ThePrint ·
Nepali media put facts over spectacle in flood coverage. Learned what not to do from India
As foreign crews arrived looking for dramatic visuals, Nepali reporters were navigating flooded roads, damaged communications, and dangerous terrain.
Kathmandu: Arjun Paudel’s editor offered him compassionate leave when his village of Sole was destroyed in the 26 August floods in Nepal, taking away eight members of his family. Instead, Paudel joined the team of five reporters from The Kathmandu Post heading directly to flooded districts of Nuwakot and Rasuwa, and spent eight days reporting on the disaster, its impact, and human cost.
“I don’t think I could have taken a leave and sat in my house. Even though it was personal, I needed to see what had happened to my home,” said Paudel, a health reporter at The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur Daily, Nepal’s largest newspapers by circulation.
Paudel was one of many journalists from Nepal who had to deal with both personal and professional challenges after the Rasuwa floods, which led to around 1,400 deaths, with over 5,000 people still missing.
