Kuensel Information

Kuensel is the oldest newspaper in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Until 2006, Kuensel was the only print medium in the country. Due to the history of its origins, the newspaper is considered close to the government. Kuensel, which roughly means clarity or accuracy, was founded in 1965 as an internal government bulletin. The oldest documented edition is that of June 15, 1967. [1] In 1974 a printing press was imported from India and installed in Thimphu. Kuensel was initially published in English, but soon an issue of the newsletter in Dzongkha followed, which was printed with Dzongkha block letters specially designed for this purpose. In 1986, the Kuensel government bulletin was converted into Bhutan's first and at that time only newspaper published weekly by the Ministry of Communications' Department of Information. In 1988 Kuensel had a total print run of 12,500 and was published in Dzongkha, Nepali and English. The Nepalese voice output was discontinued after the conflict over the deportation of members of the Nepalese minority ( Lhotshampas ). [2] By royal decree, the integration was resolved in 1992 with the government and Kuenseltransferred to an independent company in order to create the conditions for the development of professional media. In 1998 state financial support ran out. Since then, Kuensel has supported itself through print jobs and income from advertising. On April 18, 2001, Kuensel Online was launched as the first online newspaper in Bhutan. Kuensel Online operates an internet forum with more than 100,000 participants. This platform enables the Bhutanese to discuss important aspects of social change in Bhutan. In addition to the central production facility in Thimphu, Kuensel set up another printing plant in eastern Bhutan in 2005 to ensure daily delivery and availability of the newspaper far from the capital. In addition to its headquarters in the capital Thimphu, Kuensel has correspondent offices in 8 districts.