The media must act as guardian of public trust - Foreign Minister

Speech by Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs at World Press Freedom Day, May 2.

SPEECH: It is indeed a great pleasure to be with you today for the inaugural ceremony of 'World Press Freedom Day.' The Government of Sri Lanka is extremely honoured to have been given the opportunity to host this important event.

Let me also take this opportunity to thank Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO and other officials for responding positively to our Government's offer two years ago to host this event in 2006 which occurred during my earlier incarnation as Minister of Media and Information and as a member of the UNESCO Executive Board.

However it was left to my successor Anura Yapa to organize this event and let me take this opportunity to thank the minister for ably doing so. Special thanks must also go to Mr. W. B. Ganegala who even visited last years Press Freedom Day in Senegal to get firsthand experience in organizing an event of this nature.

Let me also thank the Editor's Guild and all other media groups for their active support in organizing this event.

The theme of this year's conference, 'Media, Development & the Eradication of Poverty,' is especially appropriate from a Sri Lankan point of view as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made the alleviation of poverty a top priority just as the UN has with its millennium Goals Programme.

'The Mahinda Chinthana' manifesto, for which a resounding mandate was given by the people 5 months ago, presented a pro-poor-pro-growth economic framework and the accelerated development of our country through the eradication of poverty is the central thrust of our Government's policy. In our endeavours in achieving this objective, the media too can and must become a significant partner.

When looking at freedom of the press from a Sri Lankan perspective, we have had a free and vibrant press since independence in 1948, except for a period during the eighties and early part of the 1990's when the media was censured and controlled to a certain extent by the government.

However, since 1994, the media in Sri Lanka has not been muzzled by the government and journalists were free to write what they wanted. This freeing up of the media resulted in the birth of a host of newspapers, radio and television stations and Internet sites that report news about Sri Lanka.

Exasperating as it has been at times, a free press has served Sri Lanka well.

As Asia's oldest democracy, we believe in allowing dissenting voices be heard and opposing opinions be published.

As those of you who have worked in the media in Sri Lanka are well aware, many of us politicians and especially members of the government have been the target of many a vitriolic attack in the local media. Be that as it may, I believe that censuring the press is immoral and irrelevant; immoral in principal and irrelevant in this day and age.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress." The Government of Sri Lanka is completely committed to ensuring that an independent and free press flourishes in our country and that the media too would be an important stakeholder in the development process.

The Press, as we know it today, began in the early part of the 17th century. Since its humble beginnings, journalism has evolved to encompass Radio, Television and the Internet and is now the most powerful medium of communication in the world. As the 17th century Anglo-Irish writer and statesman Right Honourable Edmund Burke stated, "there were three Estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, sat a fourth Estate more important than them all."

In today's era of Information Technology, the Fourth Estate has become more powerful than ever. Today's media is a strong entity that can influence opinion, thereby defining a nation's politics, its language and culture and has an impact in every aspect of society.

In 1974, the we all saw the power and influence of the media when arguably the most powerful man in the world, US President Richard Nixon, was forced to resign from office after his involvement in the Watergate scandal was exposed by two reporters from the Washington Post. Since then, there have been countless examples where the media has exposed and brought down corrupt governments and businesses.

However, such power must also be tempered by a great deal of responsibility. In today's atmosphere of instant communication and access to billions of people worldwide, the media should act with a great deal of responsibility, caution, professionalism and impartiality than ever before. Even though the great majority of the media act in such a manner, there are unfortunately a few who disregard the code of ethics of journalism and pursue their own private agendas. This is true in most countries including Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka as a democracy has suffered a great deal in the past thirty years from the scourge of terrorism. Despite this challenge, Sri Lanka has always protected the democratic right of its citizens to voice their agreement or dissent without fear of retribution.

Even in such an environment, it is sad that there are a few media personnel who abuse this right and spread disinformation and at times, outright lies, in pursuit of their own agendas. Whether it be the ongoing conflict with the LTTE, the government's economic policies, day to day politics of the country or the pressing issues of the times, there always seems to be the odd journalist, who sheds all pretences of honesty and impartiality and files stories that are full of distorted facts and lies.

Such practices go against every tenet of the code of impartiality and objectivity that a journalist should observe and causes irreparable harm to our society and country. Just as corruption in government is the bane of many a developing country, irresponsible journalists serving the interests of a few elites and other vested interests have also become a serious obstacle to the development process in these countries.

When unscrupulous segments of the media pursue their private agendas and write distortions and lies, the entire profession of journalism is in danger of being perceived as being unreliable and loses credibility.

This would be a great disservice to everybody because an impartial and free press is a valuable weapon in preserving democracy and human rights. When the media is perceived as being full of distorted facts, rumours and innuendos, the general public will lose its trust in journalists. As a former American President once quipped, "Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."

Having said that, I must however, applaud the great majority of the media in Sri Lanka who for the most part have done a very fair, balanced and responsible job. I hope the media in Sri Lanka will become a shining example of responsible journalism in the world.

When one talks about the responsibilities of the media, there are many aspects to it. Being truthful and impartial is only one part of it. Above all, the media must always serve the community. In a developing country such as ours, the media plays a vital role in helping the development of society. As alleviation of poverty is a top priority of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Mahinda Chinthana policy, the media too can play its part in assisting the government in helping eradicate poverty in Sri Lanka.

As a matter of fact, the media must develop a symbiotic relationship with the government when it comes to development and poverty eradication, which would ultimately benefit the poor masses of the country. Writing about poverty eradication is neither glamorous nor sensational and it won't drive up circulation or TV ratings, but it is something that can truly help those who need help in improving their lives. There is strong evidence to indicate a connection between a free press and the elimination of poverty.

The media can empower disadvantaged people and groups by bringing their plight to the notice of the government and aid agencies.

The media must act as the guardian of public trust and help the segments of society that need the most help. By exposing the weaknesses and issues in society and government that need to be rectified, the media can play an important role. There have been instances where governments and aid agencies were unable to help those who needed help because they were unaware of the gravity of the situation.

The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 was a perfect example of how the media was able to bring to the attention of the entire world, the enormity of the crisis Sri Lanka and other countries affected by the tsunami faced.

Additionally, in order to ensure the success of a development program, the stakeholders in any project should have a good grasp of the ground realities of the country and a free press can help by portraying a true and accurate picture of the local conditions and situations. For instance, during the aftermath of the tsunami, the infrastructure of the effected areas were in complete disarray and situation reports filed by journalists helped relief workers perform in a more efficient manner.

Finally, the press can serve as a conduit of information that would help maximize the results of any development project while acting as watchdogs to ensure that undue influences and corruption does not undermine its efficacy. Whether we care to admit it or not, there is ample opportunity and temptation for corruption, both on the part of the donor and recipient, when large sums of money are involved.

A free and independent media can watch over programs to ensure that this does not occur. To quote the UNESCO white paper on 'media, development and poverty eradication', "A skilled and viable independent media sector is a society's most promising tool for providing citizens the information they need to bring about and sustain government reform and poverty reduction."

Having said that, when one looks at the mainstream media today, it seems more interested in providing sensational coverage of celebrities, politicians and psychotic murderers than issues that effect the downtrodden.

I understand very well that most media organizations are primarily geared towards making profits but when the birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby gets more press coverage than the hundreds of thousands of people suffering from famine and disease, it says a lot about where our priorities are as a society.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, just as much as you have a responsibility to generate revenues and increase profits, you have an even higher responsibility to serve society and to help those who are neither glamorous nor famous. The poor and the downtrodden of society have been ignored for the most part by the media because poverty does not sell newspapers. Unless it's a disaster of epic proportions, the media generally tends to ignore the plight of the less fortunate.

"The duty of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." But this seems sadly out of date in today's context.

Therefore, it is my hope that the media would move away from being purveyors of sensationalism and private agendas and go back to being the public trustees of society.

They should focus more on becoming a valuable and indispensable stakeholder in a country's effort to improve its lot. By doing so, the media will truly be empowering the downtrodden and providing an immense service to society. That would be the true indication of the power and the benefit that the media can provide to humanity.

Thank you and I wish all the delegates a pleasant stay in Sri Lanka.