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by Lloyd Fernando

Strange how much you've
Got to know
Before you know how little
You know.

In a democracy, a continuous flow of information from the centre to the population is an integral part of the system. Here lies the importance of the official source of information that is the Department of Information, the official mouthpiece of the government.

It is a great pity that in more recent times, this state institution has gone into hibernation except during election time when the government in power adopts it as the focal point of campaigning propaganda activities for better or for worse.

At crucial times such as the present period of peace talks of paramount importance to all of us, the usefulness of an institution of this nature should be felt not only by the government, but also by the people to a greater extent in that the subject is one that encompasses the whole country; moreover, the people would be more than satisfied that they are at last, or rather, at least being kept informed.

You have to feed the people with news particularly on the home-front where the focus of attention is going on. "Give till it hurts" is the motto to be adopted as we accelerate our drive forward in the 21st century. As more and more new information technology continues to sweep the globe, let us not forget the basic if not most effective principle of the dissemination of news, which is speed; it all depends on who gets there first. It has to reach the reader, listener or viewer in the shortest possible time before the 'story' becomes stale or the information gets garbled by secondary and tertiary stories. First come, first served

First come is not only first heard but also first served. If this communicative principle had been followed by the powers that were in the formative years of the conflict in this land, the disinformation or false propaganda that reached the four corners of world could have been thwarted in no time and the task of the government made not only easier but also unmistakably and profoundly effective. To illustrate my thinking on the effectiveness of speedy information dissemination, I would like to relate a personal experience on an official tour of New Zealand at the time of Prime Minister David Longe when this country was at the height of terrorist violence.

In my capacity as the Director of Information of the Ministry of Public Administration and Plantation Industries, I prepared myself for all 'communication' eventualities that may arise from our visit. So, from the Department of Information, I collected visuals of all kinds to supplement other booklets, news releases and press cuttings already in my possession.

A meeting had been arranged for us to meet the New Zealand parliamentarians; and at the appointed time, our ministerial team took up their positions facing the cream of New zealand's political hierarchy. After the formal introductions and a brief preamble of the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, I began reading out the volumes of the conflict material I had culled for the occasion, supplemented by the visuals I was already passing round in the meantime.

At the end of it all, on behalf the local team, I requested them to ask any questions. Most surprisingly, the questions asked were totally unrelated to the conflict and pertained to mundane and hackneyed tourist information. Not one question was asked that had even a trace of the on-going conflict!

The reason was quite clear and obvious; they have had earlier communication and ours was only "second hand" - and perhaps, the parliamentarians thought it was all 'cooked up', for some of them were looking at us rather sceptically. I guess the global reactions were similar, in other areas too, where they had been served by the conflict protagonist group. First come is not only first heard but also first served!

Communication gaps

Churning out pamphlets, brochures, booklets, etc. however colourful they are, do not mean much unless there is a systematic distribution of information at the right places at the right time. Generally, a visual presentation is more appreciated. So, let us cut down on mere words and display as far as possible, the 'real thing'. Newspaper supplements are prestigious, indeed and undoubtedly impressive - but do they in reality achieve the desired purpose of 'singular' publicity? Let us have less of messages and more of the event in the form of a human interest story than as a stereotype hand-out.

Let us have the right man for the right job for optimum results. Let us not have 'communication gaps' in this age of highly advanced communication technology. Governments will come and go but any lasting impact of any of them depends on the proper dissemination of information.

In our missions abroad, we need men of calibre to handle the particular country's media personnel correctly and convincingly. They surely need to cultivate more than a mere tete-a-tete with the international media to bring home commendable if not favourable results.

We must remember that good publicity is an exercise in healthy media relationship. The newspapers or the electronic media are free and in no way obliged to publish all that is 'doled' out to them prominently and in all that haste. In this regard, the personal touch is most relevant in the long run.

You never know
what is enough
Unless you know
what is more
Than enough.

- William Blake

The writer is former Secretary to Governor, N.W.P.

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