‘Asia Media Report 2009’ Launched in Colombo

Asia Media Report 2009’, coordinated, produced and published by the Asia Media Forum (AMF) with the assistance of Actionaid, was launched at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, on Aug. 4, 2009 amid a select gathering of media proprietors, editors, senior journalists and broadcasters.

Vijitha Yapa, one of the most senior journalists in Sri Lanka and the founder-editor of ‘The Island’ and ‘The Sunday Island’, and later editor of ‘The Sunday Times’, was chief guest. In his remarks, he traced the uneasy relationship that the Sri Lankan press has had with successive governments of different political persuasions.

"When journalists come under pressure from politicians or other pressure groups, they turn to editors and proprietors for support. If that is not forthcoming, few journalists can continue to practise their craft," Yapa said.

He paid a special tribute to the late Lasantha Wickrematunge, slain editor of ‘The Sunday Leader’, who once worked under him as a political columnist.

Media commentator and blogger Nalaka Gunawardene made a presentation on the theme of the report, 'Missing in the Media'. He emphasised the need for diverse, vibrant and commercially successful media to safeguard the public interest and amplify the widest possible range of voices and social concerns.

He said the mainstream media worldwide faces a major crisis of business models, technology and public confidence, and some are even predicting 'mass extinction of mass media'. One way that mainstream media can increase their resilience and relevance, he said, is to collaborate more with citizen journalists in the public interest.

Dilrukshi Handunnetti, who wrote the Sri Lanka chapter in the report, presented copies to Vijitha Yapa; Sukumar Muralidharan, programme manager for South Asia of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ); Lal Wickrematunge, chairman of Leader Publications (Pvt) Limited; and Hana Ibrahim, representing the chairman of Standard Newspapers (Pvt) Limited.