ABC of prudent journalism
Amalshan GUNERATHNE
Not many have openly fought against corruption and lived to tell the
tale another day. While many stand deaf and turn a blind eye on
corruption, he wages his lone battle. He is rebellious and fearless and
would go great extremes to raise his voice against such injustices.
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Victor
Ivan.
Picture by Ranjith Asanka |
Unwavering fearlessness enables him to withstand taunting storms that
come his way. However there is more to him than sheer boldness. He is a
master tactician and is wise enough to know when to deliver the killer
punch. “I love chess. When I play a game of chess, I do not hesitate to
make bold moves irrespective of the risk involved in it, but boldness
alone is not enough. You have to be prudent and be mindful about the
consequences,” he says.
He has his critics as well. Some say his battles against former
president Chandrika Kumarathunge and Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva were
all done to fulfill his hidden motives.
He is a hero with underhand motives, they say. Still none of such
prejudiced criticisms can undo his services and if not for his
revelations, such misdemeanor would have forever gone unnoticed to the
public eye.
His books varying from controversial ‘Queen of Deceit’, ‘Unfinished
Struggle’ ‘Paradise in tears’, ‘Revolt in Temple’ to ‘Innocence of the
Pen Questioned’ expose hair-splitting revelations about corruption that
plague the country. The senior journalist and the editor in chief of
Ravaya newspaper, ‘Victor Ivan’, a controversial figure in Sri Lankan
media field faces this week’s Encounter of the Week.
Q: After serving your prison sentence during 1971 insurrection
times, you shifted away from violence and carried out your struggle
through journalism, what made you move away from violence?
A: The aftermath of 1971 insurrection caused me to be critical
about my own-self. I was once a follower of Marx; I felt it was the
right way. But as I probed into my dilemma, I realized that Gandhi’s way
is much better and I wanted to create a change without using violence. I
felt force and violence are not effective means of getting through to
people, that is why I took the route of journalism. I felt the need to
educate people and I felt journalism was still a strong medium to carry
out my struggle.
Q: In a country like Sri Lanka, how hard is it for a
journalist to stay independent?
A: First of all, journalists should feel the need to stay
independent. The independence is not something that should be provided
by law or the government; the journalists themselves should feel the
burning desire to feel proud about the work that they do and be
independent to the extent that they can.
Even if you are working for a government institution there is an
extent that you can feel free. You should use that leverage to the full
and learn how to stay within these limitations, as you wage your battle.
Q: Don’t you feel that the journalism culture is dying in Sri
Lanka?
A: Journalist plays a vital role in reforming the society.
They should possess the intellectual capacity to perceive things in a
realistic perspective and they should be able to recreate that image on
the reader’s mind. The journalist is like a tutor to the society. A good
journalist should be able to educate the society.
They should help people to expand their thinking horizons. Sadly
however, the problem is that most journalists do not possess these
qualities and because of that society has transformed in to a huge mess.
The fact is that if the tutor who teaches the society does not possess
necessary qualifications, the society invariably suffers. Most media
people in Sri Lanka are not trained on the subject; the thirst for
reading and urge to chase after stories are lacking in them.
Q: How should journalists work towards such a change?
A: They don’t necessarily have to look for a regime change or
be hell-bent on overthrowing the government as such, but they should
work with responsibility, they should provide fair criticisms and they
should address both physical and spiritual development of the society.
Q: You have written books against powerful figures in Sri
Lankan history such as Chandrika Kumarathunge and Sarath N. Silva, how
hard was it to openly write against people with such power?
A: When publishing a controversial book you always have to
think about challenges that may arouse from such a publication. For
instance, when I published my critical book, ‘The Unfinished Struggle’
Sarath N Silva was still holding his post as the Chief Justice. The book
revealed the naked truth of what goes beneath the crooked doors of Sri
Lankan judiciary.
So when I published the book, I had to prepare myself for all the
challenges that came with it.
I had to think whether he would use his power to stop the publication
or whether he would use his power to harass me, etc. If I didn’t take
the necessary precautions and just put it in to print, I would have been
finished.
Q: Do you think it is ethical to publicly expose people in
that manner?
A: I don’t think ethics have anything to do with it.
Q: Sarath N. Silva was in the panel that convicted you to
prison during 1971 insurrection times; did you use your writing as a
medium to carry out your own personal vendetta?
A: No I did not. There were other judges in that panel who
later helped me a lot with my cases.
Sarath N Silva’s case was a by-product of another case. It started
with allegations we made against a magistrate called Lenin Rathtnayaka.
However as we delved deeper in to the case we were able to unravel more
hideous things about Sri Lankan judiciary.
Q: Can you recall the first ever such fearless article that
you have written for a paper, how hard was it initially?
A: The first time is always the hardest. You have to learn it.
You need to learn how to be fearless.
You need great courage and boldness initially to put your words in to
print.
But after a while you get used to it and with time even relevant
parties get used to your constant attacks.
I wrote the first article while I was in prison during insurrection
times. I used a pseudonym.
The article was about how prison officials used violence to torture
prison inmates.
They had a special form of punishment called ‘pooriyal’ where all the
prison officials get together to torture prisoners; I was once part of
such torture and I decided to write about it to the Aththa newspaper,
which was perhaps the first such article I have written.
Q: In your book, ‘Innocence of the Pen Questioned’, you say
that while presenting their facts, journalists should always look to be
prudent, what do you mean by that?
A: You have to act only after making appropriate logical and
in-depth analysis of facts.
I was always careful to be prudent enough on occasion when I was
compelled to be bold. For instance, Lasaantha Wickramathunga was a bold
journalist, he would not have been become a dead hero, if he had
displayed as much prudence as his boldness.
Q: What are challenges that an investigative journalist face
when probing in to such grave issues?
A: In a country like Sri Lanka, the journalists are compelled
to swim in rivers filled with crocodiles.
Therefore, it is essential that they posses the capability to swim
without being caught by such blood-thirsty, carnivorous figures.
If I remained solely as a bold person, by now I may have either be in
a graveyard or in a prison.
I was able to avoid being a victim because I was prudent enough to
take adequate precautions.
Q: In your field of work it is normal to feel intimidated by
the presence of people with power, did they ever try to intervene or did
you receive any threats, as you delve deeper in to controversial issues?
A: Yes threats have always been there, we should know how to
deal with such threats. Some people deal with such scenarios in a very
stupid manner.
For instance I have never written about people in the underworld,
because I don’t know how to deal with them.
Journalists should not be stupid enough to carve out their own death.
If you want to write about them, use a different name, pseudonym.
Q: Do you think that the advent of internet and other
technological gimmicks have weakened the effectiveness of paper
newspapers and magazine?
A: I don’t think that internet or e-books will completely
replace paper newspapers and magazines.
It is very true that internet, phones and TV play a major role in
bringing news instantaneously to people.
But such news reports only reveal the surface story. As long as
Newspapers provide readers with analytical, investigative articles,
there will always be a market for newspapers.
Q: Why haven’t you tried writing fiction?
A: Most of my works have been experiments. For twenty five
years I have been doing experiments with my writings. I haven’t tried
writing fiction.
All of my books are based on real incidents and proven facts, the
readers like that style; they say they have lot to learn from my books.
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