Sri Lanka: Identifying Requirements for Structural Changes in Our Media System
Wijayananda Jayaweera
by Wijayananda Jayaweera-
(World Press Freedom Day lecture, organised by the Free Media Movement and the Sri Lanka Press Institute )
Media disseminate stories, ideas and information, and act as a corrective to the natural asymmetry of information between governors and the governed and between competing private agents. In the normative sense the media should be a critical witness to events, function as a watchdog, promoting government transparency and public scrutiny of those with power – by exposing corruption, maladministration, and corporate wrong doing – and there by be a tool to enhance good governance and economic efficiency. The media can be a national voice, a means by which a society can learn about itself and build a sense of community and of shared values, a vehicle for cultural expression and cultural cohesion. Finally we should not forget that the media can function as advocates of certain issues and causes – as social actors in their own right.
