Assessing Media Reforms in Sri Lanka

Autor principal:
Pradeep Nishantha Weerasinghe
Programa:
Sesión 1
Día: miércoles, 20 de septiembre de 2017
Hora: 10:30 a 12:30
Lugar: Seminario 0.1.

The autocratic role that prevailed in Sri Lanka for more than a decade ended with the presidential election which was held in 2015. By now, in Sri Lanka, there exists a ray of hope that a comprehensive political and governance reform process will commence which shall ensure the freedom of expression. People of a country could have access to various information, various ideas and views only if there is Media Pluralism, Media Diversity, Media Accountability and Media Transparency in media landscape in that country. In spite of the fact that various studies have identified that media reforms are essential for strengthening the democratic activities in Sri Lanka. Given this context, the main questions that this study asked; how has the media industry affectedto the strength of the democratic process? What kind of results gain from the media reform efforts? What kind of media policies and reform needed? What are the trends and contextual challenges to Media Reform? This paper investigates the experience of Media Reform in Sri Lanka. The study found that even though they have understood the necessity of reconsidering media landscape since along time, there is no motivation among the journalists to move forward for an active scheme of action. The pressure exerted by the owners of the media, the lack of strong trade unions for journalists, the low standards of professionalism among the journalists, lack of confidence among the journalists that such media restructuring would be accomplished, are the factors that account for the lackadaisical manner of the journalists. The study concluded that the people’s representatives and policy makers are of the view that the excising form of media industry is favorable to continue with the weak political culture at present, their response towards media reforms is quite neutral.

Palabras clave: Media Policy, Sri Lanka’s Media Reforms, Media Diversity and Pluralism, Media Industry, Media Attribute