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| Sunday, 9 November 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Lankan press-too heavily focused on politics - Health Editor, the Independent, UK. by Carol Aloysius
One of the first things that caught the attention of Jeremy Laurance, The Independent Health Editor, when he opened the pages of our local newspapers was that they were too grey, too small or no pictures, too serious, and much too politics oriented. "Very few articles were written in a lighter vein. Politics or policy matters appear to have sidelined issues that really matter to readers, like discussions on the arts, science, education and human interest stories. I believe a better mix of the serious and the light - a balance of what is happening in politics and government to issues of lifestyles, could go a long way in improving the content of your papers", he says. All the same, he admits he is impressed by the extent of the readership of most of the papers in all three languages. "This means that people are willing and want to read them which is a huge plus point in their favour", he told media personnel attending a workshop conducted by him on health Reporting at the British Council early this week. The tall, lanky Britisher who has changed jobs several times and worked in a number of newspapers including The Times, Sunday Times and New Statesman and magazines like The General Practitioner, admits his chequered career in the media world reflects his reluctance to set down his roots in one single newspaper. Prior to working in The Independent since 1997 he was a freelancer. "But after a while I felt I didn't want to be a spectator on the outside. I wanted to be one of the players inside the ring". Of his paper he says, "It is a serious paper and has one of the highest circulations in the world. Our paper is also the first to be printed in two sizes - a broadsheet and a tabloid with identical news/features and picture content. We did this as a trial, but it has worked well. Our sales have gone up by 40 percent". Self-appointed task The son of a medical doctor, Jeremy believes he has inherited his father's interest in medicine inspite of the fact that he is a graduate in philosophy. "Medicine is probably in my genes", quips the man who has consistently written and specialised in writing about health for the past 20 years, and authored a book on mental health "Pure madness. How Fear drives the mental health system". Besides writing on health he also conducts lectures and workshops on Health Reporting to journalists around the world. This self appointed task has taken him to four countries, Africa, Kerala, Jamaica and the Caribbean prior to coming to Sri Lanka, to conduct a training workshop for health reporters at the British Council, where this writer met him as a participant . A first time visitor to Sri Lanka , he is unashamedly in love with his new surroundings. He says, "Your country does not have spectacular vistas, no huge mountain ranges or vast plains and forests. But it has a serene rustic beauty found in domestic rural settings with the light filtering through the trees, in green jungles and waterfalls and the colourful exotic beauty of the people with whom I found it so easy to connect. To me, this serene domestic beauty is reminiscent of the kind of beauty seen in the paintings of Constable's depiction of rural England in a by gone era". His most vivid memory following his recent visit to Weli Oya, was, "sitting outside the terrace at the military camp and drinking in the beauty of the purple bourgainvilla and frangipane. These trees are now part of the landscape having matured and grown during the war, which goes to show how long a period the war has gone on". Peace process On the Peace Process he says, "I'm glad like the rest of the world that the move towards peace and reconciliation is being made on both sides. It must surely be in the interests of all that the Peace should hold". On strikes especially in the health sector he says, "I'm shocked that the health sector should resort to strikes so often here. Back home , our last strike by doctors was over thirty years ago. Today, the idea of doctors and other health workers going on strike for long periods and forcing patients to fend for themselves would be unthinkable". Of the Health system in general, and the Cancer Hospital at Maharagama in particular which we visited he says, "I have seen many health institutes in the developing world which are worse off. But you've got to admit that your government hospitals are overcrowded, under-staffed, very old and ill equipped. The fact that the cancer hospital has only one (the country's oldest) mammogram machine that works in fits and starts and a single decrepit CT scan machine which is hardly sufficient to serve the 75% patients who require CT scanning at the hospital, tells a tragic tale. It underlines the need for more funding for the state sector. On the plus side he adds," But I could also see that despite working under such stressful conditions your doctors and nurses seem to be doing a great job. Besides, health services are free here, which is a huge bonus for the public at large". Jeremy was looking forward to visiting Jaffna before he returns to the UK." I most certainly will visit the hospitals there. It will be interesting to see how doctors have managed to run it with a war that has gone on for so many years". |
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