Kuensel

Kuensel is the national newspaper of Bhutan. It was the only local newspaper available in Bhutan until 2006 when two more newspapers were launched. The government of Bhutan owns 51 percent of Kuensel while 49 percent is held by the public.

History

Kuensel (which loosely means clarity) was founded in 1967 as an internal government bulletin. In 1974 a press machine was bought from India and installed in Thimphu. Soon Dzongkha letter blocks were prepared by Japanese technicians and the bulletin was published in Dzongkha as well.

In 1986 it was reformatted and published weekly as Bhutan's only newspaper by the Ministry of Communications' Department of Information.

Kinley Dorji, who graduated from Columbia University, New York with a master's degree in journalism, served as editor of Kuensel, and later as both editor-in-chief and managing director, between 1986 and 2009.

Kuensel had a total circulation in 1988 of 12,500 and was published in Dzongkha, Nepali, and English.

In 1992, a royal edict de-linked Kuensel from the government and made it an autonomous corporation to allow for the professional growth of the media. It stopped receiving government subsidy in 1998. Today, the newspaper is subsidized by commercial printing and advertisements.