CPA Media Monitoring in 2009

The weekly media monitoring programme by CPA featuring Jagath Wellawatta, from the Sri Lankan Child Protection Authority.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).

Media monitoring by CPA on humanitarian affairs coverage in mainstream print, radio and television media in Sri Lanka featuring EPRLF-Pathmanabha Wing General Secretary T. Sridharan.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).

Nowadays very often we hear about the doctors who give the foremost place for money making. It is very rarely people hear about a health service that gives prominence to the wellbeing of the people. But not only in the world, in Sri Lanka as well, there are admirable stories about the doctors who were sensitive not only about the treatment but also about the people as well. The memory of Dr. Senake Bibile of Sri Lanka is one such admirable example. It is clear that all over the world such lives of those who engaged in an honorable public service became even the sources of literary creations not just because of the imagination. It was around such an ideal doctor that Jayalath Manorathna’s serial Tele drama “Rathriya Manaram” which was telecasted over the National Television, had been created.

However an incident that could refresh the memory of doctors who engaged in a community service which transcended the medical service was observed when monitoring the media in the recent days. That is the story of the three doctors who engaged in mobile hospital service in the Wanni and served the community till the end of the war.

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The weekly media monitoring programme by CPA featuring Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, member of the UNP and Minister of Parliament.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).

Media monitoring by CPA on humanitarian affairs coverage in mainstream print, radio and television media in Sri Lanka.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).

The weekly media monitoring programme by CPA featuring well known Colombo University History Lecturer Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).

A Powerpoint presentation to complement the media monitoring report from January to February 2009 available here.

Download the PPT here or as a PDF here.

Synopsis:

• Sinhala and English Media do not report disasters and deaths of people in Vanni due to military operations and shelling.

• Tamil Media on the contrary more rigorously cover these issues, quoting websites as sources of information. Though for around two weeks we monitored a drop in coverage of these issues, it is now back to what it once was.

• Print media that don’t generally publish news related to the humanitarian crisis in the Vanni for example nevertheless give a lot of coverage to official responses by the Government to communiqués, press releases and statements by local and international civil society actors on Sri Lanka.

• Even when news based on or quotes a government authority is found to be misleading or incorrect, a retraction and correction is rarely made. Those who discover and point out such factual inaccuracies and underlying bias are targeted for smear campaigns.

• Little or no consideration and coverage is given to framing and flagging problems faced by Tamil civilians caught up in the war as well as those people and institutions engaging in humanitarian assistance.

• In contrast to the Sinhala and English Media that primarily use government sources in reports on humanitarian issues affecting the Tamil people, Tamil media seems to have  a more diverse selection and attribution of sources.

• Media across all languages gives equal coverage to issues of national importance as well as events and processes anchored to polity and society in the South. However, there is a clear polarization between Tamil media on the one hand, and English and Sinhala media on the other hand on the qualitative and quantitative reportage of problems affecting the Tamil peoples.

• A symbiotic relationship between traditional print and electronic media and the regime is evident.

Download the full paper here.

Download a Powerpoint presentation of the key findings here.

This is a translation of a Sinhala media monitoring column authored by CPA (download the original here).

A prominent feature that we come across in Media Monitoring throughout the recent times is that the media reportage on humanitarian issues encountered by the civilians caught up in the war was restricted to the information provided by the governmental authorities. It was very rarely that something was published without that restriction. What was mostly revealed through the information provided by the authorities was either transportation of essential commodities or the harrassments that the civilians are facing under the LTTE. It was only the Tamil media which reported on the loss of lives injuries, dearth of food and medicine and many other grievances that the people are suffering, in addition to such information provided. For this they were depending on the sources such as website reports, foreign media reports and the statements of local and international institutions and individuals etc. Even that reportage subsided for a short period due to the influences made recently on the Tamil media. But now it has recovered from that situation. Even though the international community has made a statement on the humanitarian issues affecting the people displaced in the war zone, rather than reporting the original news that include the statement, what mostly happened was reporting the replies to and attacks on the statement. Therefore it was a noticeable trend in the Sinhala and English print and electronic media to report secondary news without the initial news.

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Media monitoring by CPA on humanitarian affairs coverage in mainstream print, radio and television media in Sri Lanka featuring senior EPRLF leader Thiranavakaran Sridharan.

The discussions of this half an hour programme were based on CPA’s extensive in-house monitoring of all electronic, print and some web media, with a special emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative coverage of news stories on the humanitarian fallout of war, human rights and governance related issues. This programme was broadcast weekly on TNL and produced by Young Asia Television (YA-TV).