<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID\x3d10174147\x26blogName\x3dServing+Sri+Lanka\x26publishMode\x3dPUBLISH_MODE_BLOGSPOT\x26navbarType\x3dBLUE\x26layoutType\x3dCLASSIC\x26searchRoot\x3dhttps://servesrilanka.blogspot.com/search\x26blogLocale\x3den_US\x26v\x3d2\x26homepageUrl\x3dhttp://servesrilanka.blogspot.com/\x26vt\x3d3249527941181140776', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script>
Serving Sri Lanka

This web log is a news and views blog. The primary aim is to provide an avenue for the expression and collection of ideas on sustainable, fair, and just, grassroot level development. Some of the topics that the blog will specifically address are: poverty reduction, rural development, educational issues, social empowerment, post-Tsunami relief and reconstruction, livelihood development, environmental conservation and bio-diversity. 

Friday, September 02, 2005

SRI LANKA: New report on tsunami coverage criticizes local media

Asia Media: 31/08/2005" A Transparency International report released today says local media outlets spread political party propaganda

By Arthur Rhodes, AsiaMedia Contributing Writer

The corruption watchdog Transparency International has released a report criticizing the Sri Lankan media's post-tsunami coverage. The forty-five-page study, called Post-Tsunami Media Coverage: The Sri Lankan Experience, was presented today at a press conference held at Colombo's Renuka Hotel.

"We wanted to know if the journalists in this country are reporting the news with an agenda," said J.C. Weliamuna, Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL). "The study found that the media in Sri Lanka, irrespective of policy differences, engages in propaganda for parties which they prefer."

Weliamuna provided a brief introduction before distributing the report. He said that he hoped that the document would help spark a dialogue amongst Sri Lanka's journalists about the priorities and practices of the nation's media.

"We think this can be an opportunity for the media in Sri Lanka to look at itself," said Weliamuna.

The report, which was intended to examine whether the media's coverage of the tsunami and its aftermath gave voice to affected people, was a study of 12 Sinhala, four Tamil, and seven English newspapers and their coverage of post-tsunami issues over a seven day period from Mar. 20 through Mar. 26. It also examined eight Sinhala radio stations and five Sinhala television stations over the same period.

To many of those involved with Sri Lankan media and media issues these findings will not come as a surprise. "These conclusions are not news," said Sasanka Perera, a professor of sociology at the University of Colombo. Perera, who teaches a course on contemporary media issues in Sri Lanka, said the bigger issue is the lack of an institutionalized media watchdog in Sri Lanka. He called on Transparency International, which normally focuses on issues of governmental corruption, to continue calling for media reform.


Post a Comment

« Home
Powered for Blogger by Blogger Templates