The Sunday Times Plus Section

9th May 1999

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Journalists honoured by their peers

The night of the scribes

Like the simple and courageous men and women behind the headlines, who have taken up the role of watchdog of the nation, simplicity was the keynote of the first-ever awards ceremony held for journalists by The Editors' Guild on Tuesday.

As the evening shadows lengthened, journalists from all newspapers, English, Sinhala and Tamil gathered at TransAsia Hotel to applaud their colleagues who had made a noteworthy contribution and even laid down their lives in the public interest.

The ceremony started off with the lighting of the oil lamp by the panel of judges and members of the Guild, to the muted sounds of the drum beat and the blowing of the conch shells.

The Guild moved away from custom, by dispensing with lengthy speeches and got down to the task of honouring journalists whose dedication and courage had made a change in society in 1998, after a few introductory remarks by Sunanda Deshapriya.

Veteran Sinhala writer, diminutive and silver-haired M.A Wimal, who began his career in the 60s was honoured with a merit award for long service to journalism.

Though living in retirement in his home in Gampaha, far removed from the frenetic pace of the newspaper, he and many others like him still have printer's ink in their blood. It was to honour the "old guard" that the Guild made this award.

Then came a poignant moment. Memories of those gallant journalists no longer in our midst.

A hush fell over the crowd as the widows and young children of three journalists went up to receive posthumous merit awards.

Four years ago, on April 28, 1995, three journalists from Lake House while on assignment to report a missile attack, themselves fell victim to an LTTE missile.

Given in memory of three "greats" in the country's publishing industry, the Sepala Gunasena Award for Courageous Journalism went to the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, the D.R. Wijewardene Award for Earning the Appreciation of His/Her Peers and the General Public to Pradeep Kumar, (Aranayake correspondent of The Dinamina) and the Upali Wijewardene Award for Human Interest Reporting to Ranee Mohamed of The Sunday Leader for thought-provoking features on health and education.

For the staff of Uthayan, it is a daily battle to publish their paper in the heart of battle-scarred Jaffna, with guns trained at them from many quarters. For bravery of another kind — tenacious reporting of police corruption — Pradeep was honoured. It was a tribute to a young man who had faced many a vicissitude including the burning of his home, Police brutality, court actions and finally having to vindicate himself in the highest court of the land.

Many remembered the tragedy of young Hansi, the two-year-old who lost her hand in hospital brought out vividly by Ranee as clips of all the winners' stories were flashed on screen.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of that most coveted award — Journalist of the Year 1998 — won by Iqbal Athas, Consultant Editor and Defence Correspondent of The Sunday Times for his reporting on the armed conflict which, according to the judges "has irritated a few, provoked some to use physical violence against him and yet helped readers to understand the direction of the government's battle with Tamil rebels. Despite threats and intimidation, he has continued to expose corruption, mismanagement and mishandling in the defence establishment."

The independent panel of judges comprised Edmund Ranasinghe, Hector Abhayavardhana, S.T. Sivanayagam, G.S. Perera, Ranjith Wijewardene and Amal Jayasinghe, all of whom Sunanda Deshapriya described as men of pre-eminence and integrity.

The serious business concluded, the audience enjoyed some light entertainment in the form of a dance by performers of the Channa-Upuli, Institute and a skit 'A dirty job' by the Workshop Players, which parodied Guild members, before dinner.

The 1998 awards ceremony was co-sponsored by Ceylon Tobacco Company, Union Bank, E.A.P. Edirisinghe Group of Companies, while the host hotel was Trans Asia Hotel. Mason Mixtures Ltd sponsored the souvenir.

The compere for the evening was Dayan Candappa