EDITORIAL : STOP THE ABUSE OF STATE MEDIA
1 January 2015 07:44 pm
A free, fair and peaceful election is the foundation of democracy. One of the key pillars for this is an independent media through which the people could get fair, accurate and balanced information to make an informed choice at the crucial presidential election on January 8.
Unfortunately, during the past decade media freedom has suffered a devastating if not death blow, as have other vital pillars such as the independent Judicial Services Commission, the independent Elections Commission, the independent Public Service Commission and the independent Police Commission.
While independent media groups are in different ways pressurised, threatened or manipulated by the Government, the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House group) is directly controlled by the Government, as are three major big television channels and two radio stations. These institutions, though run by public funds, are today carrying out crude and blatant propaganda for the ruling alliance. To use public money, resources and State services personnel for party election propaganda is a serious violation of election laws. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has repeatedly appealed to the Government media to give a fair and balanced coverage of the election campaign. His appeals are ignored and the main radio station has gone to the level of changing the name of its long-standing Maithri Bahawana programme.
After 1972 the Government media have often been biased and prejudiced, but independent analysts say the stooging and servile flattery have never been so disgraceful as now. They say it sounds much like a swan song for the ruling alliance.
The National Democratic Front’s common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena—known to be riding high now with about 50 political parties and civic action movements supporting him—told the diplomatic community yesterday he would immediately stop the State media being used as a propaganda instrument of the ruling party.
“I will provide mass media freedom and the right to information; I will introduce a right to information law to empower the people to access information that could be in the public domain,” he told diplomats representing about 25 countries.
When the UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister more than 10 years ago, a Freedom of Information or Right to Information Bill was finalised. That Government also set up and independent Press Complaints Commission which worked under the Newspaper Publishers’ Society and the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka. These institutions replaced the controversial Press Council which was a Government-appointed body and had mandatory powers to punish those who wrote against the Government.
The Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government was overthrown in 1964 when it tried to introduce this Press Council Bill. Significantly that regime change also came about after a revolt led by senior Minister C. P. De Silva who was later hailed as the ‘Minneriya Devio’.
Unfortunately when Sirimavo Bandaranaike returned to power in July 1970, her United Front Government pushed through the Press Council Bill. The independent Sun newspaper appropriately headlined it, “Mephistopheles claims the soul”—a reference to a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend. With the Ranil Wickremesinghe Government being toppled by means of what was described as a constitutional coup, the Freedom of Information Bill was also muzzled and the Press Council reactivated.
Rights are linked to responsibilities. As we move into an era where mass media freedom will be ensured along with the Right to Information Act, we also hope that only trained professionals will be given decision-making posts in mainstream journalism so that there will be a high degree of commitment to fair, accurate and balanced reporting or feature writing with integrity, honesty and adherence to a code of conduct laid down by the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka.