SLPI members say reforms only on self-regulatory principles

The Sunday:  Times Sri Lanka: Sunday, 23 July 2017.

Media professionals said they would discuss government proposals for a Media Standard Act only on the basis of the principles of self-regulation based on the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility, states the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) in a press release following the organisation’s 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The release states members discussed the Prime Minister’s proposal to the Cabinet to have consultations with stakeholders on the proposed Independent Council for Media Standards Act to regulate the media. There was general acceptance that any regulatory mechanism proposed must be within the self-regulatory mechanism as envisaged in the Colombo declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility of 1998.

The AGM held on July 12 at the Sri Lanka Press Institute’s (SLPI) auditorium at No. 96, Bernard Soysa Mawatha, Colombo 6 was attended by representatives of the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, Free Media Movement and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association.

Presenting the annual report of the SLPI, Chief Executive Officer Kumar Lopez noted that 2016 had been a “very good year”. He reported that the SLPI had conducted several meetings with local and international bodies to promote professionalism in journalism, the release stated.

It adds that the enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in August 2016 was a significant moment for this country. The enactment of the RTI has been one of the key objectives of the Sri Lanka Press Institute since the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility of 1998 and therefore this has become a milestone in SLPI’s endeavours.

“This has enabled us to undertake the role of not only making the journalists and the media fraternity aware of the RTI, but also the citizens of this country.

“A first step in order to bring about awareness of the Act was the publication of a simplified book on RTI titled as ‘A Citizen’s Manual of the Sri Lanka Right to Information Law’. The manual is now used as the main reference in the RTI trainings by SLPI and also to disseminate knowledge to the public,” Mr. Lopez said.

The SLPI and its constituent partners nominated Kishali Pinto Jayawardena as the media’s nominee to the RTI Commission and she now serves as a Commissioner in the RTI Commission of Sri Lanka.

“Although there has been a sense of media freedom after the turn of events on the January 8 2015, Sri Lanka still remains ranked at 141 out of 180 countries as per the World Press Freedom Index, Mr. Lopez said.

Several projects had also been implemented in association with foreign missions such as Norway and US and organisations such as the Open Society Foundation (OSF), Media in Transition and Coordination (MiCT) and UNESCO. Mr. Lopez further said that support mainly through logistical assistance had been given to The Editors Guild to organise and hold the annual ‘Excellence in Journalism’ awards.

A partnership with the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) also saw SLPI launching a program on ‘Corporate Communications and Public relations’, where two batches have successfully completed the course. Besides these, several workshops had been held towards enhancing journalists’ education and reporting skills on science, language, online journalism, environment, media ethics and new media.

It was also reported that the Kirula Road (now Bernard Soysa Mawatha) headquarters of the SLPI now had a fully equipped auditorium with recording and multimedia capabilities which had already been hired for meetings, presentations and lectures by several professional institutions adding to its income generation.

Directors of the Sri Lanka Press Institute re-elected were; Kumar Nadesan (Chairman), Sinha Ratnatunga (Deputy Chairman), Manik de Silva and Mohanlal Piyadasa of The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, Seetha Ranjanee, Hana Ibrahim and Udaya Kalupathirana of the Free Media Movement, Lasantha Ruhunage and Kanchana Marasinghe of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association.