Info Society Rising in Sri Lanka: Are You Ready? by Nalaka Gunawardene, 27 Jan 2016

Information Society
Rising in Sri Lanka:
ARE YOU READY?
By Nalaka Gunawardene
New Media Watcher & Experimenter
At launch of CPA’s new survey report
on Consumption of Mainstream and New Media
in Western Province of Sri Lanka
27 January 2016, Colombo
nalakagunawardene.com

Where I come from…
 Asker of questions…
 Connector of dots…
 Reflecting from the intersection of:
Information Technology
Popular culture
Development
Science
http://nalakagunawardene.com/ravaya-
column/

More questions than answers!
 Is mainstream media or MSM (esp.
newspapers) in LKA in slow decline?
 How financially viable are most of our
print & broadcast companies? Does it
matter to them either way?
 Do our mainstream media know WHO is
consuming their content, and how?
 Digital content consumption is rising, but
what are the key trends? Where are we
headed in next 5 years?

Reminds me of a famous
exchange, in 19th
Century…
 William Randolph Hearst, US
press baron: “Is there life
on Mars? Please cable 1,000
words!”
 Percival Lowell, renowned US
astronomer, replied:
“Don’t know” x 500 times!

We cannot keep on guessing!
And evidence is not that far…
 Primary research  empirical data
needed for a clear, detailed picture
 Especially on ‘Demand side’ of media use
 Supply side can be discerned partly from:
 TRCSL’s telecom industry collated data
 Broadcast industry ratings (challenged!)
 But newspaper circ. data is not shared by any
publishing company; no trade stats either
 How do Lankans access and share
information & media content?

WHY demand-side insights matter
 New govt. keen on media sector reforms
at policy & regulatory level: should be
based on evidence & sound analysis
 Media, telecom and digital industries
converging: everyone looking for ‘killer
apps’ and biz opps. (only some find it)
 Media companies compete for finite
advertising budget
 Advertisers want biggest bang for buck:
where are eyeballs? How to get to them?

Total advertising spend LKR 77b in
2014: Where is digital/online?
Source: Neilsen Sri Lanka
Based on monitored activities & rate card cost

Internet coverage and use
spreading in Sri Lanka…
 25% of Lanka population
using web regularly by 2015
 80%+ of web access is thru
mobile devices
 National Backbone Network
(Fibre-optic) being laid by Sri
Lanka Telecom: to cover all
329 admin divisions by 2018
 Map from: http://www.slt.lk

My analogy for web’s larger societal
shadow: Umbra+Penumbra during eclipses!
Something similar happening in LKA with 25%
direct Internet users’ access casting a wider
shadow in society: they share content/ideas with
many non-users, creating a ‘multiplier effect’

CPA’s new study full of useful
insights…and some surprises!
 Private TV most popular source of new,
followed by Facebook/web
 Across different age groups, smartphone is
device most used to access the web
 Culture of SHARING and engendering
TRUST: peer influence rising
 Jaffna has highest per capita Internet
penetration in Sri Lanka (from a separate
source: TNS Sri Lanka market research)

My interest (as parent of one) is
on 18-24 age group…
 CPA study finds they “…don’t
meaningfully engage with mainstream
media (MSM) as newspapers, radio or TV.
Wherever they are, they engage with
MSM content primarily through
smartphones, Facebook and chat apps…”
 “They also produce content of their own,
contesting and complementing
mainstream media.”

Example 1: Hashtag Generation:
Youth created political memes
One of many
memes
released
during run-up
to Sri Lanka
General
Election, Aug
2015

Example 2: Social media users are
irreverent: will lampoon everyone!
King Perakum-Bra!
Jan 2016 Meme ridicules
President Sirisena for his
over-reaction to ‘bra-
throwing’ incident at
Enrique concert on 20
Dec 2015, combined with
controversial ‘king song’
made to mark his first
anniversary in office

Example 3: Social Media users
critique mainstream media’s racism
A meme response
to Divaina rept of
12 April 2015 that
gave an anti-Tamil
spin on Sampur
lands being given
back to their
rightful owners
nearly 6 years after
civil war ended

Who really made the difference
for Mr Sirisena’s Jan 2015 victory?
Mr Sirisena: 6,217,162 (51.28%)
Mr Rajapaksa: 5,768,090 (47.58% )
Difference: 449,072
Probable factors for Sirisena victory include:
 Sections of Sinhala educated middle class?
 Ethnic & religious minorities?
 Web-savvy youth in 18-24 demographic (=1
million approx. who got voting rights for 1st
time, having recently turned 18)?

Recent civil soc campaigns: March 12
Movement for cleaner political reps
 https://www.facebook.com/pages/March-12-
Movement/858219587602508

Recent civil soc campaigns:
VoteWomenSL campaign
 Managed to elect only
13 women MPs out of
225 MPs in Parliament
of 2015 (6% of total)
 Why didn’t campaign
gain more traction?
 Did it not engage
youth voters using
media and channels
they use?

WHY these insights matter…
to govt, biz, civil soc & others
As the CPA study report has noted:
“Along with more traditional investments
around telecommunications infrastructure and
market imperatives, it can be expected that in
under five years – the term of the new
government – Sri Lanka will enjoy coast to
coast wireless broadband coverage, with a
population that is connected through at least
one platform or one device, to the Internet, web
and social media.”

Are mobile phones damaging our
youth and culture?
My engagement of grassroots volunteers of Sarvodaya
governance programme on 23 Jan 2016 at Sarvodaya Institute

Is it worth even entering the noisy,
chaotic social media?
My engagement on new media with National Catholic Center for
Social Communications on 26 Jan 2016

Big challenge to Sri Lanka’s
civil society & social movements
 Acknowledge we live in media-rich
information society (Get used to it!)
 Appreciate younger Lankans consume
and process media content differently
 Understand these differences
 Leverage digital pathways and channels
for social advocacy & public interest
 NOT A CHOICE, BUT IMPERATIVE!

2016 – 2020: A decisive phase in
Sri Lanka’s modern history…
 Dealing with unresolved issues of war
 Working on genuine reconciliation
 Consolidating democracy and good
governance
 Formulating a new Constitution
 Evolving a more open, egalitarian society
 CONSULTATION & PARTICIPATION VITAL

Wanted, badly:
More research, analysis & insights!
 Many Lankan social scientists wary of
studying ICTs’ impact on society: WHY?
 Most engineers and techies don’t bother
with societal implications of their work
 This is NOT a technological matter, but
sociological, anthropological, cultural
 Multidisciplinary studies are best

Needed, urgent:
More Imagination & Innovation!
Are we going to be bound by old tools or habits?

Census 2012: Mobile is most common
comm. device in Lankan households

What would DS Senanayake do,
if he were alive today?
This is the way
 ththth
Cartoon by Dharshana Karunathilake

Future is mobile…
Cartoon by Dharshana Karunathilake

Thank You!
Email:
alien@nalaka.org
Blog:
http://nalakagunawardene.com
Twitter: @NalakaG
My Ravaya columns archived online:
http://nalakagunawardene.com/ravaya-column/

Info Society Rising in Sri Lanka: Are You Ready? by Nalaka Gunawardene, 27 Jan 2016

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Info Society Rising in Sri Lanka: Are You Ready? by Nalaka Gunawardene, 27 Jan 2016