Sri Lanka's English newspaper with the largest circulation:

As certain as the sun

by Aditha Dissanayake

When the discussion whether we should celebrate our 80th anniversary or let it slip, came up, everyone agreed since the next milestone will be the 90th, we should do something this year - who knows by 2018, we might not be here. Say that again? Well the staff yes., some may leave, some may retire.. But the Sunday Observer? She will be here, definitely ...till eternity.

In what shape? In what colour? What will the paper which you are holding now in your hands look like in ten years? Will newspapers or huge white pages with words printed on them survive till then? Will technology transform the physical presence of the Sunday Observer in some way as yet unforeseen? Who will know? But, come what may, she will be here - one way or another - with the same eight words of the slogan printed on the cover page.

A slogan which has been a fixture for many years; a slogan which we hold as a symbol of our success in addressing the information needs of readers who hold high humanitarian principles.

We know these eight words may sound as if we are blowing our own trumpet and it is no secret that from time to time, it is hurled back at us by our competitors.

We cling to it , however not because it's charmingly archaic but because it's evidence of our widespread readership who have been with us since the first issue saw the light of day on February 4, 1928.

A great newspaper is hard to define. But readers know one when they see one. If being great means having the nation taking note of our articles, having arguments over them, having them reprinted, having them emailed, if being great means holding a paper packed with national, world, provincial and city news as well as sports, business, arts, entertainment, together with a separate magazines for children (the Junior Observer) and the young adults (The Sunday Observer Magazine) and the TV Plus; in short something for everyone, stylishly written, then the Sunday Observer is surely among the top of the list. For, our journalists unarguably make an impact on the news they write about.

In a sense, as James Gordon Bennett the owner of the New York Herald boasted "we make news".; upon all topics, - political, social, moral, and cultural.

Through all our articles we try to be conservative when we think conservatism is for the good of our country, and we try to be radical when we feel it is right to herald new changes.

Because nothing in this world can be seen as black or white, as exactly right or exactly wrong we do our best to encourage what is good and extinguish what is evil.

We see it as our duty that our success as a newspaper will always be clean. That there will never be marks of degradation upon our pages and that the words we write may never cause harm.

We enjoy the lighter side of life too. Yet, we are careful to exclude the tastelessly vulgar from our columns, because we respect our irreplaceable institution and the irreplaceable bond of trust with our readers.

We know we make mistakes, and we dislike them, but we do not fear them to the point of timidity, as long as they are made in the course of honest work and are promptly corrected.

We believe we are all humans and to err is well...you know.

A handful of hard-working, hard-thinking writers, make up the Sunday Observer. Some are graduates from the field of arts and humanities; others have learnt the trade by being thrown into the deep end. All of us share a passion for journalism.

As you hold this, the 80th anniversary issue in your hands and wonder about The Sunday Observer's longevity in an ephemeral world, remember this: the Sunday Observer endures, doing her job - on paper, and on the Web - because its staff, from those who are here today to those who will take over from us, will always try hard and care hard.

As certain as the sun rises every Sunday morning, so too a Sunday Observer to bring knowledge, humour, love and warmth to your day.

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