The Post’s response to Michael Kobold’s statement on Facebook
The Kathmandu Post would like to respond to Mr. Michael Kobold’s recent posts on Facebook and Instagram that call attention to the Post’s reporting and accuse its editors of being corrupt.
The Kathmandu Post would like to respond to Mr. Michael Kobold’s recent posts on Facebook and Instagram that call attention to the Post’s reporting and accuse its editors of being corrupt.
In his series of posts, Mr. Kobold conveniently avoids responding to any of the questions about his fundraising methods and his treatment of several businesses and entrepreneurs during the course of his stay in Nepal, while he has continued to raise money to bring fire trucks to the country. Instead, he accuses the Post’s reporting of disregarding the fact that Nepal’s fire trucks are in dire state. The story the Post reported is not about the state of Kathmandu’s fire engine service, but about how Mr. Kobold, in the name of bringing fire trucks to Nepal, has lied and exaggerated to government officials while the fire truck expedition continues to get delayed.
Mr. Kobold accuses Kathmandu Post’s editors of asking for money to cover his fire truck expedition. That’s wholly inaccurate. In fact, Mr. Kobold’s team approached the Post requesting media promotion for his fire truck expedition on November 20, 2017, and the Post’s features department did not provide any coverage. However, in the last year, the Post has written more than once about Mr. Kobold’s campaign based on press releases provided by his team to other members of the newsroom.
Mr. Kobold had also approached Kantipur Media Group, offering an exclusive for his documentary—yet to be produced—on Kantipur Television, in return for money. Kantipur did not sign any deals with Mr. Kobold.
Finally, Mr. Kobold presents himself as a public figure, and his Facebook profile and posts are both available to the public. We used the image set by Mr. Kobold as his profile picture in the Kathmandu Post’s front page story with credit to his Facebook page, something that is widely practised for individuals with a public profile.
We continue to welcome Mr. Kobold’s views in the Post, should he choose to discuss why the fire trucks have been delayed or respond to any of the allegations, including his treatment of the Sherpas, the documentary filmmaker and local business owners—all of whom remain unpaid for their services by Mr. Kobold.
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