Journalists are mirror of society - Security Consultant, TOR International

S. Kadirgama Thamby

COLOMBO: Journalists are the mirror of society. Just as the mirror reflects the true image before it, the stories of the journalists too should reflect both the positive and negative side of the news. While reporting news about the forces some journalists blackout the positive side of the news and project the negative side only.

This impartiality creates animosity and hostility against the press. The juniors in the forces would harbour grudge against the journalists and harass them when opportunity occurs," said Heather Allen, Security Consultant, TOR International and an ex-British Army Officer and Press Liaison Officer.

She was conducting a seminar and workshop on Risk awareness to Northern journalists at the Globe Hotel, Wellawatte. This workshop was organised by the International News Safety with the financial support of Berghof Foundation.

She said "Try to cultivate a cordial relationship with the forces and create trust and confidence on you. Don't miss the opportunity to extend your friendly arm towards the high officers in the forces. When the trust is cemented the cadre in the lower rung will soon be your friends. So write about the good work done by them.

How many of you I would like to know have written about the good work done by them during periods of natural calamity, communal conflagration and during religious festivals," she asked.

She said that journalists who put themselves at risk are behaving in an unprofessional manner; one that could ultimately prevent the story being told or the picture being seen. Journalists who adopt an attitude of "Death or Glory" usually focus on glory rather than on death and hardly think about the consequences which could even jeopardise their career.

She posed the question: "Is any story or picture worth dying for? Even the best stories and pictures only have value when they are read or seen. Moreover a journalist who is killed or injured cannot file a story or process a picture. A live journalist is infinitely more effective than a dead one.

With video films she demonstrated the forces in action clearing mines and booby traps and on how journalists should conduct themselves in times of accidents, abduction and at vehicle checkpoints. She also gave useful information on covering big crowds and riots.

She added that journalists become a target of the forces when they are in a wrong place at a wrong time and wrongly perceived as a military threat or hostile journalists.

Sunanda Deshapriya, Secretary Press Media Movement and Manique Mendis, Information Officer Berghof Foundation also spoke.