For the first time, the parliament puts effort in appraising and offering solutions for freedom of expression
The Social and Cultural Affairs Committee (SCAC) of the National Council (NC) presented the State of the Media report in the parliament on Friday, marking the first parliamentary effort to evaluate and propose measures aimed at strengthening the media environment and addressing challenges related to freedom of expression in the country.
Committee Chairperson and Eminent Member, Kesang Chuki Dorjee informed the House that there are seven licensed newspapers in Bhutan currently. The Bhutan Media Foundation (BMF) reported that there is one newspaper for every 111,032 Bhutanese but the market can realistically support only three newspapers.
Business Bhutan is a financial newspaper established in 2009. Published weekly, it also includes a Dzongkha insert and has a magazine called, Kuzuzangpola. The publication currently employs 14 staff members.
The national newspaper, Kuensel operates under a board composed of government officials and shareholder representatives. Today, Kuensel publishes in English six days a week and in Dzongkha once a week. The organization employs a total of 117 staff, including 15 journalists.
Bhutan Times was established in 2006. It is a weekly English newspaper with 10 employees. Bhutan Times has 288 shareholders. Bhutan Today was established in 2008 with a focus on youth. Initially launched as a daily newspaper with a staff of 80, it faced financial challenges and a lack of advertising, leading to a downsizing in 2017. Currently, Bhutan Today is a weekly English-language newspaper with a team of 11 employees. The ownership of the publication is shared between two individuals.
The Bhutanese was the most recent private newspaper to be established, launched in 2012. Today, The Bhutanese employs 15 staff members. The newspaper is guided by three shareholders who provide strategic direction.
The Journalist was established in 2009, originally publishing a 40-page format with a circulation of nearly 40,000 copies and a staff of around 80. Due to financial constraints, the publication has since reduced to 12 pages and now operates with a staff of 5.
The only remaining Dzongkha news outlet in the country, Gyalchi Sarshog has transitioned to a fully digital format, circulating 1,900 e-copies. The Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development is supporting 50% of the cost of these publications. It is being distributed to key institutions, including two ministries, ten corporations and institutions, five Dzongkhags, and 44 Gewogs, reaching an estimated 16,000 individuals. The current team consists of three staff members.
The Bhutan Media Foundation (BMF) reported that the media market in Bhutan is saturated in the current situation, resulting in staff constraints and a decline in readership. The media survival strategy (2022) by the government indicates that private newspapers depend on government funding for about 90% of their income.
While state-owned media continue to receive direct government advertising, private media have been severely impacted. This decline in revenue has had a profound effect on the quality of news coverage, made it difficult to retain professional journalists, and limited the media’s ability to expand its national reach. This impact was particularly severe for Dzongkha newspapers, with four Dzongkha publications (Druk Neylug, Druk Yoedzer, Druk Melong and Druk Neytsuel) closing as a result. According to the Media Survival Strategy document, the government has spent 35 million Ngultrum in the last 10 years in the form of monetary grants (content development), subsidies (printing) and training, despite this huge spending, the sustainability of private print media firms is in limbo. The private media acknowledged government support through fiscal incentives such as tax reliefs and an annual grant of nearly Nu 0.7 million from the Media Enterprise Development Budget. A Media Endowment Fund was proposed with a seed capital of Nu 10 million to replace the annual budgetary support for media enterprises and be for all forms of media, print, broadcast and internet. Under the proposal, the fund would be managed by the BMF and overseen by an independent board consisting of members from both the government and the media industry. However, this proposal has not yet been implemented due to lingering government concerns.
All newspapers have been transitioning to digital platforms, significantly reducing the number of print editions in circulation and exploring additional online revenue streams. According to private media firms, monetization remains challenging without a payment gateway facility. At present, only Bhutan Today and Gyalchi Sarshog offer digital news in PDF format, while the others are available in both digital and print editions. The high cost of printing at Kuensel Corporation, coupled with a lack of subscriptions, has further accelerated this shift towards digital platforms. According to BCMD, Department of Information and Media supported media firms to enhance their websites. However, it was found out that these media firms struggled to pay for annual maintenance.
Meanwhile, the objectives of the review of the State of Media were approved by the 12th Plenary to conduct a thorough review on Bhutan’s media legislation and policies, assess the impact of government interventions and explore strategies for supporting independent journalism, review perceptions of public freedom and transparency, evaluating the effectiveness of current policies and examining the role of digital media in shaping public discourse, to review the importance of having a national language newspaper in promoting national identity, informed citizenship and public discourse as well as preserving language skills.
The committee conducted a qualitative research design to review the state of media, focusing on three objectives. A total of 19 stakeholder consultation meetings were conducted with 32 key stakeholders, including representatives from media firms, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Local Government leaders and officials from Trongsa and Sarpang, community representatives, schools, colleges, radio stations, and Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms followed by government agencies from October 7, 2024 to October 31, 2024.
To assess the state of television and radio connectivity, a targeted survey was conducted across seven Dzongkhags—Bumthang, Dagana, Gasa, Lhuentse, Punakha, Wangduephodrang, and Zhemgang. The selection of these Dzongkhags was based on convenience sampling, aiming to capture a mix of rural and semi-urban areas with varied geographical and socio-economic contexts.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the importance of Dzongkha in Bhutanese newspapers. Data was collected over three weeks through semi-structured interviews with four Dzongkha professionals and five Dzongkha editors from various media firms. Participants were selected using a non-probability purposive sampling method to ensure a range of perspectives, with snowball sampling helping to identify additional relevant individuals.
Additional data was gathered from existing media reports, policy documents, national surveys and regulatory guidelines to provide context to the stakeholder feedback.
Bhutan’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index at 147th out of 180 countries placed it near nations such as Turkey (145), China (146), Saudi Arabia (148), and Iran (150). The committee found that only a few Bhutanese journalists received the questionnaire, and many stakeholders, media organizations, and civil society groups reported being neither consulted nor informed about the reasons behind Bhutan’s 57-position decline from 2022 to 2023. Journalists who reached out to Reporters Without Borders received no response. A BBS editor also noted that the Bhutan page on the WPF Index contained outdated and unverified information, which was only corrected after he raised the issue.
Bhutan’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has significantly dropped from 33rd in 2021 to 147th in 2023, reflecting growing challenges in the political, legal, economic, and sociocultural landscapes. Furthermore, according to the latest CIVICUS Monitor 2023, a globally recognized NGO, which provides real-time data on civil society and civic freedoms across 196 countries, Bhutan is categorized as “Obstructed.”
In light of these concerns, as per the National Council Act, Chapter 2, Section 7, the National Council assigned the Social and Cultural Affairs Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the media landscape. This review marks the first parliamentary effort to evaluate and propose measures aimed at strengthening the media environment and addressing challenges related to freedom of expression in the country.
Tashi Namgyal from Thimphu
