‘Mediamen should not fan flames of social turmoil’

Indika POLKOTUWA

Mediamen are not expected to fan the flames of social turmoil. Their paramount duty is to neutralise the raging forces, said Prof. M. T.S. Wijeratne, Vice-Chancellor, Kelaniya University addressing the participants at the diploma award ceremony held recently.

The Professor said, the Mass Communication is a powerful weapon that could be used for the social well-being. It could mould any society. Mediamen carry with them the responsibility to reform the society, but it is questionable whether they really fulfil that duty today.

“Always they are bound to expose the truth. In developing countries the newspaper headlines deal with news relating to development. But in countries such as ours it is different.

The Mass Communications Department of the Kelaniya University too bears a responsibility to help produce genuine mediamen to create a decent media culture in the country, he pointed out.

He said, the Kelaniya University has a proud history. It took the lead in the national renaissance. The Vidyalankara Pirivena which was started 133 years ago gave birth to a university in 1959.

Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara, Dean, Faculty of Sociology, said, politics and mass communication are two areas to which anybody without qualifications could gain access. Kelaniya University has received international recognition for its syllabus on mass communication.