नेपालमाला
१३ माघ २०८१, आईतवार 
It has been a long time since Beat journalism started in Nepal. Especially after the publication of daily newspapers started in the private sector, Beat journalism also started. Those who report continuously in the field of sports are called sports ‘Beat’. Experts have been saying that under Beat thematic journalism has a special edge in thematic knowledge and skills as well as specific facts, references and information flow. As well of this, one of the thematic subjects is sports journalism. In recent times, the young generation has shown great interest in sports journalism. Especially with the popularity of sports such as football and cricket, the interest of the young generation in sports journalism is also increasing.
Recently, with the interest and arrival of the young generation, sports journalism has also been established as a powerful and essential genre. Bishnu Thapa is an active journalist in sports journalism for the past two and a half decades. He started journalism from the year of 2000 and from the beginning he embraced the sports genre. ‘My journalistic journey has been started from the weekly Punarjagaran (renaissance). Before that, I worked sporadically in some newspapers, but spent a long time in that newspaper. The editor-in-chief and publisher of the newspaper, Mathbar Singh Basnet, used to say that if someone kept using a pen on a Beat, it would be easier to work in a daily newspaper later. According to that, I have been playing various sports since my childhood and I started writing about sports because I was interested in it, says Thapa, ‘As he said, later when I worked in a daily newspaper, it became very easy. Not became difficult to work.
As per the advice of Mathbar Singh, he regularly wrote a column on sports during the Punarjagaran (renaissance) and also used his pen in other genres. His journalistic journey, which started with the Punarjagaran (renaissance), continues in various weekly, fortnightly, monthly and online newspapers. Bishnu worked as the Sports Bureau Chief at Commander Post Daily for almost seven years. His journey from Commander Post was added to another daily newspaper, Annapurna Post. A senior journalist of Annapurna Post, he worked by sitting at the desk while reporting various sports. He has been working as Sports Bureau Chief in Annapurna Post National Daily for the past five years.
Reporting of various competitions
Bishnu has also reported on major international competitions along with various competitions held in the country. He has reported many editions of national sports competitions which are considered the Kumbha Mela (Big competition) of domestic competitions. Since the 5th National Sports Competition, he has done field reporting of the 9th National Sports Competition. Similarly, he has the experience of reporting many international competitions including the 13th South Asian Games held in Nepal.
Along with the national and international competitions organized in the country, Bishnu has also reported on the mega sports events held in different countries. He has participated in Delhi State Wheelchair and Basketball Championship held in India, First Khum Khmer Maeythai World Championship held in Cambodia, Invitational Football Tournament held in Malaysia, Fujrah Open Taekwondo Championship held in Fujarah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China and he has reported on major tournaments such as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held in West Indies and America.
He says that there are many differences between foreign competitions and Nepalese competitions. ‘The most important thing is that we have lack of sports infrastructure. If the infrastructure is not good, no matter how many frills, the competition fades. The lack of infrastructure is due to the government’s failure to understand the importance of sports, he says, along with sports leaders, leaders of political parties are traveling abroad on the pretext of international competitions like the South Asian Games, Asian Games and Olympics. However, foreign sports structures remain silent about our structures. They don’t raise their voice anywhere. Even after coming to power, they do not work in the interest of sports. And where does the sport develop?’
How he became sports journalists ?
Bishnu’s father was an employee of the country’s largest and oldest Tribhuvan University (T.U.). Therefore, although he was born in Chitlang, Makwanpur, he grew up in the Tribhuvan University periphery. His family lived in the quarter of T.U. There was a basketball court near the quarter. Most of his time was spent on that basketball court. At that time, basketball was very popular in Kirtipur. Basketball gained popularity because of the courts of the university. Apart from basketball, he also played cricket, football, volleyball and other games continuously. Bishnu did his school level studies at Mangal Secondary School in Kirtipur. Various sports competitions were conducted in that school. Sports like Kabaddi, Khokho, Athletics were very popular in the school. Physical education was included as an extra subject in the school. That is why he got theoretical and practical knowledge about many sports at the school time.
After completing his SLC, he went to Ratnarajya Lakshmi Campus in Exhibition Marg for his higher education studies. He studied journalism and mass communication from the proficiency level. After completing his master’s degree in the same subject, he started sports journalism with the theoretical knowledge of sports he had acquired at school level. He says that sports journalism is different and difficult from other genres. In sports journalism, one should not only understand the game and its rules, but should also have knowledge about ‘sports politics’. He points out that although there has been an increase in the number of journalists who report on sports such as football and cricket, there is still a shortage of journalists who can write about ‘sports politics’.
