We recently launched so if you see any technical glitches please email us at: [email protected]
About Us
An all-volunteer run news portal, www.bhutannewsservice.org is a subsidiary of Bhutan Media Society (BMS), a non-profit entity based in the United States with 501(c)(3) tax exemption status. This news site was informally founded in 2004 by a small group of Bhutanese refugee youths, then residing in refugee camps in Nepal after the expulsion of their families from Bhutan. They believed that journalism was a noble means by which to keep the community informed & continue to advocate for refugees and their issues.
For the last 16 years, the site remained active, with sporadic breaks, disseminating mainly the current news reports gathered by its volunteer correspondents from within the community. However, over and over again we continued to struggle to keep our platform relevant and to evolve with the demands of the changing times. With this in mind, over the past year, we were involved in a series of long, hard conversations. We grappled with some of the most pressing issues that have pegged our advancement. We evaluated virtually all options available, including dissolving this platform altogether. However, time and again, we reached the same conclusion: our work is important, and we must continue to be a voice for our people. But more importantly, our readers wanted to see us back again and we felt obliged to listen to them.
With this common understanding, on October 1, 2020 this portal relaunched again, this time with a whole set of new faces and new ideas. We’ve shifted our focus from predominantly covering community news to covering more contemporary issues that the Bhutanese Diaspora is facing. Armed with fresh ideas and expertise of young Bhutanse talents, our focus will be to incorporate both the past and the present challenges of our people, and to give them a common platform to channel their stories, ideas, and perspectives. Our people have stories to tell, and here at Bhutan News Service, we take it as our responsibility to open a space for them to do so. We hope to tap in to the rich history that our elders carry, and blend that with the voices, talents, and work ethics of our younger generations in order to provide a medium for the Bhutanse Diaspora from all over the world to engage and interact with. We take immense pride in our work, and we thank our readers for giving us this opportunity to serve them. We value their inputs and we welcome them as well. Please continue to write to us and let us know how we are doing and how we could do better.
Last updated: Oct 1, 2020.
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Our Team
Meet our wonderful group of dedicated volunteers
Leadership
TP Mishra
Executive EditorA father, husband, public speaker, and a freelancer, Mr. Mishra returns to this news portal as the Executive Editor after he had served in the same capacity for nearly three years
Hem Rizal
Managing EditorHem Rizal is a former high school teacher and college adjunct who taught mathematics on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota from 2016-20.
Section Editors
Arati Chapagai
Blog/Social MediaArati Chapagai is a second-year student at Ohio State University majoring in Criminology on a pre-law track. She aspires to be a criminal lawyer in the future but apart from that, she is determined to be an active leader with the Bhutanese Community.
Sanjay Gurung
Blog/Social MediaSanjay Gurung is a diligent scholar, who recently graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor’s of Science in Athletic Training. He is a former Nepali speaking Bhutanese refugee who resettled in the United States in the summer of 2008.
Susanna Pradhan
Faces of BhutanMs. Susanna Pradhan is a senior Anthropology and Global Studies major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Although she came to the US at a young age, she strongly identifies with her Lhotshampa (Bhutanese-Nepali) community.
Biraj Adhikari
MultimediaBorn as a Bhutanese-Nepali refugee in south east Nepal, Mr. Adhikari is a vibrant young American who rejoices in learning, teaching, and working with new technologies while serving the community
Muna Bhandari
Health & FitnessBorn in Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal and raised in several parts of Nepal, Muna Bhandari has always felt attached to and compelled by the problems of the world. The stories of disparities and inequalities
Dhaka Timsina
Community NewsMr. Dhaka Timsina was born in Bhutan. He started pre-school in Bhutan but had to leave the country along with other 100,000 Nepali speaking southern Bhutanese to be a refugee in Nepal at a very young age.
Editorial Assistant
Tika Sapkota
Editorial AssistantA Software Engineer and an information technology enthusiast, Tika Sapkota is a former Bhutanese refugee and a former high school teacher who brings experience and expertise in wide range of areas.
Contributing Editors
Buddha Mani Dhakal
Contributing EditorDhakal left Bhutan in quest of higher education after the 1990 pro-democratic movement, as he could not return to Samchi for completing his ICSE exams. So, he pursued higher education in Nepal after being a refugee under DAFI Scholarship.
Rup Narayan Pokhrel
Contributing EditorMr. Pokhrel is one of the founding executive members and vice chair of Bhutan Press Union (BPU) and founding member of Bhutaneseliterature.com, one of the much browsed literary sites of Bhutanese across the globe.
Columnists
RP Subba
ColumnistMr. Subba was born in Chargharey block, under Samchi district. He attended Yanchenphug Central School and graduated from Sherubtse College, Kanglung Bhutan. A founder member of the Students’ union of Bhutan, Mr. Subba was involved in the movement for human rights and democracy
Media Consultancy
David Brewer
Consultant, Advisor & TrainerDavid Brewer is a journalist with more than 40 years experience as a reporter, news editor, editor, and manager in print, radio, TV, and online. Since 2002 he has been involved in international media development in areas where the media is still evolving.
Lisa Napoli
Consultant & AdvisorLisa is most proud of her work as the founding board chair of the Bhutan Media Society, which produces the all-volunteer Bhutan News Service, begun by Bhutanese refugees back in the camps in Nepal and continued now in diaspora.
John Bottomley
Guest EditorJohn spent more than four decades gaining considerable all-round experience in the busy world of traditional newspaper journalism. He is a determined advocate of preserving the values of quality reporting...