President calls for ethical media practices

* Officials ordered to expedite proposed pension scheme for journalists:

* Full time Ombudsman to look into journalists’ grievances:

* Effective role by media needed to project country’s situation:

Rasika Somarathna

COLOMBO: Reiterating the Government’s commitment to depoliticise media and ensure media freedom, President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called on all media institutions to adopt a more ethical and responsible media policy in portraying the truth to the people.

The President who aired his views presiding over the progress review meeting of the Ministry for Media and Information on Monday at Temple Trees, said his Government always stood for the right for information.

Emphasising the need to get rid of the prevailing political culture at most Government owned media institutions, President Rajapaksa stressed the need for a more vibrant and efficient role by the Government owned media.

Government owned media institutions should be streamlined and work in a more cohesive manner to give a better and effective service to the people, he observed while praising the Ministry’s initiative to introduce a National Media Policy with the view of depoliticising the Government owned media.

In addition, a pension scheme for media personnel, upgrading SLRC and SLBC transmissions, training programmes in journalism, providing soft loans to journalists to buy equipment related to their profession etc. was discussed at length during deliberations.

President Rajapaksa while pointing out that the Government had a responsibility to provide support to uplift the living standards of journalists ordered the officials to speedily expedite the proposed pension scheme for journalists.

The President also pointed out that the Government had taken steps to appoint a full time Ombudsman to look into journalists’ grievances. The Media Ministry’s initiative to launch a training programme for outstation correspondents came in for much praise at the meeting.

The President also stressed the need to upgrade transmissions of SLRC and ITN to extend coverage to the whole country.

He mentioned the need for introducing the latest technology to achieve technical excellence to face growing competition.

While stressing that as a developing country the Government had embarked on a major development drive despite the emphasis on the security situation, President Rajapaksa pointed out that the Government owned media should play a pivotal role in portraying the Government’s development work.

The President also emphasised the need for an effective role by the media to project the country’s situation to the international community at a time where various people were trying to tarnish the country’s image by engaging in a slanderous campaign abroad.

President Rajapaksa said a strong international media network should be built for this purpose with a special ID card being issued to journalists. Minister for Media and Information Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunge, Ministry Secretary A. Dissanayake and Chairmen of all Government media institutions and officials participated.