Journalist

Dinesh Wagle is a journalist currently associated with Kantipur, the flagship daily newspaper from Kantipur Publications. He is currently based in Kathmandu. His most recent posting was at the paper’s New Delhi bureau (from Nov 2008 to Feb 2011).

Before joining this newspaper in late 2004 he was a reporter with Nepal magazine from the same publishing group. The weekly magazine was a Fortnightly when he joined it in mid 2000. Dinesh also worked at two other weekly newspapers in Kathmandu before joining Nepal.

Dinesh never planned to become or thought about being a journalist before he chose journalism as one of the majors in RR College. He, for some unknown reasons- probably as a fashion, wanted to study Science. Like many youths he also wanted to be a doctor or an engineer. He even took a preparatory course for engineering before actually seeing his School Leaving Certificate (10th grade) result. The result (65 percent) was average but the marks he got in an entrance exam for Science course were not enough to get his into the Biology department of Tri Chandra College. However, the SLC percentage was more than enough for him to get in to R R College. Four of his school buddies- Anjan Dhakal, Diwakar Aryal, Raju Raut, and Ujjwal Acharya- also went to RR.

Now, because one of his major subjects was Journalism, Dinesh started buying and reading at least one newspaper, mostly weeklies, daily. His passion for journalism slowly got ignited. After the very first year in the college, he was thinking of writing something for newspaper.

No Teacher, Be a Reporter
After finishing the two-year Proficiency Certificate Level (post-SLC) Dinesh wanted to work in a newspaper. He went to at least two weekly papers to try his luck. An editor with Asanbazar Weekly was interested.  Dinesh filed at least two articles for the weekly. Soon he lost interest in the weekly paper. In December 1997 Dinesh went to a Kathmandu Boarding School to teach kids. With all respect to teachers, Dinesh says, he hated the job.

That is why he terminated his good friendship with wonderful kids in a month to start, with new spirit of the new year of 1998, his career as a journalist with Tarun weekly newspaper. A month as a trainee reporter was sufficient for editors at Tarun test Dinesh’s ability and hire him as a staff reporter.

Changing the Paper
In the mid of 1999, Dinesh changed his office. He went to work for Saptahik Bimarsha, a prominent weekly newspaper from Kathmandu. There he mostly reported on, well, everything, from politics to crime, corruption to development. He also ran a business column for the newspaper, though, he didn’t consider himself a business reporter. While working as a staff reporter at Bimarsha Dinesh interned at the Kathmandu Post for three months beginning from January 2000. The internship was part of his bachelor’s degree course.

Reporter Becomes Editor
Dinesh briefly edited a monthly magazine called Pardeshi in 2001 while he was working as a reporter at Nepal magazine. Pardeshi circulated primarily in Hong Kong. He discontinued the editorship which lasted for about four months because he found it difficult to work in two magazines at the same time.

At Nepal magazine
In mid 2000, Dinesh left Bimarsha to join Nepal, a Sunday magazine by Kantipur Publications. He worked there until late 2004 when he switched to the Kantipur daily, from the same publishing house. At Nepal, Dinesh wrote on various social topics including, mainly, Information Technology. He was recognized as best “IT Journalist [writing in] Nepali” by Computer Association of Nepal in 2003. In February 2003, Dinesh was awarded the “best reporter of the year” for his “outstanding performance” at Nepal by its publisher Kantipur Publications. The magazine is available on the web at eKantipur.

Dinesh Loves His Job
Writing is his passion. Journalism is what Dinesh loves the most. He enjoys his job as a journalist. Journalists work at odd hours and they have their own ’style’ of functioning. The job requires a lot of mental engagement which is not bound by time (office hours) . Says Dinesh: “You may not be in the office physically, but, as my experience suggests, you are almost always mentally involved in your current or the next story.” His father always wanted Dinesh to join the government service for which Dinesh has no particular fascination.