Columnists and the Electronic Culture
June 13 this year marks the second anniversary of the 'In focus
Column' in the 'Daily News'. To recap what was mentioned in the first
anniversary would be to reiterate what inspired me to concentrate on a
non political column of this nature.
The reasons were two fold. Many friends intimated to me that they
were 'bored' with an overdose of political writings in newspapers in Sri
Lanka. This prompted me to concentrate on something that would stimulate
a certain category of readers with light reading. To make it more
appealing, writing needed to be garnished with a concoction of wit and
satire before injecting in small doses to reach all those 'affected
nerve centres' in our society. The infusion, of course, had to be done
in a smooth fashion ensuring that the syringe contained an adequate dose
of anesthesia in it, so as not to disturb the patient(s)!
I noticed that majority of Sri Lankans are generally not hot and
bothered about things that come across their way most of the time
however distressing or inconvenient those may be. Consequently many tend
to withdraw to their shells and absorb all such misdemeanour to one's
own disadvantage!
Choosing to be a non-political writer, except on rare occasions to
come up with a pen portrait of a laudable politician or a statesman, or
during the terrorist war exposing the fanatic injustices under captions
such as 'Tigers reduced to Kittens' have given me the journalistic tools
to be constructive and objective.
I believe that factual stories put on record may help to open
Nelsonian eyes of certain authorities who are either not aware of the
type of situations or problems under their purview or just carry on
regardless. If at least one reader appreciates what is written in the
column that would 'make my day'! I am pleased with the type of responses
and feed backs that have hit my mail box over the last two years not
only from Sri Lanka but faraway places such as Australia, the Middle
East and on a rare occasion an admirable official from the Department of
Motor Traffic too.
Such positive responses have helped me to focus on themes that I had
never thought of before. I take this opportunity to thank all 'fans' of
the In Focus' column in feeding me with new ideas and areas to
concentrate on; regrettably I am unable to list all the names here.
However, I must mention of a female university lecturer who writes to me
every week with her feedback which invigorates my thinking.
Disappointment
However, one of my regrets is the response I received from an editor
of a Sinhala newspaper when the idea of a translated Sinhala version was
rejected stating that, "the readership will think we have not enough
publishing material", that being despite a senior Sinhala journalist
friend who took the time and effort to translate and tried to convince
the editor. This has actually benumbed me as many readers constantly
request me to get some of the themes published in Sinhala. Unfortunately
my talents are limited when it comes to palatable Sinhala that is
written today, leave alone translations that involve time and effort.
The above analysis should not be taken as my being egotistical or trying
to portray myself as an 'ingenious'. The fact of the matter is that,
when the public becomes weary of certain responsible officials or
authorities who are responsible for the welfare of the society become
not up snuff, many have been crying out on social or administrative
lassitude through feature articles, letters to the editor columns,
Editorials in newspapers and on television too.
Communication
Communication has been the most dominant means of influencing and
shaping a society. Approximately in and around 720 BC the Greek alphabet
reflected on the Greeks to mull over and acquire astuteness. Writing
allows the author of a story to register what he writes in a reader's
mind exactly he intends it to be. Thus, communication media have
influenced human existence from time immemorial.
Interaction falls into two backgrounds (a) Oral and (b) Writing. In
oral culture community becomes the uncomplicated part of social
existence. On the contrary, writing emerges as a unique component
developing specific codes or laws.
With the invention of the printing press, the concept of writing has
revolutionised and become popular. In the middle ages this helped and
guaranteed the elite and religious personalities to get their written
manuscripts literally identical to the printed version.
As a consequence, writing became not just a case of parting with
ideas but a definite process questionable theoretically. Furthermore, it
allowed backward scanning; one could revise a text, go back and
eliminate errors and inconsistencies.
The other advantage was that one was able to look over a text and
change written words to ensure the intended meaning as opposed to the
spoken word where even the wild horses could not draw back once uttered!
Therefore with writing a mind-set that liked accuracy and precision has
born. This very obsession with meticulousness and correctness has given
rise to dictionaries embodying the desire to legislate the correct use
of language.
Electronic culture
When we think about electronic media today, we straight away think
about radio, television, movies and computers. Media have developed in
two directions simultaneously: They have created larger audiences for
particular messages creating a highly selective audience segments and
particular tastes from philosophical books to the Home Shopping Network
to thousands of user groups in the cyberspace of the Internet.
It is clear that with the electronic media, for the first time in
history, the vast majority of the world's population can now participate
in the dominant cultural forms and practices. Today, at much a faster
rate than newspapers, magazine or even the television, the Internet has
become a powerful communication process which is fundamentally altering
the culture and society the world over.
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