Talk given by Nalaka Gunawardene to a group of 75 provincial level provincial journalists in Sri Lanka from around the island who have just completed a training course in investigative journalism conducted by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), with support from InterNews. The certificate award ceremony was held at Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), Colombo, on 2 October 2015. In this talk, I look at the larger news media industry in Sri Lanka to which provincial journalists supply ground level news, images and video materials. These are used on a discretionary basis by media companies mostly based in the capital Colombo (and some based in the northern provincial capital of Jaffna). Suppliers have no control over whether or how their material is processed. They work without employment benefits, are poorly paid, and also exposed to various pressures and coercion. I question why, after 180+ years, the Lankan media industry broadly follows the same production model: material sourced is centrally processed and distributed, without much adaptation to new digital media realities. Who can disrupt these old models and innovate? Can disruptive innovators emerge from among provincial journalists?

1. Grassroots Journalism in
Digital Age:
Innovate or Perish!
By Nalaka Gunawardene
@ Sri Lanka Press Institute
Award ceremony 4 Provincial Journalists
By Transparency International Sri Lanka
Colombo: 2 October 2015
http://nalakagunawardene.com

2. Opening with Tribute to:
Priyantha Ratnayake
Provincial journalist killed by elephant attack while on
reporting mission in Minneriya, Sri Lanka: 5 Sep 2015

3. Provincial Journalists
in Sri Lanka…
 Ground level ‘eyes and ears’ of media
industry, unsung & often unknwon
 Primary gatherers of news + images
for print & broadcast companies in
Colombo/Jaffna
 Work without contracts, income
security or benefits like insurance
 Exposed to harsh ground realities:
pressures, threats, violence, coercion

4. Provincial journalists…

5. What is the State of Media
in Sri Lanka today?
Cartoon by Awantha Artigala

6. Cartoon by Awantha Artigala

7. Plenty of media products….
But readers confused?
Cartoon by Awantha Artigala

8. State of Lankan media?
Common man/woman ignored!
Cartoon by Awantha Artigala

9. State of Lankan media: A blind
media trying to lead public astray?
Cartoon by Awantha Artigala

10. Lankan media pack goes news
hunting: A recent citizen Meme
News media
conduct during
recent criminal
investigation
on rape and
murder of an
abducted girl
of 5 yrs

11. State of media in Sri Lanka today?
Change must begin at the bottom!
Cartoon By
Gihan de
Chickera,
Daily Mirror,
18 June 2014

12. So…What is to be done???
 Look at our media critically
 Identify what is good and bad
 Preserve and promote the good
 Slowly change the bad
 Make media more:
 Authentic and credible
 Sensitive to society’s issues
 Responsive to public interest

13. Media industry worldwide…
 Challenged by rise of digital and
web technologies
 Newspapers & magazines losing
readers, advertisers to web
 Broadcasting also under pressure
 Younger audiences don’t share
parents’ media habits
 Industry to INNOVATE or PERISH!
 WHERE ARE OUR INNOVATORS?

15. Ceylon Tea industry:
Almost 150 Years
 Started in 1867: small scale,
then grew and expanded!
 Well organised industry & trade
 2014 revenue: USD 1.67 billion
 Direct employment: 750,000
 Total economic support: 2
million+ people
 Small-holders: 400,000 approx
 Marks 150 years in 2017

16. Two key pathfinders…
 James Taylor (1835-
1892), started first tea
plantation in Ceylon
1867
 Sir Thomas Lipton
(1841-1931) started
distributing Ceylon
Tea in Europe from
1890

17. Sri Lanka produces tea,
but it’s Lipton that
packets, distributes and
sells tea worldwide 
makes lots more money!

18. Ceylon Tea industry:
Enter the Disruptor!
 Dilmah Tea founded in 1974
by former tea-taster called
Merril J Fernando
 Lots of product innovation
and value addition at source!
 Marketing value-added tea
directly to retail outlets
 Dilmah sold at supermarkets
in close to 100 countries!

19. “A Sri Lankan Underdog Battles Global Tea Giants”
Dilmah mentioned in the New York Times, Jan 2010
http://www.dilmah.com

20. Tea Small Holders:
Backbone of this large industry
 Growing on 10 acres (4 ha) or less
 Mostly low country tea lands
 Around 400,000 smallholders
 Produce 60% of total tea production
 2013 production by: 248m kg
(out of total LK tea prod: 340m kg)
 Smallholders’ cost of production per kg of
green leaf: LKR 49.71 in 2013 (varies)

21. Sri Lankan media industry:
180+ years but not as evolved?
 1802: Government Gazette
 1832: Colombo Journal: started
during 6th
British Governor, Sir
Robert Wilmot Horton (in
office: 1831-1837)
 1841: Udaya Tharakai (First
Tamil newspaper, from Jaffna)
 1860: Lankaloka (First Sinhala
newspaper, from Galle)

22. Today: Many media outlets
100s of media products

24. Sri Lanka: Total ad spend of LKR 77b in
2014 (mostly in mainstream media)
Source: Neilsen
Based on monitored activities & rate card cost

25. Tale of Two Industries…
Different evolutionary paths
 Tea: Partly diversified,
broader supplier base,
changed through
disruptive innovation, etc.
 Media: Centralised
production & distribution:
models not changed much
in a century (despite
modernization)

26. Provincial Journalists =
Smallholders of news industry?
TEA INDUSTRY
 Small growers 
larger tea estates 
processed tea 
overseas bulk buyers
 distributors 
retailers (shops)
 Small producers don’t
have control after
selling produce
MEDIA INDUSTRY
 Provincial journalists
 news desks 
processed reports 
audiences
 Originators don’t have
ANY control: Fate of
their stories decided
by News Desks

27. Processing news from grassroots:
This can - and does - happen!

28. Can prov journalists have own
‘retail’ outlets for news?
 Bloggers: 3,000+ in Sinhala, Tamil or
English or mixed media
 Blog aggregators: listing latest blog posts:
Kottu, Sathutu wessa, etc.
 Twitter users: 50,000? in Sinhala, Tamil,
English or hybrid or memes
 Facebook: 2.5 million+ accounts. Only
some using it in PUBLIC setting to discuss
matters of public interest

29. When mainstream media hesitates,
consumers find alternatives…

30. LK Media Industry:
Where are our innovators?
 Merrill Fernandos of media ind?
 Disruptive innovation UNLIKELY to
come from profitable, old-style
newspapers or broadcast media
 Watch out for small, struggling
media or civic media or citizen
journalist collectives to INNOVATE
 Provincial Journalists can
experiment, find news ways!

31. Finding web platforms to network:
http://galupuravesiyo.ning.com

32. Journalist in
Matara
Facebook
Group sharing
local news
https://www.face
book.com/Journali
st-in-Matara

33. Journalist in Matara:
29 Sep 2015

34. Journalist in Matara:
23 Sep 2015

35. https://www.facebook.com/apeaadia
Citizen Mems & video sharing

36. We urgently need:
MORE Imagination & Innovation!
Don’t be bound by old tools & habits!

37. Cartoon by
Dharshana Karunathilake

38. Some Advice via Twitter…

39. Some Advice via Twitter…

40. Provincial journalists must earn an
honest living too: Web-based
income models not yet clear

41. Ravaya columns online:
http://nalakagunawardene.com/ravaya-column/
Twitter: @NalakaG
Books: http://nalakagunawardene.com/books/
http://nalakagunawardene.com