Private media need support
25 July 2008
A system of “asymmetric regulations” such as the one imposed in the mobile telecom sector will, contrary to the hopes of the two private newspapers, not be introduced in the print media, according to the Bhutan Infocom and Media Authority (BICMA).
The asymmetric regulations in the telecom sector has barred B-Mobile, from lowering rates for six months. This is designed to al1ow the new private entrant, Tashi Cell, enough time to become economically competitive.
“Telecom and media are very different sectors,” said BICMA’s Wangay Dorji. “We had to intervene in telecom because the telecom companies use the same network.”
He explained that media was, in any case, an area of great sensitivity that even the BICMA hesitated to touch.
In print media revenue comes principally from a small advertising market. The private papers compete against Kuensel, which has enjoyed government subsidies, donor assistance and monopolistic influence over four decades.
In contrast to most countries, the largest advertisers in Bhutan are government organisations, not business enterprises. The three papers thus find themselves fighting for small change from government coffers. The state-owned paper is usually able to offer larger discounts and makes off with the lion’s share.
According to the MD of Bhutan Times, Tenzin Rigden, a recent study shows Kuensel gets 60 percent of government advertisements and Observer rakes in less than 20 percent.
“The government should come up with asymmetric regulations in the print media as well,” he said. “We are not asking for money but a level playing field.”
Observer’s Phuntsho Wangmo said that the new entrants in media played a far greater social role than the new entrant in telecom and so were more deserving of government support.
The private media were already peeved when they were collectively allocated only Nu 4.0 million as government support while the BBS alone got Nu 221 million. Now, adding to the mix is the advent of another competitor.
Bhutan Today, the country’s fourth newspaper, was licensed last week. In May, this year, both Bhutan Times and Bhutan Observer had appealed in a joint letter to the Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) saying it was too early for such a publication to come into the fray.
Their fears were that a scenario of vicious competition could result in content and social integrity being sacrificed at the altar of commercial viability. The two papers are also only too aware that there is a dearth of media professionals in the country, and that continued jostling of such professionals from one media organisation to another affects consistency.
The fourth newspaper, an MOIC official claims, has fulfilled the licensing criteria of having an editorial team in place. Besides one or two recognisable names, the Bhutanese media community does not know who else comprises the editorial team. “They produced paper evidence
which we verified,” said the MOIC’s Assistant Planning Officer, Yeshey. “But we did not conduct interviews as we do not have the technical capacity to go to that level.”
After all the concerns the existing private papers have expressed, Bhutan Today has, in a strange twist of circumstance, been the beneficiary of an asymmetrical regulation, one that upsets the advertising market further instead of levelling it. The MOIC has allowed the media newcomer a grace period of one year during which it will not have to publish the paper in Dzongkha.
Bhutan Times had enjoyed the same benefit as the very first private newspaper to be established in the country. Bhutan Observer began as a bilingual publication but later wanted to discontinue the Dzongkha edition when it was found to be unprofitable. Observer was then threatened with revoking of its licence.
The way the two existing private papers see it, Bhutan Today’s exemption from printing in Dzongkha gives them an unfair edge of lower cost and, by extension, greater haggling ability in the already heated, hostile and half-sized bazaar that is the Bhutanese advertisement market.
By Kunga T. Dorji
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I was so impressed Bhutan observer until I read this article. So you guys actually went and tried to stop a new entrant (Bhutan Today) from coming into the market. Aren’t you guys ashamed of yourself? The is the best example of the crab mentality that is so common in the in Bhutan and Bhutan and Bhutanese people. In other countries if there are new entrants in the market the the firms currently in the market will try to stay on top by improving their services and their products. They will try to undercut their competitors on price and try to become more creative. In Bhutan however things are different. Bhutanese people don’t try to stay ahead of the competition by working harder, trying to come up with better products and services. They will instead try to use their government connections to stifle the new competition and then keep on serving up the same old crap again and again. That is why Bhutanese people are like a barrel of crabs. When one crab tries to escape the others pull him back in the barrel. When that rare creative Bhutanese comes along tries to enter the market or do something, the other Bhutanese go whining to the government and ask them to pass a new regulation to prevent the new guy.
That’s why very few Bhutanese are able to compete and suceed abroad, inspite of many of them having degrees from prestigious institutions abroad.
well akoo…i diagree with you on this point. Maybe the new entrant was not s desired and required but by law if there is an aspiring competent we don;t argue the rationality wny he can’t enter the market. however, regarding pulling and pushin …our country is learning and I am positive that we are heading the right way.
pd,
“the new entrant was not s desired and required but by law if there is an aspiring competent we don;t argue the rationality wny he can’t enter the market. however, regarding pulling and pushin”
is incomprehensible and doesn’t make any sense. You wan to try again?