Media Development in Sri Lanka: Highlights of a Rapid Assessment is the plenary presentation by Nalaka Gunawardene, media development consultant, to the Sri Lanka National Media Summit on Media Reforms held in Colombo on 13 May 2015. This was a national level event jointly convened by the Ministry of Mass Media, Sri Lanka Press Institute, University of Colombo and International Media Support, to discuss broad-ranging policy, legal and institutional reforms needed in Lankan media.

1. Media Development
in Sri Lanka:
Highlights of a Rapid Assessment
By Nalaka Gunawardene
National Media Summit on Media Reforms
Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo: 13 May 2015

2. Why a Rapid Assessment?
 For quick overview of LK media sector
 Print, Broadcast, web media
 Freedom of Expression, Media Freedom & Right
to Information – new developments
 Legal & regulatory issues
 Ethical and societal concerns
 Media education & training
 Technology’s impacts & challenges
 Mix of academic, professional and industry
perspectives on reforms needed

3. Framework: UNESCO’s Media
Development Indicators (MDIs)
 Adopted by UNESCO/IPDC in 2009
 Enable assessment of media
landscapes at national levels
 Cover all aspects of media dev: law,
regulation, ethics, professionalism…
 Being used worldwide to identify
needs in guiding formulation of
media-related policies and improving
media development efforts

4. Rapid Assessment approach…
 Literature review covering relevant books,
academic papers, advocacy group reports, news
media reports, media op-ed articles, blogs and
other sources that are in the public domain
 Informal interviews with selected persons from
media policy, management, practice, research or
advocacy backgrounds)
 Additional research assistance on Tamil language
media from Ameer Hussain of SLPI
 My involvement in the National Media Summit
preparatory process (as chair of Working Group 3)

5. Media Sector Reforms in Sri Lanka:
Key questions to pose
What is not right with our media?
How can things be improved?
What structural changes needed?
Who must be consulted/involved?
What steps should be avoided?
Where (overseas) can we learn from?
What should be priorities/timelines?

6. Developing media sector without
stifling it: Many Balancing Acts…
We need to maintain these in all media
reforms:
 Freedom of Expression ↔ societal stability
 Public interest ↔ private enterprise
 Public security ↔ privacy of individuals
 Official secrets ↔ public’s right to know
 Profit making ↔ media industry growth
 Media owners ↔ media practitioners
 Media industry ↔ media consumers/audience

7. Who are the key
Media Stakeholders?
 We the People! (media users, content co-
creators, media watchers/critics, media
consumers/market…)
 Media Professionals: journalists,
producers, photojournalists, editors, etc.
 Media owners and managers
 Advertisers (big and small)
 The State (as guardian of public interest
though law-making & regulation)
Remember: MEDIA is a plural word!

8. One vehicle, different sized wheels:
A popular Russian children’s story…
 Apt analogy for Lankan
media industry today?
 4 wheels = elements of
varying size & influence:
 Media owners
 Advertisers (incl agencies)
 Content-makers (journos,
producers, technicians)
 Consumers: audiences
ොොොොොොොොො ොොොොො

9. What’s to be done?
 Until and unless we
address ALL FOUR
elements, media
reform won’t be
complete!
 Owners
 Advertisers
 Professionals
 Users/Consumers

10. Sri Lanka Media Sector Reforms:
Our Common Challenges…
 Taking stock of current status
 Acknowledging problems/drawbacks
 Understanding political, commercial and
societal factors involved
 Discussing the best responses
 Drawing from international good practices
 Demarcating roles of the state, owners,
professionals, advertisers & users (all of us!)
 Advocating for Change!

11. Laws enabling or blocking Freedom of
Expression (FOE) & Media Freedom
 Constitutional guarantees: Yes, but can be
made better & interpreted better too
 Laws supporting & enabling FOE:
 Right to Information (RTI): Close to adoption!
 Editorial independence: None & needed
 Protecting journalists’ sources: None & needed
 Laws inhibiting FOE (Emergency Regs, PTA,
Official Secrets, sedition, contempt of court,
Parliamentary privileges, etc.) Need
comprehensive law review & reform!

12. New Faces of Censorship?
 State has power to impose prior censorship
but not frequently used anymore
 Post-war Lanka: high level of threats,
intimidation, physical violence against
journalists and media organisations:
 Wide-spread SELF-CENSORSHIP
 Journalists fleeing  Living in exile
 Arbitrary blocking of political websites
without any legal basis or court orders

13. Broadcasting in Sri Lanka: State and a
privileged few use public airwaves!
 State as sole broadcaster for decades
 Radio (1925 to 1992)
 TV (1979 to 1992)
 ITN started as private co but taken
over by govt within 3 months
 Partial ‘liberalisation’ of airwaves
started in 1992, but…
 FM radio & TV broadcasting licenses given
selectively to ‘friends’ of all govts since then =
Looting of the Electromagnetic Spectrum!

14. Broadcast Regulation in Lanka:
It would be a good idea!
Urgently needed: independent & transparent
regulatory system
 NOT for controlling editorial content, but…
 To ensure proper use of the Electro-magnetic
Spectrum, a public property
 To create a level playing field for ALL
operators (state, commercial, community)
 To transform state-owned broadcasters into
true public service broadcasters (PSB)
 To promote REAL community broadcasting

15. What really is Media Pluralism?
 The media in a country can be considered
pluralistic if they are: multi-centred and
diverse enough to host an informed,
uninhibited and inclusive discussion of
matters of public interest at all times.
 Increase in media outlets (i.e. mere diversity)
does NOT always enhance media pluralism
 Regulations can help promote media
pluralism up to some extent…
 But society can & must also demand it!

16. Can we evolve TRUE community
media (beyond pervasive myths)?
 Since 1980s, Lanka has had ‘community radio’
fully owned & operated by the state’s SLBC!
 Legally set aside some frequencies for genuine
community broadcasting – e.g. Thailand has
20% of FM band for community radio
 Lower ‘entry barriers’ to broadcasting so
universities, civil soc & comm groups can start
localised radios?
 Concern: Lanka’s FM band is now saturated!

17. Some don’t wait for reforms…
They Just Do It!
 Conventional media spaces restricted or
dominated by ‘legacy media’
 Web: seen & seized as alternative space for
experimentation & innovation
 Rising: web-only content making & sharing
 webcast radios e.g. Radio Kalutara
http://www.radiokalutara.com
 Podcasts, e.g. TechKatha
http://www.techkatha.com
 LEAVE THEM ALONE to find own niches!

18. Public Service Broadcasting…
 NOT a mouthpiece of
political party in office
 NOT all ‘boring’
educational content
 NOT content sanitised
by dull bureaucrats
 NOT driven by
commercial forces or
advertising agendas

19. What really is
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB)?
UNESCO definition (widely accepted globally):
 Broadcasting that is made, financed and
controlled by the public, for the public.
 It is neither commercial nor state-owned, and
also free from political interference and
pressure from commercial forces.
 Through PSB, citizens are informed, educated
and also entertained
 Can Sri Lanka evolve true PSBs by
transforming state-owned SLBC, SLRC & ITN?

20. Citizen ‘meme’ circulated on 9
January 2015 (The Day After Election)

21. How state-owned media have
become govt propaganda outlets…
Before and After Presidential Election on 8 January 2015

22. How to ensure fairness and balance in
ALL broadcast media content?

23. Media owners/Press Barons:
Public interest or Vested interests?
 Market freedom allows: owning & operating
media as profit-making enterprises
 But…media ownership need special scrutiny
 In Sri Lanka: Media ownership details are not
transparent (true owners behind the scene!)
 Some media owners have other business
and/or political interests, which leads to:
 Influence peddling
 Doing private deals with state
 Money laundering

24. Print Media Ownership:
How can we improve status quo?
 At a minimum: improve transparency in
media ownership by better public disclosure
 India: mandatory public disclosure (printed in
own newspapers, magazines) of publisher,
editor and printer details on a regular basis
 Should the state be involved in newspaper
publishing at all? (broad-basing ANCL/Lake
House ownership, as recommended for many
media reform committees from 1990s)

25. Business viability of the Media…
 Production costs going up; LK market limited
 No tax concessions or import duty waivers
for media industry as a whole
 Discriminatory taxes affect some media:
 2006 onwards: high duty on imported TV progs
in English and Hindi
 2015: direct-to-home sat broadcasters with
more than 50,000 subscribers: LKR 1 billion
 2015: sports broadcasters with 5 or more
transmitting locations: LKR 1 billion

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

27. Govt Advertising as ‘soft control’
 Government as one of the biggest advertisers
 Official notices for public information: needed
 Ruling party propaganda paid with govt funds???
 Election campaigning by incumbent Presidents
 Govt ads sustains much of state-owned media
 Govt ads also used for pvt media control
 Sycophancy rewarded with lots of govt ads
 Critical media threatened with govt ad withdrawal
 Needless ads created just to reward some media?

28. Sri Lanka: Who decides on spending
LKR 77 billion/year advertising budget?
 Who decides on this ad-spend across
different media sectors and outlets?
 Using what basis or criteria?
 Considering massive financial influence,
there is little or no public scrutiny!
 Highly secretive, subjective process?
 Challenge: How to balance free market
enterprise with more evidence-based
allocation of ad budgets?

29. Advertiser pressures on media…
 To obtain favourable news coverage
 To suppress unfavourable stories
 To mislead the state and public
 Rise of public relations (PR)  ‘advertorials’
 Blurring of boundary between editorial
content & sponsored messages
 Journalists and editors often helpless
 Ad industry needs ethical code of conduct
 Advertising Standards Council?

30. How to improve media ratings and
circulation figures?
 Audited circulation by independent body (not
any publisher) as done in USA, Europe, India
 Have at least 2 robust broadcast ratings
systems, competing yet both using
transparent methodologies
 In India, ratings companies are monitored by:
 Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA),
 Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF),
 Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)

31. Better, safer conditions for
all journalists & other media workers
 Extra-legal pressures and threats on Lankan
media personnel and media organisations
continue to restrict their freedom to practice
their profession without fear.
 There are also rising levels of intolerance and
extremism in society that mitigate again free
and open discussion of ideas. As a platform for
debate and messenger of news, the media
comes under pressure from many fronts.

32. Hands Off Journalists & Media!

33. Assessing
entity
Latest status assessment for
Sri Lanka (2014)
Sri Lanka’s ranking details
Freedom
House
Freedom of the Press 2014
status
Sri Lanka: Not free
Press Freedom Score
(0 = best, 100 = worst) 76
Political Environment Score
(0 = best, 40 = worst) 33
Freedom
House
Freedom on the Net 2014
status 2014
Sri Lanka: Partly free
Freedom on the Net Total
(0 = best, 100 = worst) 58
Reporters Sans
Frontiers (RSF)
World Press Freedom Index
2014
Sri Lanka ranked 165th out of
180 countries
Committee to
Protection
Journalists
(CPJ)
Global Impunity Index (on
journalist killers going
unpunished)
Sri Lanka ranked 4th
worst
country for journalists (after
Iraq, Somalia and the
Philippines)

35. Media Practitioner issues: so much
room for improvement!
 Guaranteeing personal safety from physical
violence, legal harassment
 Safeguarding editorial freedom (from govt
and/or pvt owners, also from advertisers)
 Employment & income security (Many
profitable media cos pay poor salaries: WHY?)
 Promoting right to form/belong to trade
unions and professional associations
 Need for continuing education & training

36. Long-term investments
Media education and training
 Review media education curricular at tertiary
levels (universities and other)
 Promote value and ethics based approach to
media from education and training levels
 Raise profile of continuing education and
training in media industry HR policies
 Knowing how media works is needed by ALL
to live in modern societies!

37. Also Wanted, Urgently:
Better Media Literacy in Sri Lanka!
 Basic literacy high in Lanka, but mass media
literacy & new media literacy still very low
 Critically assessing media content: not yet a
common habit (leaves much room for
manipulation of public mind, e.g. done by
state media during elections)
 Many public myths & fears about new media
 Internet as a ‘tool of western domination’
 Mobile phones as ‘corrupting youth’
 Media reforms need a media literate public!

38. Conventional media structures
need rethink and reform too…
 Owners, advertisers & paid media
practitioners produce media content
  (mostly passive) media
audiences
 Limited opportunities for audience
engagement (letters to editor;
phone-in shows)
 Audience is taken for granted?
 Notion of ‘all-knowing’ media
‘informing’ & ‘enlightening’ mass
audiences: MUST CHANGE!
Much of
Lankan media
still operates
on this basis!

39. THIS won’t take us to a new era of
inclusive & enlightening media!

40. Citizen Journalism (CJ)
in 21st
Century Sri Lanka…
 Bloggers: 3,000+ in Sinhala, Tamil or
English or mixed media
 Blog aggregators: listing latest blog posts
 Twitter users: 100,000+ in Sinhala, Tamil,
English or hybrid (more joining everyday)
 Facebook: 2.4 million+ accounts (rising).
Only some using it in PUBLIC setting to
discuss matters of public interest
 Dedicated CJ websites: Groundviews,
Vikalpa, Maataram, Boondi, etc.

41. Media Reforms Necessary,
But Not Sufficient…
 Enabling policies, laws and regulations can
create better environment for media
 But improving our media culture also needs…
 More integrity from media owners & practitioners
 Greater professionalism by all practitioners
 Unwavering commitment to the public interest
 Media houses practising what they preach to society
 Everyone of us is part of the ‘media vehicle’
Change begins with each one of us!

42. Can this ‘vehicle’ move forward?
It’s up to all of us!

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