Addressing a panel discussion to mark World Press Freedom Day this week, journalists called for measures to protect media freedom and the rights of journalists.
The panel discussion themed, "Current challenges facing the media" organized by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and local media organizations was held at SLPI headquarters at Narahenpita.
Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association General Secretary Poddala Jayantha said that journalists in the country appeared to be under anesthesia due to intimidation from various quarters.
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| Participants at the panel discussion. |
He said that a situation has developed that only statements by the Government or the version of the Government gets reported giving the impression to the public that there were no problems.
Mr. Jayantha called for a change in this situation saying that otherwise it would have adverse effects on the country.
Free Media Movement Secretary Sunil Jayasekara, said that usually newspapers serve as documents that records the events which could be useful for historians, but persons in future who research the newspapers published today will have a distorted picture of the events which have taken place in this era.
Peradeniya University's senior lecturer Charitha Herath said that the media takes into consideration the problems faced by the journalists as a separate problem and not in the general context.
Editors' Guild representative Tillekeratne Kuruvita Bandara said that persons should be able to tolerate criticism and one of the reason for the suppression is that people are not able to tolerate criticism.
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| The cover page of ‘The Colombo Declaration’ that was launched. |
Virakesari (Daily) Chief Editor R Prabaghan said that if the journalists took care to report in a balanced manner many of the issues in the world could be resolved and even in Sri Lanka if journalists collectively reported on the ethnic problem which lasted for more than three decades in the country, it could have been resolved.
Copies of the revised Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility and a publication containing the speeches made at an international symposium last October were also distributed that day.
The Colombo Declaration of 1998 was adopted by the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Free Media Movement in 1998 following a four-day conference in Colombo.
Subsequently, The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association also adopted the Colombo Declaration of 1998. The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ) and the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) were established as a direct outcome of the Colombo Declaration of 1998. The four constituent partners of these institutions are the signatories of the Colombo Declaration.
The revised Colombo Declaration was signed by the above mentioned four media organizations on December 31, 2008 at the Sri Lanka Press Institute. The panel discussion was followed by a question and answer session. |
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