We believe that the media will live up to the few yet mandatory standards, which is the focus of all expectations. The essence of the role of the media is about being independent, responsible and reliable. It should also be noted that any compromises to its quality will rule out the purpose and existence of media. Disseminating the right information in the appropriate sense with a right approach are critical factors. For the media can influence the world with the way they report. The media should be of quality and able to build trust and credibility.
People have the right to correct information. There are, however, misleading websites growing in number that people have not been able to repress. If there is a compromise in each of the mediums, no legal censorship is required. But that does not seem to be the case. Impartial media censorship is thus the appropriate solution to this catastrophe rather than leaving it to the press or media reporters. Unethical websites promoting obscene and lewd content should be imposed with legal impediments to prevent them from being accessed in schools or via mobile phones and computers. Limits must be imposed.
Media is not meant to be controlled by politicians in power. Sri Lankan media institutions took a complete turn after the presidential election took place, as opposed to previously being threatened by politicians.
Media was primarily meant to voice the owner’s aspirations and independent thinking. Freedom of the media thus means freedom for every journalist to express his own free views subject to a recognized code of ethics.
The media has gone out of real-world truth. It is quantifiable, though unlimited, but lacks quality due to the fact that it has become the puppet of the political powers and the business world. We do not need a media that is tailor-made. What we do need is a true revelation through accurate reporting.
Both local and international media play a vital role in rightly communicating to the people the day to day happenings. Media should therefore act with responsibility at all times and be independent at the same time, without being affiliated to any political group or party. Reporting must always be balanced, accurate and unbiased in order to give a clear picture to the public. While media freedom is important, the media institutions – be it print or electronic media – should not abuse the freedom they currently enjoy. The code of ethics which governs the media should be strictly implemented and anyone who acts in violation should be penalized. These are my expectations for 2019.
The media that is currently trending is one that is quite hyper-sensitive to many incidents being reported. Business, economics and politics have become areas where media can cause a commotion. Media tends to disseminate perspectives which are false, misleading and biased, thereby arousing people. The lack of evidently true and impartial reporting has attenuated the very purpose of the media, especially at the international level. Talk shows, for instance, tend to prolong a particular incident or debate until it becomes distorted to a point where it even conflicts with ideologies and confuses the public. What we expect is for media to be simple and clear, with no grey areas.
Media doesn’t always have to focus on profit and publicity. There are plenty of advertisements and programmes taking prominence during the news and during peak times. Everything seems to be on a commercial value with the media especially with the trend of reality programmes catching up. Then we have talk shows and debates on hot topics that end up in virtual clashes and arguments. Spreading awareness and publicity on timely topics is good, but the manner in which these programmes run and the certain types of people or groups that get publicity from them is the problem. Are the moderators and comperes of these programmes fully aware of the subject matter themselves? This is very important and this is what is lacking. This is the quality we expect from media.
It can be noticed that the modus operandi of print and electronic media is totally different from each other. A daily reader can identify when certain newspapers just fill the spaces with incidents and advertisements for the sake of making a quick buck with less effort and responsibility. Some newspapers do carry a reasonable amount of learning and entertainment. I agree that interesting and valuable readings are also the duty of the media but it would be more valuable if these articles are unbiased and carry a true and fair view. Electronic media has to be much more responsible and independent especially because it is taking the audience by storm and disseminating info quicker than ever before. It is online and therefore instantaneously influences and makes an impact like forest fires. There are many reported incidents where social media has spread the word and aroused groups in society causing conflicts and disrupting day to day life. Overall, the expectation of media revolves around being sensible and ethical.
The time may have come for the media to stop pretending that it is apolitical – and if some media institutions have that rare quality, then they should consider this. By giving publicity to errant politicians in the name of ‘fairness,’ are they putting the country first?
Let’s take an example (I am leaving aside the long held rule that one is ‘innocent until proven guilty’). If someone is widely known or felt to be corrupt, how come he or she continues to be featured on the front pages of newspapers, covers of magazines and prime time news? Is it that should the media not feature them as such, they would pretty much have little to report?
To me, despite allegations of it being unconstitutional, the dissolution of parliament last night was a blessing in disguise – and so were the events leading up to it, no matter that they came from the gutter of politics that is commonplace in this lovely country of ours. Why? Because this gives the people one last chance (in my view) to clear the decks – to stop voting for anyone who is tainted by the brush of corruption even if he or she continues to merely go in and out of court or other bodies that are investigating him or her.
Let’s put it this way, he or she should not be on the ballot until proven innocent. One only needs to look at the ‘cabinet’ we would have had if the most recent appointments (a few were announced only minutes before the bombshell was thrown at us, about the dissolution of parliament), what would our image be in the eyes of the world when so many charged with running the country are being investigated for serious misdemeanours?
So getting back to the media, it is time that the media shuns the corrupt and even the allegedly corrupt (provided there is a reasonable chance of the allegations being proven to be true) by perhaps ‘demoting’ news that comes from them to the ‘inside pages’ (if at all!) so that the people of the land are exposed to those who are honest. This will encourage the people to stop voting for low calibre, utterly corrupt politicians and if this means we end up with less than 100 MPs in parliament, so be it – in fact, that would be a blessing!
The role of the media is such that it should not act out of joy or sorrow but be independent and impartial. In its bundle of responsibilities, the media also has to be reliable so that the public can trust what’s being reported.
Follow up is another responsibility of the media. If all the media can do is spread the news but do nothing as we see within Sri Lanka and the news seems to be to the same tune all the time or addressing somebody’s image in negative publicity, these are signs of the lost expectations of the media. In fact, in this type of situation, the purpose of the media seems to be empty. Our expectation is that the media should be for the benefit of the public at large and not to somebody’s whims.
The media must play a bigger role. The media must not take sides in politics because the people who are elected are not capable of running the country so why take sides?
Also, nothing happens when the media reports all the misdeeds by our politicians – just talk and no action. If you read the newspaper every day, there are stories of horror and crimes committed by politicians, public servants and even those who run Sri Lanka’s state schools but nothing happens. Why? Because those who can do something about this are corrupt themselves. A sad state of affairs, no future for our people and their children.
We believe that the media will live up to the few yet mandatory standards, which is the focus of all expectations. The essence of the role of the media is about being independent, responsible and reliable. It should also be noted that any compromises to its quality will rule out the purpose and existence of media. Disseminating the right information in the appropriate sense with a right approach are critical factors. For the media can influence the world with the way they report. The media should be of quality and able to build trust and credibility.
People have the right to correct information. There are, however, misleading websites growing in number that people have not been able to repress. If there is a compromise in each of the mediums, no legal censorship is required. But that does not seem to be the case. Impartial media censorship is thus the appropriate solution to this catastrophe rather than leaving it to the press or media reporters. Unethical websites promoting obscene and lewd content should be imposed with legal impediments to prevent them from being accessed in schools or via mobile phones and computers. Limits must be imposed.
Media is not meant to be controlled by politicians in power. Sri Lankan media institutions took a complete turn after the presidential election took place, as opposed to previously being threatened by politicians.
Media was primarily meant to voice the owner’s aspirations and independent thinking. Freedom of the media thus means freedom for every journalist to express his own free views subject to a recognized code of ethics.
The media has gone out of real-world truth. It is quantifiable, though unlimited, but lacks quality due to the fact that it has become the puppet of the political powers and the business world. We do not need a media that is tailor-made. What we do need is a true revelation through accurate reporting.
Both local and international media play a vital role in rightly communicating to the people the day to day happenings. Media should therefore act with responsibility at all times and be independent at the same time, without being affiliated to any political group or party. Reporting must always be balanced, accurate and unbiased in order to give a clear picture to the public. While media freedom is important, the media institutions – be it print or electronic media – should not abuse the freedom they currently enjoy. The code of ethics which governs the media should be strictly implemented and anyone who acts in violation should be penalized. These are my expectations for 2019.
The media that is currently trending is one that is quite hyper-sensitive to many incidents being reported. Business, economics and politics have become areas where media can cause a commotion. Media tends to disseminate perspectives which are false, misleading and biased, thereby arousing people. The lack of evidently true and impartial reporting has attenuated the very purpose of the media, especially at the international level. Talk shows, for instance, tend to prolong a particular incident or debate until it becomes distorted to a point where it even conflicts with ideologies and confuses the public. What we expect is for media to be simple and clear, with no grey areas.
Media doesn’t always have to focus on profit and publicity. There are plenty of advertisements and programmes taking prominence during the news and during peak times. Everything seems to be on a commercial value with the media especially with the trend of reality programmes catching up. Then we have talk shows and debates on hot topics that end up in virtual clashes and arguments. Spreading awareness and publicity on timely topics is good, but the manner in which these programmes run and the certain types of people or groups that get publicity from them is the problem. Are the moderators and comperes of these programmes fully aware of the subject matter themselves? This is very important and this is what is lacking. This is the quality we expect from media.
It can be noticed that the modus operandi of print and electronic media is totally different from each other. A daily reader can identify when certain newspapers just fill the spaces with incidents and advertisements for the sake of making a quick buck with less effort and responsibility. Some newspapers do carry a reasonable amount of learning and entertainment. I agree that interesting and valuable readings are also the duty of the media but it would be more valuable if these articles are unbiased and carry a true and fair view. Electronic media has to be much more responsible and independent especially because it is taking the audience by storm and disseminating info quicker than ever before. It is online and therefore instantaneously influences and makes an impact like forest fires. There are many reported incidents where social media has spread the word and aroused groups in society causing conflicts and disrupting day to day life. Overall, the expectation of media revolves around being sensible and ethical.
The time may have come for the media to stop pretending that it is apolitical – and if some media institutions have that rare quality, then they should consider this. By giving publicity to errant politicians in the name of ‘fairness,’ are they putting the country first?
Let’s take an example (I am leaving aside the long held rule that one is ‘innocent until proven guilty’). If someone is widely known or felt to be corrupt, how come he or she continues to be featured on the front pages of newspapers, covers of magazines and prime time news? Is it that should the media not feature them as such, they would pretty much have little to report?
To me, despite allegations of it being unconstitutional, the dissolution of parliament last night was a blessing in disguise – and so were the events leading up to it, no matter that they came from the gutter of politics that is commonplace in this lovely country of ours. Why? Because this gives the people one last chance (in my view) to clear the decks – to stop voting for anyone who is tainted by the brush of corruption even if he or she continues to merely go in and out of court or other bodies that are investigating him or her.
Let’s put it this way, he or she should not be on the ballot until proven innocent. One only needs to look at the ‘cabinet’ we would have had if the most recent appointments (a few were announced only minutes before the bombshell was thrown at us, about the dissolution of parliament), what would our image be in the eyes of the world when so many charged with running the country are being investigated for serious misdemeanours?
So getting back to the media, it is time that the media shuns the corrupt and even the allegedly corrupt (provided there is a reasonable chance of the allegations being proven to be true) by perhaps ‘demoting’ news that comes from them to the ‘inside pages’ (if at all!) so that the people of the land are exposed to those who are honest. This will encourage the people to stop voting for low calibre, utterly corrupt politicians and if this means we end up with less than 100 MPs in parliament, so be it – in fact, that would be a blessing!
The role of the media is such that it should not act out of joy or sorrow but be independent and impartial. In its bundle of responsibilities, the media also has to be reliable so that the public can trust what’s being reported.
Follow up is another responsibility of the media. If all the media can do is spread the news but do nothing as we see within Sri Lanka and the news seems to be to the same tune all the time or addressing somebody’s image in negative publicity, these are signs of the lost expectations of the media. In fact, in this type of situation, the purpose of the media seems to be empty. Our expectation is that the media should be for the benefit of the public at large and not to somebody’s whims.
The media must play a bigger role. The media must not take sides in politics because the people who are elected are not capable of running the country so why take sides?
Also, nothing happens when the media reports all the misdeeds by our politicians – just talk and no action. If you read the newspaper every day, there are stories of horror and crimes committed by politicians, public servants and even those who run Sri Lanka’s state schools but nothing happens. Why? Because those who can do something about this are corrupt themselves. A sad state of affairs, no future for our people and their children.
Do not be biased. Be fair!