CONFRONTATIONS WITH CONCERN AND CONFIDENCE

Wijith DeChickera reviews LMD’s cover stories from over three decades that stand the test of relevance and responsibility

A magazine’s cover stories speak volumes about the state of a nation. In LMD’s case, the people and principles confronting readers over 30 years suggest a publication based on strong business-centric values with a discernible people-friendly face.

These have spanned the spectrum from local icons such as Sri Lankhabimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar (twice LMD’s ‘Sri Lankan Of The Year’) and Deshamanya Ken Balendra, through international luminaries like Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, to legendary sportspersons of Kumar Sangakkara’s ilk (also twice LMD’s ‘Sri Lankan Of The Year’) and adoptive islanders as Sri Lankabhimanya Sir Arthur C. Clarke was.

It is demonstrable in its coverage of issues however, that LMD has stood tall as ‘The Voice of Business’ for three decades.

In ‘Stop Corruption: Exorcise the Devil!’ LMD’s May 2015 issue asserted that “corruption poses a serious development challenge to any society or nation. It destabilises democracy and good governance. At the same time, it undermines the legitimacy of government, and democratic values such as trust and governance.” A ‘reality check’ took place in 2015 with ‘Good Governance.’ “Yet,” regretted an editorialist, “here we are at the end of the interim government’s 100-day programme with little to show in the form of actual results. The term ‘corruption’ has been thrown around on multiple occasions but how far have we come in bringing the alleged perpetrators of such crimes to book?”

It is demonstrable in its coverage of issues however, that LMD has stood tall as ‘The Voice of Business’ for over three decades

Two years later, it was ‘Doing Business…’ in the spotlight: “While Sri Lanka has taken positive steps in reforms, much needs to be done to enable the private sector to grow and provide equal opportunities for all,” urged LMD, in April 2017.

The same edition of the magazine quoted then Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy: “The country needs to create a sustainable growth model that should be private sector driven, as well as more FDIs and exports.”

Our commercial capital came under the microscope in ‘The Realty Bubble’ issue of September 2017 where LMD had “bigwigs in the real estate sector … evaluate the booming property market” to “seek answers to the burning question: is Colombo’s property bubble set to burst?”

In July 2019, it was ‘Passing the Baton’ when LMD’s cover story explored “the evolving role of Gen Z in the wake of a rapidly changing global order,” concluding that “the role of youth representation is becoming more important than ever before.”

April 2019 found Sri Lanka ‘at the mercy of the rich-poor divide,’ highlighting the drivers of global income inequality and importance of addressing inequitable distribution of wealth.

‘A nation on edge’ was LMD’s diagnosis of the constitutional coup of October-November 2018 when “Sri Lanka juggled the live grenade for some seven weeks” after a president pulled the pin on parliament and replaced his prime minister.

“The cost to a ‘sitting pretty’ island nation’s image, constitutionalism and economy has been mind-boggling to say the least,” lamented LMD in January 2019, when the Supreme Court reversed the dissolution although “for far too long, democracy in Sri Lanka has been an excuse for a mere vote buying exercise.”

An exclusive report of June 2020 titled ‘Beyond COVID-19’ focussed on the novel coronavirus crisis and a new world order in the aftermath of the planet’s most perilous health scare in a century.

A gripping edition cast a searchlight on the presidential poll of November 2019, a month ahead of that key election.

And the October 2019 lead affirmed: “As the self-styled ‘voice of business,’ LMD’s mission is to shape opinion, promote corporate excellence and stop corruption – and the upcoming presidential election would be a litmus test of the people’s resolve to elect a candidate who has the potential to meet such aspirations.”

Amid the aragalaya of mid-2022, LMD’s ‘voice of business’ echoed the ‘voice of the people’ when it examined an islandwide struggle that brought popular sovereignty to the forefront and featured peaceful protestors in the magazine’s May cover feature.

This is the recalibration of island life that LMD will track carefully, and report on with care and confidence in the years ahead

‘Refreshing Sri Lanka’ through “being the change by rethinking thinking” was LMD’s vision in September 2022: “To refresh a national attitude, we have to reboot the national mindset… the time is now, to rethink thinking and thereby rewire our actions and reactions – and responses – so that we may refresh a nation … If everyone makes that altruistic effort to act in the interest of the national wellbeing, we all win – now and for the future.”

Thereafter, ‘shaping a sustainable Sri Lanka’ became a driving force as LMD explored the island nation’s transition to a green-blue economy in July 2023.

The Interim Budget 2022 and Budget 2023 were the cynosure of all eyes in October 2023, “setting the stage for an economic reboot.”

This is the recalibration of island life that LMD will track carefully, and report on with care and confidence in the years ahead.