Watch-dog or a lapdog? The opportunities and challenges for Bhutanese media

One of the direct side effects of the massive transformation in the bureaucracy has been felt by the media industry which was ailing from the lingering impacts of the 2012 economic crisis. Some bold, daring news titles were either closed or reduced to a mere shadow of their former self.1 The Covid-19 pandemic further threatened their survival. Beginning in 2022, the transformation in civil service that started with the heads of the organisations/ departments sent a ripple effect among civil servants. The Royal Civil Service Commission revisiting the rules on sharing information to the media also affected access to information. Against this backdrop, this study analyses the findings of numerous recent studies on media/ journalism in Bhutan and puts them in the context of the major transformations the country has experienced in recent years that have influenced the performance of the media, especially in fulfilling its role as a watchdog. It recommends measures to improve the situation for media in the long run. The State of Journalism report 2023 and Yangchen C Rinzin’s study on journalist attrition both released this year show that two thirds of the journalists reported access to information as the biggest problem. “Lack of a mechanism to provide information, mentality of the public officials, and lack of legal procedures” were cited as major obstacles to accessing information. Studies link the practice of censorship to fear of not getting information for stories in the future. The report also reveals that 84 percent of the journalists self censor. Sonam Wangdi’s study on censorship among Bhutanese journalists two years ago, attributed such practice to “being a close-knit society and the ever-present fear of oppression and criticism provoke self-censorship even among senior journalists”. These studies show a continuous trend of self censorship, and this could explain why Bhutanese journalism lacks bold stories or investigative stories. Another development affecting the quality of journalism in Bhutan is the loss of experience journalists. Yangchen C Rinzin’s 2023 study covered 32 journalists and most of whom left the profession in the past two years. Poor salary and lack of professional development were the top reasons for their leaving. All media firms depend on government advertising for their survival. As the government strengthened its eProcurement services and placed most tender and quotation announcements on their websites and verified social media pages of the respective agencies, the advertising pie has shrunk to a morsel. This has led to most of the senior journalists looking for greener pastures. Today, one in four journalists have less than a year's experience. Most had been over three years in service. This study notes that the media in Bhutan has grown beyond what market can sustain, mainly because of the subsidy support from the government. Handing out the subsidy should be based on the media firm’s reach or content quality. Relaxing restrictions on media convergence, which largely are redundant, can help diversify revenue earnings. For example, today newspapers publish audio-visual clips of news on their social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and websites. Long-term support like scholarships for journalist study, training and exchanges, among others, is needed to improve content quality.