By Dinidu de Alwis - Employees of State funded media institutions along with media activists expressed their opposition to the misuse of State media, in the run up to the Presidential Elections. Employees alleged that state media is being used and manipulated for the promotion of incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sunil Jayasekera of the Free Media Movement (FMM) said that the blatant abuse of the media, is in effect taking away the people’s right to free information. He also said that it is imperative that organizations such as the FMM work towards ensuring freedom for journalists to work.
Jayasekera added that State media does not give space for the opposition candidates, and instead broadcasts messages which hinders the campaigns of the opposition campaigns.
The employees gathered in front of the Rupavahini corperation shouted slogans towards the senior administration staff of all State run media institutions, and alleged that the usage of air time and print space for political motives were negatively effecting on the revenues of the organization as well.
The demonstration was also attended by civil society organizations and media activists, who came in support of the employee’s cause.
“As media professionals and defenders of the rights of the media industry and media enterprises, we have responded to the appeal by workers in the state media institutions who have collectively appealed to us to support them in their protest of the interference of their normal day-to-day work at the public media by political powers” said Lakshman Gunasekera of the South Asia Free Media Association.
Gunasekera added that the media is being manipulated for the benefit of one candidate during the election, and that they are disappointed at the abuse of people’s resources in the mass media.
The protests comes hot in the heels of a briefing yesterday, where employees alleged that State media is facing a financial crisis due to the taking up of potential advertising space and revenue sources for the campaigning by the Government.
Media institutions have become highly polarized in their reportage during the run up to the Presidential Election, where the incumbent President Rajapaksa faces stiff challenge from his chief opposition in the form of the former Commander of the Army, (Retd.) Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Both candidates have pledged in their manifestos to allow greater freedom to the media to operate.
Veteran Civil Servant Jayampathy Hettiarachchi’s appointment as the Competent Authority over Media, by Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake was later revoked citing the non-cooperation from State media institutions. Dissanayake earlier produced a set of guidelines for media institutions to practice during the time of the elections, which the Competent Authority was expected to enforce.
The Supreme Court earlier directed all media to follow the guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Elections in respect to the forthcoming Presidential Elections following an application filed by Fonseka against the state run Independent Television Network, and Lake House for violating the guidelines of the Elections Commissioner against biased coverage of the Presidential election campaign.
Gen. Fonseka had said that the two media institutions had disregarded and blatantly violated the guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Election which were issued following a fundamental rights application filed by him in last December.
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