned practical stress management techniques, such as breathing and stretching exercises.
At the end of the conference, journalists issued the NIMJN Pokhara Well-being Commitment 2024- a four-point commitment letter to mental well-being in Nepali newsrooms, which includes integrating well-being discussions, offering training on emotional intelligence, resilience, mindfulness, active listening, and mental health literacy, creating collaborative networks of key stakeholders for evidence-informed solutions and ensuring accessible and sustainable well-being practices for all journalists.
Earlier at the inaugural session, Srik Gopal, President, and Managing Partner of Humanity United emphasized the vital role of journalists worldwide in highlighting social justice issues. Srik added that journalists are pillars of safeguarding democratic norms, and they need to be safe before reporting on others' safety.
Mahendra Pandey, Senior Manager from Humanity United, highlighted the importance of mental well-being in today's world.
NIMJN's Collaborative Reporting
On the first day of the conference, journalists discussed on strengthening collaborations on their investigative projects. Rajneesh Bhandari, Chief Editor at NIMJN, emphasized the importance and possibilities of collaborative investigative journalism in Nepal, mainly using the latest multimedia tools and techniques.
A refresher session on generating collaborative story ideas and preparing hypotheses was led by Suphal Kafle. This session focused on various key aspects, including issue identification, research and evidence gathering strategies and the development of a story hypothesis.
Aesha Bajracharya and Dinesh Regmi led a discussion on risk management, providing a specific scenario in which they explored potential risks and strategies to mitigate them. They also highlighted the importance of maintaining a logbook, and fact-checking tolls while reporting investigative stories.
Journalists took part in friendly futsal matches and cultural performances in the evening.
