Two more newspapers ready to hit the market

December 14, 2009: Come this December, the country will have two more newspapers in its credit after the launch of Drukpa and The Journalist.

A fight for independent journalism

On December 17, the 102nd National Day, a brand new monthly news magazine, called Drukpa,  will hit the newsstand.

According to the owners, the monthly magazine will work towards bridging the gap seen in the society in various forms.

“We saw that the private sector’s view of the government- the government’s view of the private sector- and the views of the general populace vis-à-vis the government and the bureaucracy were all, in one way or another, stereotypically biased. That, in a nutshell, provided the inspiration for what we felt was the need of the times, a news magazine that covers issues in-depth and provides a much-needed platform for all Bhutanese without sounding cliched at all,” one of the staffs with the magazine said.

In its effort to cover specific themes on each issue, the first edition is focused on “Youth” where it covers all kinds of issues related to the youth – education, unemployment, alcohol and substance abuse, the rural-urban drift, loss of innocence, the changing face of the Bhutanese youth etc etc.

Brought out by K4 Media, the magazine is edited by Tashi P Wangdi, the founder editor the Bhutan Times, with Jurmi Chhowing, Kunga T Dorji, Phuntshok Rapten and Mitra Raj Dhittal at the newsroom.

The publisher says, Drukpa can be comparable to any other international news magazine.

Similarly, the disgruntled team of seven journalists who left Bhutan Times in mass will return to the competitive market of newspapers in Bhutan with their production The Journalist. The weekly newspaper is scheduled to go into market from December 20.

The Journalist is the first of its kind in the country – managed and published by journalists themselves. According to the journalists associated with paper, all efforts will be made to keep paper from any interference of investors in a bid to promote independent journalism.

Event: Launching of the first issue of The Journalist
What: Ceremony
Start Time: Sunday, December 20 at 10:00am
End Time: Sunday, December 20 at 1:00pm
Where: Clock Tower, Thimphu