Ranil’s NGO crooks flee when CT/Mawbima staff boo

GAYATHRI GUNASEKARA- JAN 10 2019

A silent protest was organized by certain civil society organisations (CSOs), including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in front of the Ceylon Newspapers (Private) Limited and other Media institutions to oppose their allegedly unethical Media practices and Media bias, related to Government influence and corporate bias.

Employees of Mawbima, the Sinhala language publication of Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd showed their displeasure at the protest, voicing that the protest aimed to intimidate media organisations and refusing to be intimidated by NGOs.

Protesters carried banners with angry statements such as, ‘Our struggle is against unethical media!’, ‘Dear fellow journalists, this fight is against the media tycoons’, ‘Television and radio frequencies are not a private property’, ‘Were State Media organisations established to wash the dirty laundry of the Government?’ and ‘Broadcasting licenses were not given to conspire’.

The protest was staged by a group of CSOs, including NGOs such as Lawyers for Democracy,
EQUAL GROUND, the Sadhu Janarawaya movement, Butterflies for Democracy and the Professional Web Journalists’ Association.

Protesters cover their mouths in black cloth, as an expression of displeasure over media bias.

On the same day, the group staged a protest opposite the Capital Maharaja Organisation. The group claimed that they would be protesting before other Media institutions as well.