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| Sunday, 15 February 2004 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Seeing is believing Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar is no lightweight or political backbencher. Catapulted straight into the Foreign Affairs portfolio when he first entered governmental office, this already accomplished legal expert quickly won recognition on the international stage, a recognition further bolstered by his upfront role in the peace process as the President's Adviser on International Affairs. So when, as caretaker Minister of Media, Mr. Kadirgamar categorically states that the State-owned media institutions will function in a "balanced" manner free of political interference, he must be taken very seriously unlike much of the rest of the political herd. While earlier, the State-owned media institutions were freely manipulated by the politicians in governmental power at the time, nowadays, ministers in charge and other political leaders have begun promising autonomy for these institutions. The new rhetoric may arise from politicians' sensitivity to growing concerns among citizens about the role of the State media, especially the issue of bias, the suppression of news, and the publication or broadcast of crude propaganda favouring the ruling party. While the privately owned media is also subject to suspicions of bias and propaganda, the greater concern has focused on the State media as they are publicly owned institutions and hence are accountable to the public and not to any individuals or group, including politicians and parties. Since the State media is accountable to the general citizenry of the country and are national assets, they must be treated as such and in no way should they be manipulated for the political advantage of any political party or individual. Such manipulation would be the denial of Sri Lankans' fundamental right to freedom of expression and of information. But the reality is far from this truth. From the inception, the State media, the SLBC, Rupavahini Corporation, ITN and the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), to which this newspaper belongs, are known to have been crudely manipulated for purposes of propaganda in favour of one or the other political party and individual. Whether Minister Kadirgamar's promise of an autonomous state media will be really fulfilled remains to be seen in the coming weeks of intense electioneering. For too long have politicians broken their promises to be all that credible - not that Mr. Kadirgamar's own credibility is in doubt, yet. Only concrete practice and performance will tell whether this is yet another "broken promise" or whether the State media is becoming genuinely autonomous of political control. During the last People's Alliance government, a committee headed by President's Counsel and eminent human rights lawyer R.K.W. Goonesekera, examined the case of the ANCL (popularly known as Lake House) and proposed that the institution be re-structured to ensure managerial control by a representative body of civil society and the avoidance of the influence and intervention of the Government or Presidency or politicians. It is up to Mr. Kadirgamar to demonstrate the sincerity of his claim by taking action to implement the R.K.W. Goonesekera Committee's proposal. A firm commitment to re-structure not just the ANCL but also all other State media institutions should be included in the election manifesto of the new political alliance to which the Minister belongs, the United People's Freedom Alliance. The Minister could lay the groundwork for this right now, in this period of electioneering, by taking action to ensure the autonomy of the editorial leaderships and journalists of the State media. He could invite a citizens' body such as the Press Complaints Commission or the Human Rights Commission to monitor the decision-making procedures of the State media institutions to certify that there is no political influence or interference by politically appointed managements or political party activists. At the same time, the Commissioner of Elections could emulate the Chief Elections Commissioner of India in monitoring Government misuse of State media or other propaganda ploys by political parties in power using State resources for party gain. "Seeing is believing," they say. When will State media audiences believe everything they see, hear or read? |
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