Nepal, Oct. 14 -- Before the internet democratised access to news outlets from around the world, Nepal rarely appeared in foreign press. Until the early 1990s, the little Nepalis could read about their country in international media was limited mostly to Indian publications and magazines that circulated in Nepal, primarily Time, Newsweek, Asiaweek, Far Eastern Economic Review and The Economist.

One only read about newspapers like The New York Times or The Guardian, not actually read them. In fact, the only words from British or American outlets we had access to were the review blurbs in books, with citations from country-specific newspapers and magazines the books were published in. The advent of email and the growing availability of new...