Archive for the ‘Media and Communications’

Julian Assange’s turn for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011

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Photo courtesy Wired A week or so ago, a veteran editor cum journalist in a conversation on conflict and peace said, his choice for the next peace prize is Julian Assange. Agreed. But what qualifies a person for the Nobel Prize for Peace ? Alfred Nobel said it must be awarded to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses” in his last will left dated, 27th November, 1895. Nominations for this most prestigious world prize for peace, from among 300 other prizes awarded around the world, is drawing to a close on 01st February, 2011. The question is, can Julian Assange of WikiLeaks be nominated and is he qualified for nominations? With Liu Xiaobo of China awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace this 2010 year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has, from the first Nobel Peace Prize…

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On Anthems and the State of the Union

I have been stirred and moved even to tears by both the Tamil and Sinhala versions of the Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,anthem. I think I owe this emotional tie to birth on the island, to school on the island, to my first toffees and cricket matches on the island. I wonder now how a new boy born today in this same, yet- not- the same, Sri Lanka will feel, denied the comfort of hearing his mother tongue at the award ceremony, the annual Shakespeare recital, the spelling bee. I find myself a bit blasé contradicting the noted historical wisdom of the ministers who passed the recent decree. They said there are no countries which sing their anthems in more than one language. Of course, that is not true. Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, South Africa, even the United Kingdom which brings together different nations with their particular anthems, come to mind. But I wonder why a country that has celebrated its…

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Excellence in exile

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Battered and bleeding, journalist Poddala Jayantha lay on his hospital bed when we visited him on June 2, 2009. He was lucky to be alive after being brutally assaulted by a group of unidentified assailants just the previous day. This was a terrible time for the Sri Lankan media.  Personally, I was struggling to recover from the shock of losing my former editor Lasantha Wickrematunge to the tyranny of the powerful. I was not alone. It was shared grief in a year that recorded a series of violent acts against journalists and media workers. 2009 was annus horibilis for Sri Lankan journalism. Perhaps for clinical analysts, the attack on Poddala was simply one in a series, though a conspicuous one.  There was a difference. Wickrematunge’s life was simply snuffed out, J.S. Tissainayagam was arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) together with his colleagues.  The then Rivira Editor Upali Tennakoon was knifed and the then Editor of Sudaroli…

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Celebrating sexist, lewd live television in Sri Lanka

When I overhead someone talking about the dramatic finale of Swarnavahini’s Megastar reality show I wanted to know what had happened since I had seen a few episodes of this bizarre show – where arguments and insults that fly freely between the judges and contestants is as much the draw as the singing skills of participants. I checked to see what footage was available online and when browsing websites, and was horrified to come across a video of a comment by Minister Mervyn Silva about fellow MP and contestant Upeksha Swarnamali’s performance. Mervyn Silva expressly notes that he was so charmed by Upeksha’s attire he wished he was an infant and could be breastfed by her. The host of the show, Kamal Addararachchi, is seen to giggle at this outrageously derogatory comment. This, to be clear, is a programme broadcast live on public television. I’m not a fan of Upeksha’s, but I was embarrassed for her and offended. I won’t…

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A-Z of Sri Lankan English: F is for for

Before reading on, try this short test. Which of the following sentences do you consider to be grammatically correct? 1. They have over a thousand visitors for a month. 2. They get angry for the slightest thing. 3. Can you give this for Mohan? 4. We couldn’t sleep for the racket. 5. That was my third bath for the day. 6. I woke for the sound of the alarm. 7. He gave me a book for my birthday. 8. This area floods even for the slightest rain. 9. The A level exam has been put off for June. 10. They ripen quickly for the sun. Despite being couched in prescriptive terms (“grammatically correct”), there is no clearcut answer to the exercise. The sentences focus on the use of the preposition for. You will probably agree that no. 7 is correct, and that no. 3 is wrong (it should be: Can you give this to Mohan?). The others might cause more…

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The Media and the Future of Sri Lanka: Young Canadians’ Peace Dialogue on Sri Lanka

The co-editor of Groundviews Nigel Nugawela spoke recently at a progressive forum of young Canadian – Sri Lankans in Toronto on the role of media in post-war Sri Lanka, including the use of new media and ICTs. The discussion also featured, V.V. GANESHANANTHAN – Novelist (Love Marriage), Blogger and Journalist ARJUNA RANAWANA – News Manager, OMNI TV Alberta, Edmonton MARTIN REGG COHN – Deputy Editorial Page Editor, The Toronto Star Nigel’s presentation starts at around 38 minutes into the video. The event was part of a series of invitation-only events organised by the Mosaic Institute called “Peace Dialogue” for approximately 100 young, peace-focused members of the relevant sub-communities of Sri Lanka, all ages 18-30, presented in cooperation with the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre.

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From WikiLeaks to WikiLanka: War Is Definitely Savage Though “Accusations” Differ

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The latest WikiLeaks “dump” of around 400,000 US classified war reports on Iraq from 2003 to 2009, the biggest “war leaks” ever in US history, reveals how inhuman and savage the war is, never mind who conducts it and where. A few months ago in July this year, WikiLeaks’ first dump of over 90,000 US classified reports on the Afghan war, also revealed the insanity in waging war. With this second enormously huge “leak”, obviously, there is all round condemnation by the US administration, the US defence and intelligence agencies. Britain can not avoid tagging along with such condemnations, being openly accused of violations in Iraq, through these same “leaks”. The core message in all these “Super Power” condemnations of these “leaks” is pretty much the same. “A threat to national security and to their collaborators and partners in war”. That hyped “national security” is not that of Iraqis and the Afghans, but of the US, the Britain, NATO member…

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Securing Media Freedom in National Security States

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” Benjamin Franklin. “Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.” Marx As Sri Lanka transforms from a welfare into a “national security state,” we are witnessing the worst suppression of media freedom since the time of our independence. Nearly thirty journalists have been forced to abandon their work in the face of unrelenting harassment, or imprisoned, tortured, exiled, or killed. Those media personnel who, in the face of this attack, have responded by inventing creative ways to maintain the freedom of the press, deserve our respect for continuing to operate under tremendous risks and constraints. These stalwarts require our immediate assistance if we are to secure our media freedom and ensure that Sri Lanka be a place for meaningful citizen- and social-journalistic praxis. We must undergo a paradigm shift in the way we approach media freedoms: our efforts must stretch beyond the legal reforms that democratize…

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Political Satire in Sri Lanka: When Making Fun is No Laughing Matter

Book cover - Wimalege Colama

Review of Wimalege Colama (Wimale’s Column), a collection of satirical columns by Wimalanath Weeraratne Sinhala; 232 pp; Author publication; September 2010 Political satire is nothing new: it has been around for as long as organised government trying to keep the wielders of power in check. Over the centuries, it has manifested in many oral, literary or theatrical traditions, some of it more enduring — such as Gulliver’s Travels and Animal Farm. And for over a century, political cartoonists have also been doing it with such brilliant economy of words. Together, these two groups probably inspire more nightmares in tyrants than anyone or anything else. Today, political satire has also emerged as a genre on the airwaves and in cyberspace, and partly compensates for the worldwide decline in serious and investigative journalism. Many mainstream media outlets have become too submissive and subservient to political and corporate powers. Those who still have the guts often lack the resources and staff to pursue…

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Dementia in Sri Lanka: A conversation with Tami Tamitegama

Tami Tamitegama is the President of the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation. Dementia is a global and growing problem, and when juxtaposed with Sri Lanka’s ageing population, places demands on our healthcare system the country is ill-placed to meet, and hasn’t even planned for. This conversation was recorded a few days after World Alzheimer’s Day and touches on the social and health dimensions of dementia and the mindset change necessary to tackle it. Tami also talks in depth about active ageing, and how the aged can and must be fully active members of society. The WHO defines active ageing as the “continuing participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs, not just the ability to be physically active or to participate in the labour force.”

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LLRC: Submission by Manik de Silva, President of the Editors Guild

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Manik de Silva is the most senior and longest-serving Editor of an English newspaper in Sri Lanka. Presently the Editor of the Sunday Island, Manik was also a former Editor of the Daily News and is currently the President of the Editors Guild. Manik’s testimony to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on 13th September 2010 covers, inter alia, the nature of media censorship during the war, the deliberate targeting of independent journalists by both the Government and the LTTE, the problems arising from the lack of access to war zones by independent media and views on the media and the ceasefire agreement in general. This recording is best listened with headphones and is around 47 minutes long. Unsurprisingly, no State media in Sri Lanka gave any coverage to Manik’s condemnation of the war time censorship of media, or references to the retribution journalists faced if they reported in a manner perceived to be ‘unhelpful’ by the military. For…

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A-Z of Sri Lankan English: E is for Eelamist

The word Eelamist (as adjective or noun) refers to a person or organisation which supports the Tamil separatist cause in Sri Lanka. Like certain other -ist words (Zionist, Islamist, Loyalist), the word is loaded with political connotations – an article of faith for some, a term of abuse for others. But it is also used in serious political discourse, for example in these quotes from Groundviews: “Sri Lanka’s pressing security interest of neutralizing Eelamist activism abroad.” (from here) “If by ‘Tamil politicians’ Mr. Dayasiri is referring only to the Eelamist elements within the TNA,” (from here) “Groups supportive of the TGTE and Eelamist propaganda are getting increasingly vocal” (from here) I remember being surprised when I first saw a Tamil children’s alphabet book with a map of Sri Lanka labelled Eelam. But of course Eelam is the original Tamil word for the whole island, now referred to as Ilangei. Both words are derived from the same origin as the Sinhala…

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‘Learning Lessons’ from those affected by war: Does the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission really listen?

The most recent sessions of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) were held in the conflict affected North from 18 to 20 September, at which a large number of persons, particularly women, made representations. Of course one wouldn’t know it by reading the newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television. In what appears to be a complete information blackout, Sinhala and English language media, which gave considerable prominence to representations made by those appearing before the Commission in Colombo, such as Jayantha Dhanapala and Austin Fernando, were conspicuously silent when the LLRC held sittings in the area where the final battle between the Sri Lanka armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was fought. In contrast, the Tamil newspapers carried heart wrenching accounts of mostly women who had lost, in many cases, their entire families. According to Prof. G.L. Peiris, the Minister for External Affairs, the government established the LLRC ‘drawing upon the experience of…

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  • 16 Sep, 2010
  • 1 Comment
  • Colombo,
    Media and Communications

In conversation with Bijayini Satpathy, Director of the Odissi Gurukul at Nrityagram

Bijayini Satpathy is Director of the Odissi Gurukul at Nrityagram. This was an interview produced for and broadcast on TV in Sri Lanka, complementing the ½ hour interview I recorded and conducted for Groundviews in July 2009. Expanding on some of the issues we talked about a year ago, Bijayini shared her views on how she negotiates, through her dance and in the interpretation of the form, the contest between modernity and tradition, her life and work at Nrityagram and what makes the school so special. We also talk about the parallels between Indian and Sri Lankan dance forms in general and her association with the Chitrasena and Vajira Kalayathanaya.

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Protection from thought: The Economist and National Security in Sri Lanka

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In what may be explained as an utterly fatuous action in a country that apparently has no official policy on censorship – but is plagued by the arbitrary regulation and control of online content as well as print media – Customs officials have detained two issues of the Economist this year. In addition, reports indicate that several other issues of the Economist have been withheld by Customs, including two issues published in May of 2009. Similarly, in July of 2009, The Economist was withheld at Customs once again for an article, titled ‘Victory’s rotten fruits’, that commented on the distasteful triumphalism that followed the end of war in May 2009. A news report last month by the Sunday Times that obtained a statement from Lakshman Hulugalle, the Director General of the Media Centre for National Security, provides a lacklustre exposition of why foreign publications may be censored in the future: Asked what the government policy was in detaining foreign publications,…

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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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