In September 2025, Nepal witnessed a wave of large-scale anti-corruption protests and demonstrations, spearheaded by Generation Z students and young citizens. The nationwide movement culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli on September 9.
Join us live from Kathmandu on October 8 at 8:00 PM HKT (8:00 AM EST) for a special online session exploring the latest developments in the world’s first country to elect an interim Prime Minister via Discord.
Hear firsthand from AAJA-Asia’s Nepal Subchapter members — journalists Paavan Mathema, Prabesh Subedi, and Rajneesh Bhandari — as they share what it’s like to live through and report on a revolution in real time.
This session will offer a ground-level view of how the crisis in Nepal is unfolding and what it means for the country’s democratic future. We’ll also examine how local journalists are navigating the challenges of covering a fast-moving story for both domestic and international audiences.
The session will be moderated by Eric Wishart, Standards and Ethics Editor at AFP.
Register here to attend this free online session.
EVENT’S DETAILS
- Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025
- Time: 20:00 to 21:00 HKT / SGT ( 17:45 to 18:45 Kathmandu time / 8:00 to 9:00 am EST)
- Venue: Online (registered participants will receive a link by email)
SPEAKERS
Rajneesh Bhandari is the founder and chief editor of NIMJN. He leads investigations and training at NIMJN. Rajneesh is an award-winning and experienced multimedia journalist, investigative reporter, filmmaker, and educator who has worked with major news outlets around the world. His multimedia work on different issues have appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, Aljazeera, AJ+, BBC Reel, Contrast VR, NPR, and other outlets. He has reported extensively on Nepal’s social political issues, including the 2006 April movement and 2025 GenZ uprising for Nepali and international media amongst many other important events.
Paavan Mathema is the Bureau Chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Kathmandu. A multimedia journalist with more than a decade of experience, she reports on a range of issues including politics, climate change, human rights, and natural disasters. She oversaw AFP’s coverage of the Gen Z protests and continues to track their ongoing developments.
Prabesh Subedi is a freelance journalist and policy analyst based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He is the Founder of the Digital Media Foundation and brings over two decades of experience in print, broadcast, and online journalism. His expertise spans digital technologies, telecommunications, and Nepal’s contemporary political and socio-economic affairs.
MODERATOR
Eric Wishart is the Standards and Ethics Editor and former editor-in-chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP). He lectures in journalism at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University, and is a member of several professional standards and ethics committees. Wishart was the first non-French editor-in-chief in AFP’s history, has judged the Hong Kong News Awards and SOPA Awards, and served as president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong. He regularly speaks at international conferences on media ethics, AI, combating misinformation, and restoring public trust in the media.
Register here
About AAJA-Asia
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a nonprofit educational and professional organization with more than 1,500 members across the U.S. and Asia. The Asia chapter of AAJA represents members across the Asia-Pacific region. It is a diverse, multi-ethnic community of local and international journalists and media professionals committed to supporting a vibrant press in the Asia-Pacific region. It is committed to advance news diversity in Asia, foster the next generation of journalists, empower journalists from underrepresented communities, strengthen trust in quality journalism and contribute to building more democratic and harmonious societies through fair representation in Asia news.