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Monitoring mechanism to prevent abuse of news

9 September 2016 06:22 am - 9     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Deputy Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Karunaratne Paranawithana said yesterday that the government would set up a ‘Monitoring Mechanism’ for news broadcast and publications in the print and electronic media under the proposed ‘Press Commission’ to prevent the abuse of news in print and electronic media.

He added that the new measure would not anyway attempt to control or dictate to media personnel or media establishments on the media but to arrest the current degeneration of news broadcast and publication in the newspapers, radio, TV and websites.

The Monitoring Mechanism’ will be set up after consulting all stakeholders in the media such as journalists, media institutions, the academia, the public at large and the readers, listeners and TV watchers in particular and added it will not thrust upon the media by force.

“There is no argument that the media - print and electronic – has come down to its lowest ebb in quality, news value and usage. What we want is to arrest this sad situation. There are instances on daily basis news in both medium being used for mud slinging, character assassinations. In addition, publication in the print media and airing in TV and radio of lies, absolute lies, fabrications, distortions, misinterpretations and canard are not rare. The Press Complaints Commission and Press Council are toothless and have no influence at all on erroneous and unethical acts by media institutions or journalists. Therefore, it is our duty to put a stop to this sorry state of affairs in the media before long,” Deputy Minister Paranawithana stressed.

Deputy Minister Paranawithana said there was no way at the moment to amply compensate or erase the damage caused to a citizen by character assassinations in the media except by legal action that takes years to conclude and costs a huge amount of money.

He added that by introducing the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the government gave the media unrestricted freedom and opportunity to access any government institution for information. If the media is to get the full benefits of the RTI, journalists must act as fully qualified and highly educated professionals. There is no space for gutter journalism in this set up. What we want is to put an end to gutter journalism and create a media that upholds ethical, social and family values and respect the rule of law and democracy. (Sandun A Jayasekera)


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  Comments - 9

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  • dot Friday, 09 September 2016 06:38 AM

    Dear Hon. Deputy Minister,We see a good governance in practice.

    Rosy Friday, 09 September 2016 08:09 AM

    RTI gives no information on trade agreements and central bank deals for 15 years. Why is that? Same way can media have a loophole?

    Premalal Friday, 09 September 2016 08:18 AM

    Quality of our politicians could be gauged by the procession to the bribery related institutions. The turn of the present politicians will come when they lose power. So when the issue is character assassination then you are bound to ask "what character "

    Sam Friday, 09 September 2016 09:21 AM

    Oh common. Sir, Let them print and let us decide. Please don't intervene. Mean time bring your act together and do a honest job. Then go home and sleep peacefully.Thank you.

    lkboy Friday, 09 September 2016 09:24 AM

    Good decision!

    Thanos Friday, 09 September 2016 10:32 AM

    This is a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. Do you allow media to post whatever they want or is it infringing on freedom of expression?

    Piyumal Friday, 09 September 2016 11:05 AM

    There goes another tragedian...

    Raja Friday, 09 September 2016 11:09 AM

    Let the entire media rise against this proposal and nip it in the bud

    REALPATRIAT Friday, 09 September 2016 11:31 AM

    An appreciable IDEA. via DM Android App


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