Self Censorship In Bhutan

Media in Bhutan: Censorship to Self-censorship. `“The only security of all is in a free press.”

Thomas Jefferson

Abstract

Bhutan with a population of 740,000 has 12 newspapers and 6 radio stations, 2 television channels, both of which are hosted by Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS), the state broadcaster and a vibrant discourse happening on the social media.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan that was enacted in 2008 guarantees the freedom of press – in all forms. Rights to information and freedom of speech, opinion and expression are also guaranteed. However, owing to the infant stage of the democratic process, implementation and practical applications of these freedoms are being debated. This paper will explore the health of mass

In Censorship, restrictions are drawn about what to write or not by the external factors. In self-censorship, journalists they censor themselves. To simplify, the presence of censorship happens due to external factors and Self-censorship happens due to internal factors.

In a study by Mužíková, Chaaban, Salomon, & Lee they explain, there are two forms of censorship in the media: the first is enforced by the state, political, religious or private party while the second stems from the very same party that is publishing .The second form is known as self-censorship and is practiced in order to avoid trouble from state officials, controversy, annoyance, initiating lawsuits or other problematic consequences (2013).After self-censoring themselves and their piece of expressions on writings for years, journalists and editors have become like instinctive self-censor machines,(Yesil, 2014).Therefore, journalists, who are supposed to inform and educate public about the events happening and write investigative stories on problematic issues in detail, become well-mannered students, following the orders of pressure groups and censor any information they are directed to remove.(Ingram, 2004; Tapsell,

They concluded about one quarter of the local and national have purposely avoided newsworthy stories, while others have softened the tone of their stories to benefit the interest of their news organizations.

In Bhutan, journalists have become automatic self-censoring machines, they don’t do much of investigative stories for they can’t sustain themselves without the ads given by the government. The newspaper’s inefficiency to sustain themselves creates a self-censoring environment where the public is affected.

For Example: In Bhutan the Ministry of Information and Communication had in April 2012 issued a circular to its agencies to not advertise with The Bhutanese (A Private local newspaper).Another circular from ECB later quoted a Finance Ministry circular to advertise with only government owned media houses though the circular was later withdrawn. It happened because The Bhutanese had published articles that reported alleged abuse of power and corruption by public