Making Journalism Great Again
OXFORD – In the debate over the future of journalism, “fake news” has taken center stage, with storylines featuring a ranting American president, Russian communication “bots,” and betrayal and subterfuge competing for…
Media and Communications
Introducing #snapshotlka – Our Hashtag on Instagram
invite their followers on Instagram to follow #snapshotlka, as the platform recently announced the launch of a new feature allowing users to follow hashtags, in the same way as following an Instagram…
The Year in Photos
As 2017 draws to a close, Groundviews shares a selection of photos taken over the course of the year, covering a variety of issues, from displacement and militarisation in the North to…
Conviviality vs Censorship: On Media Freedom in Sri Lanka
Under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa between 2005 and 2015, government brutality and censorship towards the media in Sri Lanka reached new levels. This was to the extent that in the Reporters…
#justaphotolka : Highlighting and Pushing Back Against Ongoing Surveillance in Vavuniya
On November 24, two youth were questioned in Vavuniya around posts they had made on Facebook. One of the photos was of the Divisional Secretariat of Vavuniya North, Nandukerni, and specifically, a…
Blocked: RTI requests reveal process behind blocking of websites in Sri Lanka
On November 8, 2017 news began to spread that website Lankaenews had been blocked across all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Sri Lanka. The website itself has continually been mired in controversy…
Soundbites and sound bytes: Future of digital conversations in Sri Lanka
Even before the end of the war in 2009, but certainly after it, conversations on society, politics, culture, religion and other vital matters are moving online to digital spaces, or are increasingly…
Sri Lanka’s Digital Future to Take Centre Stage At Global Voices Summit
The international citizen media network, Global Voices, will be holding their biennial Summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka on December 2-3, 2017. The event will take place at TRACE Expert City in Maradana,…
Beyond the Report Button: Tackling Cyber-Violence in Sri Lanka
It started with a few comments on Facebook. A 26 –year-old woman shared her opinion on a Facebook status. The discussion was about religion. Someone disagreed with her. The status transformed into…
Media Freedom: Perspective from Jaffna
Photograph by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai We call him Prem. The editor of the largest selling Jaffna daily, Thevanayagam Premanath, is sitting at a large table with his usual smile. The wall behind him…
Role of electronic media during natural disasters
The media have a significant role to play in times of natural disasters in terms of responsible and ethical coverage. However, electronic media coverage of the floods and landslides in some parts…
Disinformation in Sri Lanka: An overview
Fake news became a buzzword around the 2016 US Presidential election campaign. However, it’s something we have been grappling with in Sri Lanka for years. Fake news, is news created with the…
Champika, Rathana Thera, Gnanasara Thera and the Streisand effect
Discovered through a tweet this morning that the article ‘Champika, Rathana Thera responsible for Gnanasara Thera’s actions’, published in print and on the website on 16th June 2017, has been deleted. No…
Remembering Sivaram
His biographer speaks of the unimaginable cultural consequences of living continually under the gun. Although this comment was made about Tamil communities living in Sri Lanka more widely, it provides the basis…
The objectification of women in the Sinhala Press
Sri Lanka’s media continues to deviate from established standards of ethical journalism. This includes graphic pictures, misleading photos and commentary of events, racial labels used selectively against ethnic groups, factual errors and the…