State of Media in Bhutan

Bhutan is a small Land lock country in South Asia Asia that had a population of about 6, 97,000. Bhutan is a monarchy, run by a King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang-chuk has been the king of Bhutan. His slogan is that Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.
Bhutan used to be one of the most isolated nations in the world. Journalism was fairly small-scale and new to Bhutan. In sector of communication development Internet, Mobile phone, Cable, Television and Radio Fm have increasingly modernized the urban areas. Bhutan has balanced modernization with its ancient culture and traditions under the guidance philosophy of Gross National Happiness. The Government played great role to preserve the nation’s traditional culture, identity and the environment. In 2006, Business Week Magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in the Asia and the eighth happiest country in the world.
Bhutan’s early history is unclear, because most of the records were destroyed in 1827 due to fire.
There were only one newspaper, one radio station, one television station, and one Internet provider, Druknet, which was started in 1999. The government monitored this enterprise closely to preserve culture and tradition, and restricted freedom of speech and the press. Bhutan had only regular publication is Kuensel , a weekly newspaper that is published and controlled by the government. Its circulation is about 10,000, and editions are published in Dzongkha, English, and Nepali languages. An online version of the newspaper was introduced in 1999.
Journalism
The Kuensel, a newspaper of a government-owned corporation, circulates six days a week in Dzongkha, and English. Beginning in April 2006, it competes with The Bhutan Times, Bhutan's first government-authorized privately owned newspaper. In late 2006, another private newspaper, The Bhutan Observer began publication. The Bhutan Today, an English daily newspaper launched in October 2008 is the latest private media enterprise.
People working in media in Bhutan receive short term journalism training from Britain, Netherlands, India and Singapore.


Radio and television
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service was established in 1973 as a radio service, broadcasting in short wave nationally, and on the FM band in Thimphu. In 1997 it was estimated that there were about 37,000 radios in Bhutan. Bhutan's one radio station includes one short-wave program and one daily FM broadcast from Thimphu, the national capital.
In 1989, the Bhutan government banned reception of all private television and ordered to break off satellite dishes and antennas. It introduced a local television service through the Bhutan Broadcasting Service. The service started television broadcasts in 1999, making Bhutan the last country in the world to introduce television. In 1999 it was estimated that more than 11,000 television sets were being used in Bhutan. As part of the King's modernization program, cable television was introduced later. By 2002, however, the crime rate had increased appreciably, and the introduction of cable television is responsible for the information against crime. In early 2002, the daily programming consisted of about four hours of programs with half of it in Dzongkha and the other half in English. The programs consisted of imported programs from other countries, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation and Doordarshan (India).

Electronic media
Bhutan has about 15,000 Internet users, 25,200 landline subscribers, and 23,000 mobile phone subscribers.
Film
Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche is a well-known filmmaker, who produced and directed The Cup as well as Travellers and Magicians. While The Cup was shot in a Tibetan monastery in northern India, Travellers and Magicians was the first feature film to be filmed completely in Bhutan. No professional actors were used in either film.
Bhutan is a traditional country that is slowly modernizing but resists Western influences. After centuries of direct monarchic rule, Bhutan held its first democratic election in March 2008.
The media is now a way of life for most Bhutanese although access to media and the interests vary between the rural and urban population, the rich and poor, the old and young.
The MIS (media impact society) concluded that television, particularly international channels, had the strongest impact on urban society, especially on the youth population. Radio has been the main influence on the rural population and the print media reached the literate and policy makers.
Decentralization has been the theme for development in Bhutan and the government is making an effort to distribute information by setting up websites and linking databases and information systems through the Internet. The Bhutan Power Corporation and Bhutan Telecom subsidies power and telecom infrastructure in the rural parts of the country and the Ministry of Information has identified e-governance as a priority.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan
http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/media/peacock.html
http://www.pressreference.com