Foremost hand to reform media

EDWIN ARIYADASA well known but unknown...:

by Ranga Chandrarathne

As a senior citizen and prominent media personality, Edwin Ariyadasa is quite happy with the Government's intention of formulating a National Media Policy (NMP) for Sri Lanka. NMP has not been formulated in the past and the appropriate moment for formulating such a policy would have been the time that Sri Lanka gained Independence.

According to him, independence does not only mean being free, from the political yoke of the British empire but also being free to re-order the culture and values and to think about the things that need to be done as a free nation.

However, at the time of the Independence, most of the personalities at the helm of affairs were happy with continuing the things left behind by the colonial rulers. They were not hopeful of making a fresh start as a free nation.

If Sri Lanka did that, it would have created opportunities for the birth of new policies. He pointed out that after sixty years of independence, Sri Lanka still does not have a coherent and well-articulated policy on education.

This has compelled affected parties to seek legal redress for such minor issues as school admissions to year one and the matter was also discussed in parliament. This is true for many other areas. For instance, Sri Lanka does not have a policy on culture.

Sri Lankans have continued the kind of culture acquired from imperial rulers. The opportunities offered by Independence to reap cultural values were not fully exploited. If Sri Lankans thought of this at the Independence, they would have thought of formulating an independent media policy as a media policy can settle other issues.

Edwin Ariyadasa stressed that this has been vindicated in the Constitution of the United States of America. In the Bill of Rights freedom of the press has been clearly stated. Attitudes towards freedom, holding a meetings, free speech and free publication were essential ingredients for a nation to shape its personality. Unfortunately, even at the time of Independence, Sri Lanka did not have any kind of media freedom.

Today, the State has assumed the responsibility to create a National Media Policy (NMP). Edwin Ariyadasa also feels a sense the responsibility as he has been asked to chair the committee to formulate the NMP.

Perhaps as the most senior journalist and media person in the country with about 60 years experience in the field, Ariyadasa is reminiscent of the hay-days of journalism in Sri Lanka. In fact, he was appointed a member of the Editorial staff at ANCL on March 3, 1949. The appointment was made twenty-one days before Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was born. Edwin Ariyadasa is a quintessential bilingual who has left his imprints both in Sinhala and English media.

He served in most of the Sinhala and English publications as a features writer. The long list includes Daily News, Silumina, Sarasaviya Sunday Observer, Dinamina, Janatha and Nawayugaya.

He cherishes most the days he spent as the Editor-in-Chief of Nawayugaya. Nawayugaya is held in high esteem by people in their thirties and forties. This was primarily due to the writings by Edwin Ariyadasa on diverse issues in Nawayugaya which shaped the intellectual discourse of the day.

The fact that Nawayugaya influenced the readers was vindicated by NASA scientist Dr. Sarath Gunapala at an interview with ITN. He stated that one of the reasons why he was interested in Science was the reading of articles that appeared in Nawayugaya.

Ariyadasa encountered many readers who preserved copies of Nawayugaya. Credit for changing readers' perception should go to then Editor Nawayugaya, Edwin Ariyadasa.

One of the remarkable opportunities that he came across in his career was that he was invited to formulate a syllabus for Mass Communication for Junior Universities in 1969.

The Junior Universities were subsequently known as Advanced Technical Institutes. At the Dehiwala branch, among the subjects taught were English, Librarianship and Mass Communication. The Mass Communication segment was under Maithtree Kariyawasam who is a friend of Edwin Ariyadasa.

One evening he telephoned Ariyadasa and asked, "Edwin can you start teaching Mass Communication tomorrow morning".

According to Edwin Ariyadasa, it was the first time that Mass Communication was taken up for teaching at a higher education institute in Sri Lanka . However, the little known fact was that Ariyadasa had already been studying Mass Communication when he was invited to teach Mass Communication.

He recollects sporting his unassuming charming smile, that some members of the staff remarked Ariyadasa was 50 years ahead of his time. Maithree Kariyawasam gave a free hand to Ariyadasa enabling him to formulate a syllabus, evaluation system for Mass Communication in the Junior University branch at Dehiwala.

Thusm, the singular acclaim of formulating a comprehensive syllabus for Mass Communication, for the first time in the history of Mass Communication, at Higher Education level was bestowed upon Edwin Ariyadasa.

It would have been a Herculean task for any other person but for Edwin Ariyadasa it was a pure intellectual exercise. He single-handedly prepared the syllabus, evaluation systems consisting of a written examination. In addition, students were given practical exercises and each student had to produce a dissertation. Perhaps, this would have been the first time that dissertation-writing was initiated at higher education institutes.

Harold Peiris, who subsequently became the Secretary of Information to the President, wrote at the Junior University level a book on "The Use of Photography in Print Media", a wonderfully illustrated book.

All the leading media personnel and literati of the time addressed the students who took up Mass Communication course at the Junior University. The luminaries who attended the sessions included Martin Wickremasinghe, Piyasena Nissanka, Amaranath Jayatilaka and even film critic Roger Manwel.

However, unfortunately the next Government scrapped off the course totally disregarding the merits and de-merits of the course.

In 1972, under the Government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prof. Siriwardena, the then President of the Colombo Campus, had been asked by Prime Minister Sirimavo to introduce Job-oriented Courses to the university.

Edwin Ariyadasa was the Chairman of the Committee which formulated the first ever Mass Communication syllabus at University level. The two other members of the Committee were the then President of Jaffna Campus Prof. Kailashapathy and Prof. Sunanda Mahendra.

Committee meetings were held at Pagoda near Lake House and Sunanda Mahendra in light vein mentioned that Ariyadasa made the syllabus while they had tea at Pagoda.

Thus, the syllabus was created and subsequently it was adapted by the Social Studies section of the Kelaniya University which was under Prof. Karunanayake.

Vision

As Edwin Ariyadasa was very keen on establishing the Mass Communication, he used to deliver lengthy lectures which sometimes ran into four hours. It should be mentioned here that Kelaniya University presented a special award to Edwin Ariyadasa in recognition of his outstanding contribution.

He has been associated with the Diploma in Mass Communication at the University of Colombo. At the initial stage, Prof. Kusuma Karunaratne who was then head of the Department of Sinhala was in charge of the course. She was quite happy that Edwin Ariyadasa was there to help her out.

In retrospect, Edwin Ariyadasa is content with his life on two counts; about his extensive participation in professional journalism and with pioneering the introduction of Mass Communication at University level. He is still very much associated with both Kelaniya and Colombo universities.

He remembers with nostalgia, some of the practical elements he had introduced to students who followed Mass Communication at Junior University and later at Universities. Field trips to Martin Wickremasinghe's Kirimandala Road house and premiers of films were among the practical elements in those courses.

He is quite happy with the developments in the field of Mass Communication; particularly in the Print and Electronic sectors where graphic quality in print media and technological advancement in Electronic media impressive. However, he is cautious about the quality of language and variety of presentations, especially the creativity on the part of media practitioners.

According to Ariyadasa, the most important segment is receivers. As a result of the desire to achieve instance success, especially in electronic media, all kinds of activities are taking place. Some people find that, these are culturally inappropriate and religiously problematic.

What is needed at the moment is training and capacity building which have not been happening although there are Communication courses, Television Courses either at state level or at private level. However the important capacity building and theorization are absent.

US has well-developed courses for all aspects of Mass Communication. When a young person enrolls, that person acquires not only professionalism, technological advancements but also the critical values. This is an important aspect that the state should consider along with Media Policy.

Well-equipped state-of-art training courses and the journalists should be future-oriented. For instances, some of the newspapers had to be closed down in US in the face of on-line publications and on-line advertisements. In order to attract audiences, newspapers have to forego some of the cherished values.

Future of media

In a flash-back on his longstanding career in media, Edwin Ariyadasa states that he had spent most of his career days at Lake House. His first piece in English after formally joining Lake House was a review of Martin Wickremasinghe's novel 'Yugantaya' for Daily News somewhere in March 1949 His first Sinhala piece which he wrote to the children's corner in Silumina 'Kamala Lama Samajaya' was as a 14 year-old boy.

The article was titled 'Demaupiyanta Garukala Yuttthe Manda".

At Lake House he was fortunate to receive guidance from outstanding journalists such as legendary Denzil Peiris, a mentor of Ariyadasa, who considered him as one of his prot,g,s. He also received guidance from Martin Wickremasinghe.

Remembering the personal relationship that he maintained with Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Edwin Ariyadasa acknowledged the fact that he had translated Prof. Sarachchandra's seminal work 'Malagiya Atto' into English.

From his early childhood, Ariyadasa had imbibed literature and came across leading personalities of Hela Haula, ( School of Sinhala language puritants) such as Ananda Kudathihi.

By 20 years, he read most of the popular English classics thus laying a firm foundation for a future prolific writer and a media personality.

At Mahinda College , Edwin Ariyadasa crossed path with Siri Gunasinghe, Vini Vitharana and Nandadasa Kodagoda. All of them subsequently became professors. He was immersed in reading and virtually read off the library. At the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Edwin Ariyadasa did Sinhalese honours with English as the auxiliary subject.

One of the remarkable encounters at the University was meeting with late Appapilla Amirthalingam, who did Tamil honours with English as auxiliary.

To his credit, Edwin Ariyadasa translated K. Jayatilaka's 'Charita Thunak' and Karunasena Jayalath's 'Golu Hadawatha' which he serialised for Sunday Observer.

However, the large number of forwards that he authored for numerous books and blurbs for back covers cannot be traced. Edwin Ariyadasa appeals readers to send copies of them to him if the readers posses them.

Commenting on application of art, Edwin Ariyadasa is of the view that a work of art should only be banned if it is absolutely necessary. Some of the material which may be considered phonographic may be integral to a work of art.

If it is done away with, there will not be any meaning to it. However in a highly creative work, if there are certain areas which may present certain things graphically and if it is relevant to sincere expression of the view of that particular artist, the work should not be interfered with.

What will matter is the interpretation of the artist. In some totalitarian countries, if some people want to present that stark truth, their works will be banned because they go against the state. Referring to the deteriorating standards of language, Edwin Ariyadasa is of the view that the fact that should be taken into consideration is that the reality of the younger generation is different to that of their elders.

They live in a world which is truly international and the attitudes are cosmopolitan. In fact, what is essential is to teach the younger generation the message by which they will be able to access the vast storage of knowledge readily available.

Although grammar and the conventional rules of language are essential, they must be taught to live in the 21st century irrespective of hair splitting arguments over what grammar is right and what is wrong. What is essential is to make children comfortable in the 21st century.

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Poet and a diasporic writer Sunil Govinnage commenting on Edwin Ariyadasa's contribution says Edwin Ariyadasa is the most successful journalist and a widely acclaimed media personality in Sri Lanka.

His success cannot be measured just by counting over 20,000 articles (including several thousands of editorials and features) he penned since he began his career as a journalist at the tender age of 30, at Lake House.

Neither can we measure his greatness as the foremost media guru by counting thousands of lectures, talks and key note addresses he had delivered on communication, media, cinema and other subjects. He is a unique individual and his progression from journalism to his current position as the most influential media guru in Sri Lanka is not only a story of success but also a symbol of his ability to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

As Ajith Samaranayake, once wrote on Mr Edwin Ariyadasa's journey and progression: "It demonstrate his mental agility, his ability to adapt to the times and his consuming intellectual curiosity which has made him a bridge-head between generations and cultural eras straddling what is almost a century."

Mr Ariyadasa is indeed Don Bradman of journalism in Sri Lanka!

Even at the age of 85, he is still batting without showing any indication of early retirement.