On February 1, 2005, Nepalese ruler King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's standing government, assumed absolute power over the country and declared a state of emergency. Communications -- telephone, Internet, radio and television -- were all cut off. Contact was restored days later, but the new royal government issued a Royal Proclamation that placed restrictions on the press and served as a warning to journalists who dared to challenge the authority of the King.

Dinesh Wagle's blog was one of the few Nepalese sources of news that was defying the proclamation. A March, 2005 Reuters article cited United We Blog! as a pioneer in Nepal's alternative media landscape. Wagle, a reporter for Nepal's largest daily newspaper, Kantipur Daily, says he blogs to evade censorship in Nepal following the coup more than one year ago.

The state of emergency was finally lifted on April 30, 2005, but the independent media in Nepal remains in a state of anxiety and continues to live in fear of the government.

Wagle will discuss the dangers and difficulties of being a reporter in a nation where journalists continue to face threats from Maoist insurgents as well as their own government. He will talk about how blogging has provided him and his colleagues a medium in which to tell Nepal's stories to the world.

More information about the coup in Nepal can be found in our special section, Absolute Power and the Press in Nepal, which includes a feature about how blogs got the news out in the face of an information meltdown as well as some of Wagle's own contributions to AsiaMedia.

RSVP is appreciated, but not required, to Vincent Lim at vlim.asiamedia@gmail.com.

Additional sponsorship by the UCLA International Institute. (Photo by Dinesh Wagle)