The RLO members (Sinhala Koti) who were arrested and whisked away to boossa were not arrested because they were journalists, and being remotely connected to a railway union publication does not make them journalists. By the broad, all encompassing definition used by Sri Lankan NGOs as well as their foreign affiliates who should know better, anyone who’s ever had an article published in a newspaper, anyone who has a blog, and even anyone who’s a janitor at a printing press, is considered a journalist. These journalists, they seem to think, are exempt from having to obey the law and order of the country. According to them, the RLO members, purely on the virtue of being “journalists”, cannot be arrested even though there is clear proof of them receiving training from the LTTE, being in possession of a large quantity of arms, and confessing on national television to being responsible for several amateurish bomb attacks in and around Colombo. While all others need to have their national ID card in possession at all times, journalists should be able to get away with a press ID.

The ministers statement is a response to the accusation that 9 journalists have been killed in Sri Lanka last year. According to him, only one of them was a real journalist. If you think the minister is wrong, why not produce a list of these so called journalists, who they worked for, and why they were killed.

I would not want to be giving an interview to someone who verbally told me he/she was a journalist!

So, perhaps this media card should be issued by an editors association, or other appropriate body. Even freelance journalists can be issued with a card stating that is what they do.

It’s journalists who give the media a bad name, not the Government!