Sri Lanka has total media freedom: Govt.

Asiantribune.com: Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella, participating in the Committee Stage discussions of the Budget votes of his Ministry, said that all Government-owned media institutions have reported a record increase in income during the last two-and-a-half years at a time when most world media institutions were facing a financial crisis.

He said that the State Printing Corporation earned a net profit of Rs. 101 million while it was able to reduce its loans to Rs. 200 million which was Rs. 582 million three years ago.

Giving further details on the financial status of the State media institutions, the Minister said that ITN (The Independent Television Network) has earned a net profit of Rs. 501.3 million, the Film Corporation has also turned out to be a profit making institution and the income of Rupavahini (the National Television which operates channels on all the three languages) and Lake House (which publishes several newspapers in all the three languages) has also steadily increased but their profits could have been much more if not for the labour surplus.

He said that the former Minister Mangala Samaraweera during his tenure recruited a large number of persons to those institutions over and above the required strength.

The Media Minister also tabled in the House the annual financial statement of accounts of all state media institutions including the Lake House.

The Minister further stated even the Ranminitenna tele cinema village is becoming popular. So far two films, five tele-dramas and seven advertisements have been created there.

Registering websites

He further stated that the right of reply should be guaranteed in the media. He asked that in order to guarantee this right, all the webs operating in the country should be registered.

Minister Rambukwella noting that there was a Supreme Court order issued to register those websites recalled that there was an era when journalists were instructed on what they should write with a pistol held to their head, and that era is over.

The Minister also stated that it was a sad situation that the Opposition Leader was criticising two media persons in Parliament whom he did not like while at the same time speaking of media freedom. The Minister pointed out that among many programmes to enhance the knowledge of journalists, the Government has granted Rs. 100,000 each to around 100 journalists for various courses.

Rise in income

Galle District Parliamentarian Manusha Nanayakkara said that Government media institutions, including Lake House, had increased their income during the recent past, and said that Lake House has recorded a record income of Rs. 656.993 million during the last three months as advertising revenue.

Nanayakkara also said there were 32 television channels and 49 radio channels functioning in Sri Lanka, while more than 140 registered newspapers and magazines are being published in the country.

He added that out of these, the Government owned only four television channels and nine radio channels. The Government owned only 5.7 per cent of the registered newspapers and magazines, which is considerably a low proportion.

He questioned as to how the Opposition complains that the Government was misusing the media with such a low proportion of media institutions under Government control. Nanayakkara also said that out of Government advertisements, the Government has given only 37 per cent to the Government media while 63 per cent were given to the private media. He also questioned as to how the Opposition alleges the Government is taking measures to bankrupt private media even when the Government offers such a considerable proportion of advertisements to the private media.

Media freedom

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that there was no media freedom in the country. Wickremesinghe said that the Government has failed in ensuring the freedom of the media. He said the interest-free loan given to the journalists should be given to journalists who have completed 10 years in their service. Except interest-free loans, no other concession has been given to journalists through this budget.

He said that many media personnel have left the country due to threats. The Government has been unable to provide the required security for media personnel. Websites have been banned. Rights to information of the people have been violated by the Government.

Former Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that despite opposition and criticism, there is real media freedom in this country compared to other countries. The most important thing is the responsibility of the journalists towards what they write and express.

The Government has provided a number of facilities to journalists. He said that during the UNP era several journalists were sacked and chased away. UNP has no right of talking media freedom. The campaign carried out by the UNP is a myth. Yapa said that for the first time in history, journalists have been granted interest free loans. This has given to commend the service rendered by journalists.

Propaganda machinery

Hambantota District Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said that the State TV channels should not be propaganda machinery of the Rajapaksa family. He requested State TV channel heads not to convert news services into a propaganda machinery of the Rajapaksa family and said that the TV channel heads should select only very important events and telecast them, giving space and time to the rest of the 225 MPs in Parliament.

He said one day he watched the ITN news bulletin with his father, mother and two brothers, and the first news item was about the President, then about the Speaker, followed by news about Basil Rajapaksa, then Gotabaya Rajapaksa and then sports news which was also about his brother Yoshitha and himself. He emphasised that this type of news coverage only leads to negative feelings concerning his family.

He further said that the people would blame his mother and two brothers who are not in politics, because national channels telecast only their faces on TV. Rajapaksa requested the heads of state TV channels not to focus on the Rajapaksa family only, but also to allocate time for other ministers too.