- Call for Sri Lanka Journalist Reports
- May 23, 2008 Filed under: Human Rights, Journalism, Journalists
Dear friends of free speech and protectors of journalism in Sri Lanka and around the world–For most of my professional career (I think it’s safe to say 20 years now), I’ve been a working journalist. I’ve got the college degree. Heavy tomes of tearsheets. Wads of experience writing about widely varied topics, from technology to travel, business to politics.
But for all that time I can’t say I’ve been as horrified as I am to know how journalists in Sri Lanka are being treated.
Clearly the mainstream media in the United States is operating on a completely different level, from a propaganda and media manipulation standpoint. Sure there are propaganda machines operating in Sri Lanka, both in power positions within government and the terrorist organization commonly known as Tamil Tigers. But it’s the real journalists–and the public–who are suffering in the crossfire. For a small country with big aspirations like Sri Lanka, it truly and deeply saddens my heart that journalists (and even their families) aiming to create social discussions while reporting the facts are being abducted, beaten, threatened, and even murdered.
I’ve been following the threat to free and fair journalism in the country since I took my own hiatus from the profession to help, in any way I could, after the tsunami of 2004. I only started “bookmarking” stories on occasion toward the end of 2007, when Mervin Silva stormed the media castle at the Rupavahini corp. with his “”bodyguards” related and subsequently getting his own a$$ kicked and even creating a brief hostage standoff for which journalists were blamed and then followed by months of retaliatory and cowardly violence toward journalists. Disheartened is an understatement. I am downright disgusted.To the left is an intentionally blurred snapshot of one quarter the total links I have collected in a file in my bookmarks folder just since December. Each line represents a story about a threat to journalism and/or freedom of expression in the country. Let me say it again–this snapshot is just one-fourth the total number of troubling stories I’ve collected in just six months.
I realize I have not addressed specifics here, and that’s intentional. I am currently in the United States, meaning I am not a direct source. This leads me to the whole point of this post:
I want your stories. I want real reports from real journalists and bloggers in Sri Lanka who are experiencing injustices that threaten your personal safety or the safety of your family. I want you to take advantage of this space to tell not just me but those that visit here (I will be inviting media watchdogs) exactly what is happening to you on the ground. If publishing in your paper isn’t safe enough, get some words out here.
The rules: I will not be pushing propaganda from any side or publicizing claims from sources I cannot verify. However, I will gladly preserve your anonymity if it is required. But you have to prove you are who you say you are and provide evidence testifying to the truth of your claims.
Feel free to contact me privately and state your case and tell me your fears. I will keep a secure log of who you are and assure the readers of your posts that, by merit of occupying any space here you are legitimate.
Note–I am fully aware this invitation may give rise to a number of complications. I cannot promise anything but let’s see how this goes.
Journalists can contact me here to discuss further.
