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INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA
Censorship, Disinformation & Murder of Journalists
Reuters & Reality
- Tamils must believe in themselves first
N.Ganapathy
USA, 19 July 2000
| "Unsavoury regimes these
days hire the best talent available to spruce up their international image... The PR
technique is simple enough: minimise the human rights abuses,
talk about it as a 'complex' two sided story, play up efforts
at reform, speak of all the positive 'modernisation' that is going on and - most of
all - the crucial economic stake 'we' all have in (the country's)
markets... If possible, it is best to put these words in the mouth of some apparently 'neutral' group of 'concerned citizens',
or a lofty institute with academic credentials." (Richard Swift, New Internationalist, in Mind
Games, July 1999) "Persuasion by its definition is subtle. The best PR ends
up looking like news. You never know when a PR agency is being effective; you
will just find your views slowly shifting.." (a PR Executive, quoted in New Internationalist, July 1999) |
A number of news items from Reuters and other agencies are regularly posted in the Tamil
Circle (and elsewhere). The purpose, apparently, is to conveniently present the
predominantly Sinhala point of view under the cover of rational reporting by a
foreign news agency.
In reading these reports, it is important to bear in mind that the reports are written by
Sinhala reporters employed by the respective agencies. Their reports are often in stark
contrast to the news coverage appearing in the local news papers in Colombo, as the former
presents a rosy but distorted picture of events in Sri Lanka.
Names of Sinhala Reporters in Foreign News Agencies
Here is a list of Sinhala reporters who feed the news for the agencies
from Colombo.
| Reuters |
Rohan Gunasekera |
| Reuters |
Mohan Samarasinghe |
| Reuters |
Prithi Kadagoda |
| Agency France |
Amal Jayasinghe |
| Inter Press Reports |
Manik de Silva |
| South China Morning Post |
Gaston De Rosayro |
The ethnicity of Gaston De Rosayro is undetermined at this time. He is
probably a Sinhalese of Portuguese origin.
News Analysis
An analysis of the news items of foreign agencies, over a period of
several months, leads to the following conclusion on the motive of the Sinhala
reporters behind these news agencies.
present Sri Lanka as an investor friendly country at every
opportunity by selectively highlighting foreign investments
convey a distorted picture of LTTE and its
gains
above all, give the world an exaggerated image
of Chandrika as a peace maker and a false picture of
the degree of autonomy being offered
Reuters Reality Check
Here is a news item for comparison.
A paragraph from a front page article on the Island Newspaper of June 6, 1996 entitled -
Stiff Resistance from UNP, DUNLF and Others - was as follows.
-- Subjects such as foreign affairs, defense, finance, postal services,
railways, national harbour, airports, national development, national planning and customs
could be retained by the central government while the other subjects be given to the
regions. --
Compare this news with a paragraph from Reuters news of June 18, 1996
written by Rohan Gunasekera.
-- The (peace) plan offers to devolve extensive power to Tamils in the
north and east to meet their demands for autonomy and woo them away from the Tiger
struggle for a separate state. ---
Judge for yourself
The former was written to massage the Sinhala ego and the latter to
appease the world community. The truth is hardly spoken or written in these news reports.
Today, foreign agencies of all kinds suffer from a credibility crisis. Tamils must believe
in themselves, first! |
