Archive for the ‘Media and Communications’

An appeal to support Kumbi Kathawa (Ant Story): A Dance Drama

Kumbi Kathawa (Ant Story) was conceived by Anjalika, Chitrasena and Vajira’s daughter. She was inspired by a Russian children’s story. The ballet is choreographed and directed by Anjalika and Mahesh, who has also designed the amazing costumes and stage sets. As with any production from the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, this ballet has been in development for many years, and has been carefully nurtured to reach a level of excellence, in keeping with the standards of the Kalayathanaya. Our total budget for the production is around Rs. 3 million. It is a cost that we cannot cover on our own. The tepid response from those we have approached thus far for funding has left us in a very difficult position since we are far short of what we require. We require your help. An overview of the many ways in which you can support us with your generosity is available through a Powerpoint presentation that can be viewed online and downloaded. Kumbi…

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The Publicity Baby

Abilash Jeyarajah looks like any other ordinary toddler, living with his family in a small village near Kalmunai in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka. But life was not so ordinary for him a little over two years ago, when the tsunami literally swept him into the limelight. At that time, Abilash was more widely known as Baby 81, the famous four month old who was torn from his mother’s arms when the tsunami struck and was later found among the debris and wreckage. He was brought to Kalmunai Hospital and as his identity was unknown and he was the 81st person to be admitted, he became known as Baby 81. In the weeks following the disaster, many were still trying to trace their friends and relatives. Parents who couldn’t find their children searched high and low in hospitals and welfare centers in desperation. Several showed interest in Abilash and one other person made a claim for the baby. But…

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Mahinda – Better than G.W Bush ?

Photo credit: Al-Jazeera A friend recently forwarded me this story – an interview featuring the Sri Lankan President on Al Jazeera. I am slightly confused by it – and thought it would be useful to get some local interpretations… Click here for original source The following is a transcript of an interview between Al Jazeera’s 101 East presenter Teymoor Nabili and Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka: Teymoor Nabili: Mr President, the Tamil Tigers launched their first attack against your government and against the Sri Lankan people only weeks after you came to power. Why do you think it was, that after so long of adhering to the peace plan, they suddenly decided to start attacking again? President Mahinda Rajapaksa: They would have thought it was a weakness of mine, that I could be defeated. That was a good opportunity for them to establish a separate state. They would have believed that. Is it possible that for Prabhakaran, war…

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After the dragon has been slain

The Dragon, a drama written by the late Russian playwright Eugene Schwartz, is a modern day political fairytale. It tells the story of Lancelot, who on his quest to slay the dragon, stumbles upon a community governed by a hierarchy of bureaucratic clowns who are using the dragon to cover up their own desire for power. Sound familiar? It’s unlikely to be coincidental that the Sri Lankan Janakaraliya group of dramatists chose this piece as one of the adaptations that were performed when they took to the stage in Colombo, after two years of touring more remote areas of the island. In the same way that Schwartz himself demonstrated the repression, militarism, racism and brutality of his homeland under Stalin’s regime from the 1930s to 1950s, modern adaptations may be able to subtly highlight the same issues that continue to plague other parts of the world more than fifty years later. Fairytales, in a sense, are timeless in that they…

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Lisa Kois’s film The Art of Forgetting – A Review

During this year’s Vesak week in Sri Lanka, Buddhists celebrated the birth, life and death of their Lord. Principles were recalled: that it is a bad thing to drink alcohol, to eat meat or fish, to commit any crime against living beings. However, there were no messages about the protection of human life, or references to the principle of ahimsa for people; revealing a curious absence of concern or interest in the humanitarian disaster raging in the country. The last few months of undeclared war in the North and East have generated 300,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and, according to reports by human rights organisations, more than 4,000 people have been abducted and killed; while in the South families receive the bodies of their dead soldiers. These figures are escalating daily. There is no Vesak message for these people, a strange anomaly for this aggressively Buddhist state and predominantly Buddhist society. Considering this Vesak ceremony of denial, it is sobering…

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The brutality of our times: After the Delgoda massacre

The recent massacre of a family in Delgoda gripped the attention of the media recently. Reports today indicate that several houses of those suspected to be behind the massacre were torched by the local community. I link this senseless violence and brutality to society that is no longer moved by these events. Sensationalism aside, do we really care? The Delgoda incident, the numbers of those killed in the battlefield, criminals shot by the Police, those abducted and murdered by persons unknown – we seem to be drawn to the events themselves, but are unable to see the clear erosion of a larger humanity. All this, I argue, at a time when religious fervour is at unprecedented heights. This is a sombre reflection, that I toiled on for hours this morning – because it is difficult to really capture the loss of a humane, civil society and what it is today – a traumatised society where we are all aggressors, and…

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Pressing for change

The general consensus at this year’s World Press Freedom Day celebrations was that there was, in fact, very little to celebrate. Instead, it was brought home once again how reporters, journalists and media personnel in this country continue to be assassinated and abducted and how not only individuals, but entire institutions are subjected to intimidation far too frequently. Four days before World Press Freedom Day 2007, at a time when journalists should have been reflecting upon achievements of the past year, Selvarajah Rajivarman, a journalist who joined the Jaffna based Uthayan newspaper four months ago as a reporter, was ruthlessly gunned down in the street. He had previously worked for Nawadu Eelanadu, which had to be closed down after its Editor in Chief, Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, was shot dead in August last year. Media freedom is a concept which goes far beyond simply opening one’s mouth to speak, but refers to the structures making up an industry that provides a platform…

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Darfur vs. Sri Lanka

Click here for a larger version. Graphed from data on Reuters Alertnet, the chart above covers the period from 21.9.2006 to 10.5.2007. It’s an wretched contest to be in, but over the past couple of months, reportage on Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crises have on several occasions overshadowed that of Darfur. What does this war mean to the people behind the statistics? I graphed this after chancing upon an old Groundviews post of mine, Maps of Shame.

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Right to Information and Good Governance: Linkages and Challenges

“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and … the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” – UN General Assembly Resolution 59(I), 1946 – In this article I explore the symbiotic relationship between good governance, democracy and the Right to Information. The Right to Information is, I argue, a fundamental tenet of democracy. Across the world, the public is demanding more information from the government to understand the reasoning behind its policymaking and decisions taken on their behalf. Governments are lagging behind in providing this information. Recognising that a culture of withholding information leads to corruption and all manner of other malpractices that undermine democratic governance, I make the case for the Right to Information in Sri Lanka as well. While recognising the need for an overarching legislative framework to facilitate the Right to Information, I end with the point that at the end of the day, with or without such laws, the…

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Protecting the spectrum for media freedom

Nalaka Gunawardene is a science writer and media watcher. He writes a blog on media and society. This article is adapted and expanded from the author’s panel remarks made during the OUR Media 6 international conference held in Sydney, Australia, from 9 to 13 April 2007 and was first published on Media Helping Media. On May 3, the annual World Press Freedom Day will once again be observed worldwide, focusing public attention on a multitude of threats to freedom of expression through the mass media. But amidst the extremely relevant and necessary slogans, we are unlikely to hear this slogan: Hands off our spectrum. Yet saving our spectrum is critical for ensuring media freedom. The electro-magnetic spectrum has been called the ‘invisible wealth of nations’, and all broadcasting using the airwaves relies on the fair, equitable and sound management of this common property resource. And as economic and cultural practices move more and more into the digital realm, the spectrum’s…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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