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Survey
reveals media influence on health hazards
The
survey on "Media Influence on Health Hazards" analysed
the content of television stations, radio stations and newspapers
over one week. The results were categorised under eight sections
namely, movies, tele-dramas, news, documentaries, cartoons, advertisements,
music and other. In an interview with The Sunday Times FT, Kumari
Welegedara, Programme Officer, ADIC, who did the research talks
about the results of the television survey. Many times
we have heard of movies and tele-dramas glamorizing smoking, consumption
of alcohol and use of drugs. But what about the other categories
such as news, ads and music? We rarely talk
of the influence they have on the audience. In terms of
glamorizing smoking, drinking and drug use, movies and tele-dramas
came first and second respectively, and music third. Out of all
songs played on TV, 12 percent of them contained visuals with references
to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. English songs had the highest number
of visuals containing scenes with alcohol, tobacco and drug use
with 27 percent, while Sinhala had the least with six percent. Hindi
songs had 23 percent and Tamil 13 percent. Do parents
know that children are exposed to alcohol, tobacco consumption through
this kind of creative arts? Isn't the media being irresponsible
in this regard? The media should
think carefully about the ultimate effect of their output. The influence
of the media can be good or bad. On the positive side it provides
information, education and entertainment. It is a good tool but
it can also cause harm if the information provided is inaccurate. When we look
at the goals of media institutions most of them don't have a long-term
vision. Today many youngsters spend a lot of time with the media
and for some the media is almost the only source of information
and education. Parents should direct children to critically analyse
the motives behind such programmes. What about
the advertisements that portray scenes relating to tobacco, alcohol
and drugs? In the code
of ethics for media institutions it is stated that tobacco and alcohol
advertising on electronic media is not recommended. But where is
the code of ethics? Even the national TV stations now do not follow
it. Many talk about
media freedom. They ask for freedom from government interference
but have they ever asked for freedom from the business forces which
envelope almost all of them? Every media institute is a business.
It is bound by its business relationships and is profit oriented.
The media cannot ignore that aspect and they support the businesses
at the expense of the children of our country. It is interesting
to note that 85 percent of the advertisements about upcoming TV
programmes and other advertisements portray drug, alcohol and tobacco-related
scenes. Actually the forthcoming programmes do not have many references
to these scenes. Rather, it's the advertisers that collect all these
scenes on the show and use them on the advertisements. So it does
more harm than the real programme. How does
news programmes portray wrong impressions about tobacco, alcohol
and drugs? Today's news has a lot of irrelevant visuals with 73 percent of foreign news and 27 percent of local news having references to scenes relating to tobacco, alcohol and drugs. For example once it was revealed on the news bulletin of a certain news agency that some foreign airport have been made smoke free. But the visuals during the news item depicted a few girls smoking cigars in a very glamorous manner. Is this
news? Isn't the industry the hidden hand behind it? Many news items
talk about raids by government authorities on "kasippu"
breweries. But they describe them as adventurous journeys. This
type of story is of no use and is without much substance. What about
the cartoons? Cartoons are
aimed at the younger audience. Eighteen percent of the cartoons
telecast had direct references to tobacco, alcohol and drugs. But
it is interesting to note that some cartoons have substitutes for
alcohol and portray alcohol-related behaviour in a positive manner.
This is misleading. What is
your view of the impact of media on society? There is an
interesting theory called social learning theory, which says that
behaviours, attitudes and beliefs are changed through social conditioning
and the media as it influences young people's behaviour through
examples and role models by contributing to the social conditioning
process. How successful
is the effort to get the media to be more responsible? We are fighting
a global battle based on accurate, scientific facts. After all businesses are businesses. They want new clientele. They aim at women and children. The media institutions should understand the responsibility laid upon them by society to provide a positive, guiding influence on society. New
SriLankan Airlines ticketing office at WTC This new office
sees the amalgamation of staff and resources of its two former offices
at the Landmark Building in Kollupitiya, and the ticketing office
on Level 2 of the WTC. Open all days
of the year, this customer-friendly and spacious 3,500 sq. ft. office
will handle ticketing, reconfirmation, pre-paid ticketing and other
related areas. The office
will be open from 8.15 am - 6.00 pm from Monday to Friday and from
8.15 am to 5 pm on weekends, Poya days and other holidays. In recent years SriLankan has been steadily expanding its network of offices around the country and is now represented in Badulla, Batticaloa, Dambulla, Galle, Kandy, Kurunegala and Ratnapura. Philips'
new showroom lights up Colombo The Philips 'Sound and Vision' showroom on the Galle Road at Bambalapitiya which opened recently, will be the flagship of Philips retail outlets in Sri Lanka and the main launch pad for the brand's 'high-end' audio, video and home entertainment products, the local Philips Sound and Vision agent Hayleys Consumer Products Ltd (HCPL), said. On display at the showroom will be state-of-the-art Philips products such as High Definition Plasma television receivers, 'giant screen' projection TVs, High Definition Flat Screen TVs, Home Cinema systems and sophisticated Digital Video Disc (DVD) players as well as an extensive range of high fidelity music systems. Nivasiepura
launches new two-storey 'Swan' semi-luxury house The new model
home branded 'Swan' (all Nivasiepura models are named after birds)
comprises three bedrooms, two bathrooms, living and dining areas,
TV lounge, pantry, maid's room and toilet, a spacious enclosed balcony
and garage, the company said. Each would cost Rs. 2.3 million. The Rs. 1.2
billion Nivasiepura project, a planned satellite city, which had
sold 512 houses by end March, encompasses 114 acres of landscaped
and developed real estate in Ekala, Ja-Ela. Phase one comprises of 660 houses, in seven different models, supported by a host of recreational and infrastructural facilities. Seminar
on new Inland Revenue provisions The presentation
will focus on the details of the Inland Revenue (Special Provisions)
Law with special emphasis on the benefits that genuine tax payers
can derive from the new amendments. Promising
results at CIM Apparel Diploma One student,
Chandrakumar Theivendran obtained "A" passes in all four
subjects. The results for the first batch of students have proved
to be extremely promising as this is the first time that a course
of this kind has been launched in Sri Lanka, the association statement
said. Theivendran
said this course helped the students to look at the apparel industry
from a different perspective. "It also influenced our attitudes
and approaches towards problems, our overall personality and contributed
in developing our knowledge about the apparel industry and its functions
in a more comprehensive manner," he said. The Post-graduate Diploma in Apparel Marketing was launched in July last year, and is the first of its kind in the world. The Advanced Stage (Stage 2) of the programme began in January this year while the Third and Final Stage (Diploma Stage) of the course is scheduled to begin in June 2003. This programme is expected to develop 250 professional apparel marketers by 2005 who would be ready to take the industry to greater heights in a quota free world. Sita
Wimalasena heads Consumer Affairs Authority The Consumer
Affairs Authority which functions under the Ministry of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs has been set up after amalgamating the Department
of Internal Trade and the Fair Trading Commission, with wide ranging
powers to protect consumers and traders alike, the ministry said. Ms. Wimalasena had long served at the State Textile Trading Corporation or Salusala from 1977 to 1982 as general manager and from 1982 to 1994 as the chairperson.
Soldiers
or entrepreneurs? With the prospects
of peace we are now looking at the armed forces as a costly resource
to have. There are already a large number of soldiers who have deserted
the forces taking even a higher risk of getting caught and being
branded as criminals. If we look
at them outside the paradigm of a SOLDIER we can see them as a set
of young people with the quality of risk taking. And in them I see
a band of potential entrepreneurs who can make a difference to the
country. Rather than
calling them deserters and thinking of finding jobs for the soldiers
after the dawn of peace why cannot we explore the opportunity of
converting them to Job Providers instead of Job Seekers? Towards this
we can group them at regional levels and provide them with know how on
marketing and other critical business related skills, and help them
identify business opportunities they can work on. To support
the process at regional level, service centres can be established
providing support and advice on finance, marketing, banking and
facilitating business net working. A New Year
thought that is worth contemplation.
Workers
demand worldwide respect on May 1 Activities
varying from mass demonstrations to sports events to conferences
are being planned by unions who will be demanding "respect"
on a range of issues including workers' rights, quality public services,
workers' health and safety, tackling poverty, and rights and opportunities
for young workers. "By uniting under one global theme, unions
will send out a strong message. Respect for workers rights is a
major part of the agenda we are putting forward, particularly as
we gear up for the next WTO Trade Ministerial meeting in Cancun
in September this year. We are encouraged by the response we are
already seeing to this Global Unions call," said ICFTU General
Secretary Guy Ryder. The list of
planned actions for May 1 is growing. In Kenya, newly elected President
Mwai Kibaki will join the ICFTU-affiliated COTU in launching a new
anti-HIV/AIDS program aimed at workers. ICFTU General Secretary
Ryder will participate in demonstrations organised in Moscow where
the Youth Council of the ICFTU-affiliated FNPR will also play a
special role. A British TUC march through central London will include
a call for respect for workers' rights, while in France, Force Ouvrière's
(FO) May 1 actions will also link into the global theme. Although many
May 1 activities are planned by national trade union centres, or
their regional structures, sectoral or industrial unions are also
getting more involved. The plans of transport sector unions in Malaysia,
Kenya, Pakistan and Mauritius, for instance, are all well advanced.
Public sector unions in countries including Japan, Portugal and
Iceland will also be joining the Global Unions action. There are also
instances of unions cooperating internationally on their May 1 activities,
showing that the issues they confront are not confined to one country.
In the Balkan region, cross-border activities are planned in Albania,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, where
young trade unionists will launch a "Respect for Young Workers"
campaign. May 1 also provides an opportunity to underline the international
aspects of union organising activities. In the United States, a
Taiwan-based employer has refused to recognize a union of employees
at a Chinese language newspaper in California. The AFL-CIO-affiliated
Communication Workers of America will be linking up with the May
1 mobilisation to fight for "respect" for these employees.
Many union activities in May 1 will be linked closely with issues
of local significance, such as in Venezuela, where unemployed people
and other civil society groups will join trade unions in protesting
against unemployment, poverty, and the persecution against opposition
leaders being carried out by President Hugo Chavez. In South Korea, both the ICFTU-affiliated union centres will be calling for reunification and reconciliation between North and South Korea. SARS
virus costing Asia 11 billion US dollars A survey conducted
by the Far Eastern Economic Review of government statements and
reports from financial institutions on the impact so far of Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) found that the damages to regional
GDP growth for this year totalled around 10.6 billion US dollars. Others, though,
put those losses as high as 15 billion dollars, the Review reported. One expert,
Gurinder Shahi, chief executive officer of the health and biotech
consultant BioEnterprise Asia, said SARS could end up costing the
region 50 billion dollars, the Review said. While China's
losses remain the highest at 2.2 billion dollars and other regional
governments are downgrading their full-year economic growth estimates,
the Review said Hong Kong has been the disease's biggest casualty. The outbreak
has cost Hong Kong 1.7 billion dollars so far, the Review said.
Hong Kong retailers are reporting sales falling by half since mid-March,
while tourism arrivals from mainland China have fallen 75 to 80
percent. Private consumption, which some estimate fuels 60 percent of the territory's economy, has "fallen through the floor," while the entertainment and restaurant industries have seen an 80 percent drop in business, the Review reported. |
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