Last Friday, I was reading the Nepali Times and its Mediawatch column about journalists killed: five by the Maoists and six by the state. On Sunday, Samacharpatra reported the death of another journalist Khagendra Shrestha, editor of Dharan Today. He had been shot by unknown assailants. He could have been murdered by someone acting on behalf of the state or the Maoists but the killing of journalists will never kill journalism in Nepal. One dies, another will be born. It may have made the bloody thirsty assassins happy but it will not kill the spirit of journalism. For the last several years, journalists have been victims of both the state and the Maoists. Neither have been able to face the truth exposed by the media. Shrestha's assassins must have assumed that his murder helped them but such an act of cowardice will never help these brainless killers. It is likely that many Nepalis may not have heard or read about Shrestha but his name will be recorded in the history of Nepali journalism. He paid the ultimate price for press freedom.