2022 காலிமுகத்திடல் போராட்டத்தில் ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் எதிர்கொண்ட சவால்கள் ; ஆய்வு அறிக்கை கையளிப்பு
2022 காலிமுகத்திடல் போராட்டத்தின் போது ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் எதிர்கொண்ட சவால்கள், பிரச்சினைகள் குறித்து ஆய்வு நடத்துவதற்கு இலங்கை உழைக்கும் ஊடகவியலாளர் சங்கம் ஒரு ஆய்வுக் குழுவை நியமித்தது.
சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் டாக்டர் ரஜ்னி கமகே மற்றும் ஹரீந்திர பி.தசநாயக்க மற்றும் அபர்ணா ஹெட்டியாராச்சி ஆகிய சுயாதீன ஆய்வுக் குழுவால் இந்த ஆய்வு மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது.
2022ஆம் ஆண்டு மார்ச் 30 மற்றும் ஆகஸ்ட் 31 க்கு இடையில் இடம்பெற்ற சம்பவங்களை இந்த ஆய்வு கண்டறிந்துள்ளது.
இலங்கையில் ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் நீண்ட காலமாக சமூக மற்றும் அரசியல் ஸ்திரமற்ற சூழலில் பணியாற்றி வரும் சூழல் இந்த விசாரணை அறிக்கை இலங்கையில் கருத்துச் சுதந்திரத்தைப் பாதுகாப்பதற்கும் மேம்படுத்துவதற்கும் ஒரு முறையான வேலைத்திட்டத்தின் அவசியத்தை எடுத்துக் காட்டியுள்ளதுடன், சமூகத்தின் பல்வேறு மட்டங்கள் ஒன்றிணைந்து செயற்படுவது முக்கியமானது எனவும் விளக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
குறிப்பாக, பாதுகாப்புப் படையினருக்கும் ஊடகவியலாளர்களுக்கும் இடையில் நம்பிக்கையைக் கட்டியெழுப்புவதன் மூலம், மோதல் அறிக்கையிடலில் இரு தரப்பினரும் பணியாற்றுவதன் மூலம் சேதத்தை குறைக்க முடியும்.
ஆய்வு அறிக்கையின் நகல் சிரேஷ்ட பிரதிப் பொலிஸ் மா அதிபர் அஜித் ரோஹனவிடம் நேற்று ஒப்படைக்கப்பட்டது.
பொலிஸ் ஊடகப் பேச்சாளர் சிரேஷ்ட பொலிஸ் அத்தியட்சகர் நிஹால் தல்துவவுக்கு அறிக்கையின் நகல் வழங்கப்பட்டது.
ஆய்வாளர் ஹரீந்திர பி.தசநாயக்க மற்றும் இலங்கை உழைக்கும் ஊடகவியலாளர் சங்கம் தலைவர் துமிந்த சம்பத், செயலாளர் சு.நிஷாந்தன், பொருளாளர் டி. நடராசா, குழு உறுப்பினர் லக்ஷ்மன் முத்துதந்திரிகே ஆகியோர் அடங்கிய குழுவே இந்த ஆய்வு அறிக்கையை கையளித்து.
2022 වසරේ ගෝල්ෆේස් විරෝධතා අතරතුර මාධ්යවේදීන් මුහුණ දුන් අභියෝග ; පර්යේෂණ වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම
2022 වසරේ ගෝල්ෆේස් විරෝධතා අතරතුර මාධ්යවේදීන් මුහුණ දුන් අභියෝග පිළිබඳව වෘත්තිය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමය විසින් පර්යේෂණ කණ්ඩායමක් ලවා අධ්යයනයක් සිදු කළේය.
මෙම පර්යේෂණය සිඳු කරනු ලැබුවේ සිංගප්පූරුවේ ජාතික විශ්ව විද්යාලයේ ආචාර්ය රජ්නි ගමගේ සහ ස්වාධීන පර්යේෂණ කණ්ඩායම් වන හරීන්ද්ර බී දසනායක , අපර්ණා හෙට්ටිආරච්චි යන පර්යේෂකයින් විසිනි.
මෙම පර්යේෂණය මගින් 2022 මාර්තු 30 සිට අගෝස්තු 31 දක්වාකාලය තුළ සිදු වූ සිඳුවීම් ආවරණය කර ඇත.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ජනමාධ්යවේදීන් හට බොහෝ කලක පටන් සේවය කිරීමට සිදුව ඇත්තේ සමාජ , දේශපාලන අස්ථාවරත්වයන් ඉහළ පරිසරයකය.
මෙම පරයේෂණ වාර්තාව තූළින් ශ්රී ලංකාව තූළ ප්රකාශනයේ නිදහස ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සහ ප්රවර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා විධිමත් වැඩ පිළිවෙලක අවශ්යතාව පෙන්වා දී ඇති අතර ඒ සඳහා සමාජයේ විවිධ ස්තරයන් එක්ව කටයුතු කිරීම ද වැදගත් බව පැහැදිලි කර තිබේ. විශේෂයෙන් ආරක්ෂක අංශ සහ මාධ්යවේදීන් අතර විශ්වාසයක් ගොඩ නඟා ගනිමින් ගැටුම් වාර්තා කරණයේ දී දෙපාර්ශවයම කටයුතු කිරීම තුළින් හානිය අවම කර ගත හැකිවනු ඇත.
පර්යේෂණ වාර්තාවේ පිටපතක් ශ්රී ලංකා වෘත්තිය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති දුමින්ද සම්පත් මහතා විසින් පොලිස්පති සී. ඩී වික්රමරත්න මහතා වෙනුවෙන් ජ්යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්ය පොලිස්පති අජිත් රෝහණ මහතා වෙත 2023 / 04/ 03 දින පොලිස් මූලස්ථානයේ දී භාරදීම සිදුවුණි. එම අවස්ථාවට පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශක ජ්යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් අධිකාරී නිහාල් තල්දූව , පර්යේෂක හරීන්ද්ර බී දසනායක සහ වෘත්තිය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමයේ වැඩ බලන ලේකම් එස්. නිශාන්තන්, භාණ්ඩාගාරික ටී. නඩරාසා, කමිටු සාමාජික ලක්ෂ්මන් මුතුතන්තිරිගේ යන මහත්වරුන්ද එක්වූහ.
SLWJA Recommends Establishment of Independent Commission for Freedom of Expression and Journalists Safety Fund
The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) recommends establishing an Independent Commission for the protection and promotion of Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka and setting up a media safety fund alongside a sustainable and transparent financing model. The SLWJA conducted a study on the challenges journalists faced during the protests last year through a team of researchers and commissioned the research study officially launching it on the 25th of April 2023 in Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s journalists have been reporting in an environment of high socio-political volatility for numerous years now. The media faced several challenges in relaying accurate and relevant information to the citizens during the protests in 2022.
Journalists were exposed to violence while covering the people’s protests (Janatha Aragalaya) since March 2022, including exposure to tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon attacks, and baton charges by police and armed forces. Some anti-protest quarters blamed protestors (civilians) for pretending to be journalists to get through security force barricades, falsely claiming media immunity.
Incidents of assault and harassment came from the police and security forces, but also other groups, such as pro-government supporters and from some within the protests itself. Other incidents of harassment and surveillance of media, outside the main protest site, by security forces and police were also recorded during this period.
In the backdrop of incidents prevailed SLWJA decided to document the challenges to the safety of journalists in reporting during the recent people’s protests in Sri Lanka, comparing these to international standards and practices on the safety of journalists, and making policy recommendations pertaining to all stakeholders, including the policymakers, law enforcement and security forces, media institutions, journalists, and unions.
This research was conducted by a group of researchers, Rajni Gamage, Harindra B. Dassanayake, and Aparna Hettiarachchi. The research covered the period from 30th March to 31st August 2022. The research team had consultations with assaulted and affected journalists and media persons (from Colombo, and other regions of the country), relevant government officials, media establishments, media experts, and a police spokesperson.
The report was handed over to the President of SLWJA Duminda Sampath at its office in Colombo 10 on 21 April 2023.
The establishment of an Independent Commission for the protection and promotion of Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka is one of the recommendations the study has highlighted. This commission should function as the main platform for co-regulation of print, electronic, and social media and the members of such a co-regulatory body should include nominees by all key stakeholders.
The functions of such a commission would be, among other things, issuing licenses to media stations and registration of news publications, investigating alleged violence against journalists and providing legal protection to affected journalists, including prosecuting crimes against journalists, and providing a mediatory space, and establishing governance mechanisms for information regulation.
A Media Safety Fund for journalists could include state allocation of funds and/or passing necessary legislation to tax a portion of media advertising (including on social media platforms), or on turnover of media corporations above a certain threshold. The primary function of the Media Safety Fund is to provide journalists and media workers with insurance, for damages and injuries incurred as occupational hazards.
A RESEARCH ON MEDIA SAFETY IN SRI LANKA DURING 2022 PEOPLE’S ARAGALAYA
A study on the challenges journalists faced during the protests last year commissioned by the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association (SLWJA) will be officially launched on the 25th of April 2023 in Colombo.
This research was conducted by a group of researchers, Rajni Gamage, Harindra B. Dassanayake, and Aparna Hettiarachchi.
Sri Lanka’s journalists have been reporting in an environment of high socio-political volatility for numerous years now. The media faced several challenges in relaying accurate and relevant information to the citizens during the protests in 2022. Journalists were exposed to violence while covering the people’s protests (Janatha Aragalaya) since March 2022, including exposure to tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon attacks, and baton charges by police and armed forces. Some anti-protest quarters blamed protestors (civilians) for pretending to be journalists to get through security force barricades, falsely claiming media immunity.
Incidents of assault and harassment came from the police and security forces, but also other groups, such as pro-government supporters and from some within the protests itself. Other incidents of harassment and surveillance of media, outside the main protest site, by security forces and police were also recorded during this period. These developments are cause for concern, as a free and independent media is essential to a functioning and healthy democracy. Although the media is considered the fourth estate of democracy, the state’s approach to the media during the protests has indicated otherwise.
In the backdrop of incidents prevailed SLWJA decided to document the challenges to the safety of journalists in reporting during the recent people’s protests in Sri Lanka, comparing these to international standards and practices on the safety of journalists, and to make policy recommendations pertaining to all stakeholders, including the policymakers, law enforcement and security forces, media institutions, journalists, and unions.
The research team had consultations with assaulted and affected journalists and media persons (from Colombo, and other regions of the country), relevant government officials, media establishments, media experts, and a police spokesperson. The report was handed over to the President of SLWJA Duminda Sampath at its office in Colombo 10 on 21 April 2023.
The report looks at the media landscape, identifies persistent issues and emerging trends, and makes recommendations to improve the safety of journalists. Recommendations broadly four areas, recommendations for policy making institutions, law-enforcement agencies, journalists and journalist unions, and media institutions.
Some of the key recommendations are as follows:
- Recognizing information as a public good and fundamental right to which everyone is entitled.
- Establishing constructive, non-discriminatory mechanisms of dialogue with media and journalists’ standing or ad hoc committees, bringing together politicians, public prosecutors, police officers etc.
- Depoliticizing prosecution on crimes against journalists and ensuring their strengthening legal support to affected journalists.
- Ensuring that journalists have access to safety equipment,
- Recognized the digital transformation of the media space and safeguarded the Internet and other digital platforms for information production and sharing.
A Research on Media Safety in Sri Lanka during 2022 People’s Aragalaya was handed over by Harendra B Dasanayake on behalf of the Research Team to SLWJA President Duminda Sampth, Treasurer Thambirasa Nadarasa, National Organizer Shantha Wijesooriya, Former President and Executive Committee Member Lasantha Ruhunage.
This research was conducted by a group of researchers, Dr. Rajni Gamage of National University of Singapore, Harindra B. Dassanayake, and Aparna Hettiarachchi. The research team had consultations with assaulted and affected journalists and media persons (from Colombo, and other regions of the country), relevant government officials, media establishments, media experts, and a police spokesperson.
ආණ්ඩු මාධ්ය මර්දනයට ලෑස්ති වුනහොත් අපි ජාත්යන්තරයට යනවා – ශ්රී ල .වෘ .ජ .ස . සභාපති
රනිල් -රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව නීති අණ පනත් ගෙනැල්ලා මාධ්ය මර්දනය කරන්න නම් ලැස්ති වෙන්නේ ජාත්යන්තර මාධ්ය සංවිධානයක් සමාජිකයෙක් වන අපි මෙම ප්රශ්නයට ජාත්යන්තරයට ගෙන යන බව ශ්රී ලංතා වෘත්තීය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති දුමින්ද සම්පත් පවසයි .
සම්පත් එසේ පැවැසුවේ ඹාධ්ය නිදහසට අත නොතබනු යන මැයෙන් පංචිගහවත්ත ශ්රී ලංකා වෘත්තීය ජනමාධවේදීන්ගේ සංගම් කාර්යාලයේ අද (20) සවස පැවති ප්රවෘත්ති සාකචිජාවේදීය . එම මාධ්ය හමුව පැවැත් වුයේ සියත රූපවාහිනි ටෙලි වැකියේ සංස්කාර ලාල් හේමන්ත මාවලගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුන්ගේ වරප්රසාද කැඩුවා යැයි පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරිම් කාරක සභාව හෙට (21) රැස් වී ඔහුට එරෙහිව ගන්නට යන ක්රියා මාර්ගයට එරෙහිවය .
ජනතාවගේ බදු මුදල් වලින් ජිවත් වන පිරිසක් පාර්ලිමේනතු වර ප්රසාද වලට මුවාවෙලා ජනතාගේ භාෂණයේ සහ ප්රකාශනයේ අයිතියට විලංගු දැමීමට උත්සහ කරන බව සම්පත් පැවැසීය .
මෙම මාධ්ය සාකච්ජාව සදහා ප්රජාත්රාන්තවාදය උදෙසා මාධ්ය ව්යාපාරයේය කැදවුම්කරු චන්දන සිරිමල් වත්ත . මුස්ලිම් ජනමාධ්ය සංවිධානයේ උප ලේකම් ජවෙඩ් මුනව්වර් .තරුණ ජන මාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ සභාපති තර්දු ජයවර්ධන ,සහ දකුණු ආසියානු නිදහස් මාධ්ය සංගමයේ ශ්රී ලංකා පාර්ශ්වයේ සභාපති ලෂ්මන් ගුණසේකර සහ ශ්රී ලංකා වාත්තීය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමයේ විධායක කම්ටු සමාජික ලසන්ත රුහුණගේ යන අය මාධ්ය සාකච්ජාවට සහභාගිවෙමින් අදහස් දැක්වුුහ .
ශ්රී ලංකා වාත්තීය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපතිවරයා අදහස් දක්වමින් වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේ පැවැසීය .
පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යන අය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගියාට පස්සේ ඔවුන්ගේ හොරකම් ,දුෂණ වංචා සහ අක්රමිකතා හෙළිවන එක වළක්වා ගන්න පාර්ලිමේන්තු වරල්රසාද වලට මුවාවේ වෙන්නයි මේ හදන්නේ . ලෝකයේ කොහෙවත් මේ වගේ මාධ්ය මර්දනයක් සිද්ධ වෙන්නේ නැහැ . නීති සහ අණ පනත් මගින් .මාධයවේදීන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න , සිරඅඩස්සියට පත් කරන දරුණු තත්ත්වයකට ගමන් කරන්න පුළුවන් මාධ්ය සංවිධාන වගකිමක් තමයි ඒ වැනි අවස්ථාවල දි පළමු මොහොතේ දි මැදිහත් විය යුතුයි . ජනතා බදු මුදල් වලින් යැපෙන පිරිසක් කොහාමද ජනතාවගේ භාෂණයේ සහ ප්රකාශනයේ අයිතිය විලංගු දැමීමට කටයුතු කරන්නේ කියලා . .මේ ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ට පමනක් නොව සිවිල් සමාජයට සහ සමාන්ය ජනයාට ද මේ තත්ත්වයට බලපානවා , අපි සියලු දෙනාට එකට එකතුවෙලා එම තත්ත්වයට මුහුණ දෙන්න වෙනවා . ලංකාවේ අපිට බැරි නම් මේ නීති අණ පනත් ගෙන එම වළක්වන්න අපි ලැස්තියි ජත්යන්තර ජන මාධ්ය සංවිධානානයක සමාජිකයෙක් මේ ප්රශ්නය ජාත්යන්තරයට ගෙනි යන්න .එහෙම තැනකට අපි පත් කරන්න එපා කියලා ආණ්ඩුවෙන් අපි ඉල්ලනවා . අපි එහෙම තැනකට ගියහොත් අපහසුතාවයට පත් වෙන්නේ ආණ්ඩුවමයි .
SLWJA members commemorate dead and disappeared journalists at a Black January Protest on January 27, 2023!
Killed and Disappeared journalists remembered through Black January: Across Sri Lanka, journalists, press freedom advocates and human rights organisations held Black January commemorations, remembering killed, assaulted, and disappeared journalists across the country. Through annual demonstrations, protestors call on Sri Lankan authorities to combat impunity by launching investigations into crimes against journalists. The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association (SLWJA) organised a protest in Colombo’s Viharamahadevi Park, calling on the government to investigate crimes against journalists and stressing the important role independent media plays in democracy. The Free Media Movement held a candlelight vigil in Borella, with speakers and participation from journalists, civil rights activists, and press freedom organisations. Other demonstrations occurred throughout the country. ‘Black January’ has long been observed, as Sri Lankan officials fail to properly investigate and charge perpetrators of violence against journalists.
The holiday has been marked due to the high frequency of crimes against journalists occurring in January, especially through Sri Lanka’s civil war. In early January 2009, the Sirasa studio suffered a series of attacks, facing petrol bombs, stalking, and the destruction of equipment following an invasion of the media outlet. On January 8, Sunday Leader newspaper editor and senior journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was killed. Despite international and domestic pressure to investigate his case, inaction is prevalent. Political cartoonist and journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, a critic of the then Rajapaksa government, disappeared on January 24, 2010. Similarly, Upali Tennakoon, editor of Sinhalese language newspaper Rivira, and Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a news producer at state-run television station Rupavahini, were attacked on January 30, 2011, and January 23, 2008, respectively.
View this email in your browser February 2023Welcome to the IFJ’s monthly media bulletin for South Asia’s Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) SLWJA members commemorate dead and disappeared journalists at a Black January Protest on January 27, 2023. Credit: SLWJA In FocusKilled and Disappeared journalists remembered through Black January: Across Sri Lanka, journalists, press freedom advocates and human rights organisations held Black January commemorations, remembering killed, assaulted, and disappeared journalists across the country. Through annual demonstrations, protestors call on Sri Lankan authorities to combat impunity by launching investigations into crimes against journalists. The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association (SLWJA) organised a protest in Colombo’s Viharamahadevi Park, calling on the government to investigate crimes against journalists and stressing the important role independent media plays in democracy. The Free Media Movement held a candlelight vigil in Borella, with speakers and participation from journalists, civil rights activists, and press freedom organisations. Other demonstrations occurred throughout the country. ‘Black January’ has long been observed, as Sri Lankan officials fail to properly investigate and charge perpetrators of violence against journalists. The holiday has been marked due to the high frequency of crimes against journalists occurring in January, especially through Sri Lanka’s civil war. In early January 2009, the Sirasa studio suffered a series of attacks, facing petrol bombs, stalking, and the destruction of equipment following an invasion of the media outlet. On January 8, Sunday Leader newspaper editor and senior journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was killed. Despite international and domestic pressure to investigate his case, inaction is prevalent. Political cartoonist and journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, a critic of the then Rajapaksa government, disappeared on January 24, 2010. Similarly, Upali Tennakoon, editor of Sinhalese language newspaper Rivira, and Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a news producer at state-run television station Rupavahini, were attacked on January 30, 2011, and January 23, 2008, respectively.In this bulletin: • Misinformation prevalent in South Asia• Bangladesh government orders closure of 191 websites • Probe launched into death of Indian journalist Shashikant Waishe • Sri Lankan state minister modelling future media policy on China, Singapore • IFJ runs regional fact-checking forum • IFJ-NED Project Extended to 2025The RegionMisinformation and efforts against it: In recent years, the unintentional or purposeful spreading of misleading or false information has become increasingly prevalent across South Asia. According to researchers from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, commissioned under an EU-funded IFJ project, misinformation and disinformation are increasingly seen in coverage of politics, health, conflict, religion and disasters. In Nepal, doctored images, fake screenshots, and out-of-context ‘shallow-fake’ videos were significant sources of misinformation and disinformation during Nepal’s recent local and parliament and provincial elections. In 2019, fake news on Facebook led to several communal clashes in Bangladesh. During the 2022 Sri Lanka protests, demonstrators were inaccurately portrayed as ‘naïve’ and ‘unserious’, obscuring the legitimate concerns and complaints directed at the then Rajapaksa government. An ongoing economic crisis and political instability further served to spread disinformation and misinformation in Sri Lanka, weakening the spread of accurate and unbiased news throughout the island. Numerous initiatives have been founded to combat misleading or inaccurate social media posts, political statements, and news articles. In India, FactChecker, the nation’s first fact-checking organisation was launched in February 2014 ahead of the parliamentary elections. Currently, 27 fact-checking organisations are active in India, with over 17 associated with the International Fact-Checking Network (ICFN). In Nepal, organisations like South Asia Check, Nepal Fact Check, and popular blogs like My Sansar and Nepal Check all serve a valuable role in the country’s information environment. In Sri Lanka, FactCheck.lk was launched in 2018, while other fact-checking initiatives like Watchdog, Citizen Fact Check, Fact Seeker, Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka and AFP Sri Lanka help fight disinformation.  Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma in a photo with FNJ representatives on February 6, 2023. Credit: FNJNational IssuesAfghanistan: Foreign journalist Mortaza Behboudi, who was arrested on 7 January in Kabul, has been charged with “espionage”. The French-Afghani photojournalist was arrested by the Taliban while trying to obtain a media work permit. Behboudi has been awarded two Bayeux Prizes and a Varenne award for the national daily press and has been recognized for his coverage of Afghanistan before and after the Taliban’s ascension in August 2021.Bangladesh: The Bangladesh government has ordered the closure of 191 websites accused of publishing “anti-state news”. Information Minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud has accused the websites of ‘spreading confusion among the public’. The Bangladeshi government has blocked websites using powers granted under the draconian Digital Security Act before, notably ahead of teh country’s 2018 national elections The move has been criticised by human rights organisations and freedom of information advocates. Maldives: The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) organised and held its first training session program entitled ‘Think Like a Journalist’ on February 8. The session was delivered by senior journalist Alan Geere and was participated by university students and working journalists. During the session, Geere covered several ethical and practical considerations of journalism. Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan State Minister of Mass Media, Shantha Bandara expressed his intention to pursue a domestic media policy in line with Chinese and Singaporean models. Citing concerns over ‘social disturbances’, the minister announced his government’s intention to establish greater regulations on social media users and platforms. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has previously announced his government’s intentions to echo Singapore’s restrictive social media legislation; both moves have been denounced by media rights organisations and press freedom advocates.Bhutan: The Prime Minister of Bhutan has said that the mandatory insertion of a one-page Dzongkha-language section in every private English newspaper has failed to effectively promote and develop the Dzongkha language in the country. In the wake of this news, the Prime Minister has announced that the government would support the only private Dzongkha-language newspaper, Kuensel, to support quality local journalism. India: The Maharashtra state government announced the formation of a Special Investigative Team (SIT) on February 11 to probe the death of journalist Shashikant Warishe, who was killed on February 7. The investigation is being pushed by Devendra Fadnavis, an opposition politician who holds the home department portfolio. The Mahanagari Times journalist, died a day after being deliberately struck by a vehicle, allegedly driven by local land broker Pandharinath Amberkar, against whom the journalists had criticised as conducting criminal activity. Nepal: Media stakeholders, including the Freedom Forum, the National Federation of Right To Information, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), and the Nepal Press Union have expressed their concerns over a decision by Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi’s decision to classify 87 categories of policy-level information. In an official statement released on January 29, FNJ General Secretary Roshan Puri has argued that the government’s new classification system is against the spirit of the Right To Information. Pakistan: Pakistan unblocked Wikipedia on February 7, two days after officials suspended the services of the online encyclopedia for hosting ‘blasphemous sentiments’. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked Wikipedia on February 4, following unmet demands for Wikipedia to remove offensive, ye content. The unblock order was issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif following consultation with a three-member ministerial committee.Featured ActionNepal: Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) met with the newly appointed Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma on February 6 to discuss current issues in the Nepali media. During the discussion, FNJ president Bipul Pokharel, and other FNJ representatives urged Sharma to fulfil obligations under existing media-related legislation and to include greater stakeholder input. Bhutan: On February 1, the Journalists Association of Bhutan launched a new program promoting solutions journalism. The training program has been established with support from the UNDP Bhutan, Bhutan’s Department of Tourism Bhutan, and the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN). As part of the program, Bhutanese journalists will aim to engage in the evidence-based mode of reporting focusing on social issues as advocated for by the SJN. India: The Indian Journalists Union launched its first meeting with the Gender Council of the Tripura Journalists Union (TJU) on February 11 to discuss the low percentage of women working in journalism and provide support to change the current situation. TJU President Sajjad Ali noted that there is a need to understand existing reasons behind sexism and gendered violence to challenge gender inequality and empower women in journalism. As part of the meeting goals, TJU encourages holding workshops to support young female journalists. IFJ BlogThe increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism poses an unprecedented challenge for journalists in Pakistan. The potential of ChatGPT to spread misinformation and disinformation has raised concerns over the truth and reliability of AI-generated articles, and the role they may play in Pakistan’s media, writes Lubna Jerar Naqvi.  A screenshot from the IFJ fact checking workshop on February 11. The forum featured speakers from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and had 52 participants. Credit: Supplied.IFJ At Work:IFJ runs regional Fact-Checking workshop: The Maldives Journalists Association and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), with support from the European Commission, conducted an ‘Asia-Pacific Fact Checking Forum’ on February 11. The forum was hosted by Ujjwal Acharya and featured speakers from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. It aimed to foster international solidarity and collaboration in fact-checking efforts, sharing best-practices and encouraging international solidarity and collaboration. The forum had 52 participants from 17 South-East and South Asian Unions. IFJ launches final killed and detained list for 2022: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published its print Killed and Jailed report, detailing all journalists and media staff killed and detained in 2022. The IFJ’s 32nd report details 68 killings of media professionals, including targeted and accidental deaths. The report mentioned that a total of 10 journalists were killed in 2022 in South Asia including 3 journalists from Bangladesh, 2 from India and 5 from Pakistan. IFJ-NED Project Extended to 2025: From February 1, 2023, the IFJ will launch a new project with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) titled ‘Promoting Labor Rights, Gender Equality and Freedom of Association in Pakistan’s Media’. The project will continue the IFJ’s work in Pakistan since 2019 and will aim to strengthen the capacity of journalists to advocate for labour and professional rights and empower women in media through increased involvement in unions and press clubs and an increased focus on gender issues. The project will run from 2023 to 2025.From the mediaWhy Maharashtra journalist’s murder reflects poorly on status of press freedom in India – from news laundryA must-read on digital journalism – from The Financial ExpressTavleen Singh writes: Modi’s futile battle with the media – from The Indian Express These women journalists were doing their jobs. That made them targets.- from The Washington PostRabi Lamichhane and pandora’s box of Nepali media – from Nepal Live TodayAfghan Radio Squeezed by Economic, Political Pressures – from Voice of AmericaSocial media is no saviour of journalism – from The Daily StarViolence against journalists must stop – from New Age TAKE ACTION!Submit your entry for SEJ’s 22nd annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment Apply for Fellowships for reporting on conflict, violenceApply for the Knight Media ForumSubmit a proposal on Reports on India’s Progress Towards Net Zero Through a Just Energy TransitionRegister for the International Symposium on Online Journalism Apply to join Poynter’s virtual classroomApply for the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism in Columbia UniversityDownload the Gender Diversity Research Report by IL and IFJApply for the 2023 Global Investigative Journalism ConferenceDonate to the IFJ Safety Fund Browse Journalists and the China Story – IFJ’s China PortalIn Solidarity, IFJ Asia-PacificStay updated with IFJ – Subscribe |
A media celebration of East and South who killed
Calling for justice for the journalists who were killed, disappeared and attacked by the capitalist government paramilitary groups, the Union of Professional People’s Journalists of Sri Lanka and the Eastern Mridhya Samaj jointly organized a protest movement and a celebration of the killed and disappeared journalists on the last 28th at 4 o’clock in Batticaloa city. Held near Gandhi Udyana.
Journalists as well as representatives of political parties in the East also participated in this event.
The protestors held a silent protest for almost an hour displaying pictures of journalists who were killed, disappeared and attacked in the North-East and South and later marched in the city of Batticaloa and held a commemorative ceremony near Udanaya.
The Ori Lanka Association of Professional Journalists lit candles on the monument and remembered the journalists who were killed by capitalist governments, gangs and organizations.
ධනපති ආණ්ඩු පැරා මිලිටරි කන්ඩායම් මගින් මරා දමන ලද , අතුරුදන් කරන ලද සහ පහර දෙන ලද මාධ්යවේදින්ට යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ට කරන්නැයි ඉල්ලා ශ්රි ලංකා වෘත්තීය ජන මාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමය සහ නැගෙනහිර මෘධ්ය සමාජය එකාබද්ධව විරෝධතා උද්ඝෝෂණයක් සහ මරා දැමුවන් සහ අතුරුදන් කරන ලද මාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සැමැරුමක් පසුගිය 28 දාසවස 4ට ඹඩකලපුව නගරයේ ගාන්ධි උදානය අසල පැවැත්විණ.
මෙම අවස්ථාවට ජනමාධ්යවේදීන් මෙන්ම නැගෙනහිර ක්රිහාත්මක දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වල නියෝජිතයින් ද සහභාගි වුහ.
උතුරු -නැගෙනහිර සහ දකුණේ මරා දමන ලද , අතුරුදන් කරන ලද සහ පහර දෙන ලද මාධ්යවේදීන් පිංතුර ප්රදර්ශනය කරමින් පැයකට ආසන්න කාලයක් නිහඩ විරෝධතාවයක නිරත වු විරෝධතාකරුවෝ පසුව මඩකලපුව නගර ඇතුලත පෙළපාලියෙන් ගමන කොට උදානය අසල සමරු උත්සවය පැවැත්වුහ.
ඔ්රී ලංකා වෘත්තීය ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමය රැගෙන යන ලද ස්මාරකය මත පහන් දල්වා ධනපති ආණ්ඩු , විවධ කල්ලි සහ සංවිධාන විසින් මරා දමන ලද මාධ්යවේදීන් සිහිපත් කරන ලදි.
Celebrating journalists who killed capitalist governments !
Against the lack of justice for the journalists who have been killed, abducted, disappeared and assaulted by the capitalist governments and paramilitary groups, the Sri Lanka Professional Mass Journalists Association (27) held a commemorative ceremony in the evening to commemorate the journalists who were killed at Vihara Mahadevi Udan.
Many journalists as well as trade union leaders and Gallumuvadora activists participated in this event.
The journalists demanded that justice should be done immediately for the killed, missing and assaulted Madhavedin.
ධනපති ආණ්ඩු සහ පැරා මිලිටරි කණ්ඩායම් මගින් මරාදැමීමටත් පැහැරගෙන ගොස් අතුරුදන් කිරීමටත් පහරදීමටත් ලක් මාධ්යවේදින්ට මෙතෙක් කල් යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ට නොවිමට එරෙහිව ශ්රී ලංකා වෘත්තීය ජන මාධ්යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමය (27) සවස විහාාර මහ දේවි උදානයේ දී මරාදමන ලද මාධ්යවේදීන් සමරා විරුසමරු උත්සවයක් පැවැත්විණ.
මෙම අවස්ථාවට මාධ්යවේදීන් මෙන්ම වෘත්තීය සමිති නායකයින් සහ ගාලුමුවදොර අරගලකරුවන් රැසක් සහභාගි වුහ .
මාධ්යවේදීන් ඉල්ලා සිටියේ මරාදමන ලද , අතරුදන් කරන ලද සහ පහරදෙන ලද මාධවේදින්ට වහා යුක්තිය ඉටුවිය යුත් බවයි .
