Christian Living

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(1)
Media and conflicts

If media is a derivation from the word mediator, then a journalist has to play an important role with high standards of truth and ethics in this high tech era where media has been dubbed as the fourth estate coming next to the legislature, executive and the judiciary. They carry out the important functions of communicators and opinion formers and therefore have to report discreetly after due research on a subject.

Media can play a very significant role in conflict situations in the country and to this extent the rights and duties of media persons have to be well protected. The independent Press Complaints Commission (PCC) of UK has been functioning for some time for this purpose and also as arbitrators in cases where there are disputes between the writer and aggrieved readers with codes of conduct laid down by the PCC covering any deficiencies in the law. A PCC is now established in Sri Lanka too.

Beginning with hieroglyphics written in cave walls to the present day technologies, the urge of a journalist to search and express truth as far as is possible in an atmosphere free of intimidations should be encouraged by society when the scope of a journalist is made wider with new technologies that have opened out many avenues of easy communication. Journalists have to ensure that this scope is used with discretion and not abused. That news reporting should be done and at times done with sensation is well known to many writers, but there is much more to journalism than just sensationalism and outright news reporting.

There should be an attempt as for as is possible to inculcate civic consciousness amongst people in society with divisive forces that cause estranged families, societies, and nations due to arousal of passions in their writings and carried at the wrong time. They could look to areas promoting peace, solidarity among people, stemming rapid momentum of undesirable forces that seem to envelope humanity such as terrorism, warfare and hatred. Would that the media barons give thought to this whilst they keep that strict eye on profit margins, at least for their own survival even if not for the sake of humanity!

They could promote justice, unity and solidarity in reporting events accurately and truthfully, analyzing situations and problems completely, and providing a forum for different opinions instead of dogmatically propagating their opinion only. People including journalists are in search of meaningful life styles, and all face human conflicts that increasingly seem to be more of communicative conflicts than factual problems, Sri Lanka being a good case study for this purpose.

Communicative conflicts if neglected can very well lead to armed conflicts and it is in this area that the journalists could play an important role with expressive skills and research available to them in plenty with advanced information technologies opening out fields in economics, politics, culture, human rights and duties, promotion of obligations towards others and safeguarding dignity of persons, family etc, that in turn could ensure contending communities within the nation. These are subjects that journalists could bring out into the open for dialogues in popular electronic media.

It has to be stressed that if there is no management and coordination of the media with the present dizzy heights of technologies, the media can run the risk of manipulating and conditioning, rather than serving society and in turn be a destructive weapon to foster injustice and conflicts.

We read much about the on-coming clash of civilizations, seen in a minor form in our own country today. Could this not be a clash of ignorance where journalists could play an important role by way of communication? Very often such clashes originate with biased and inaccurate historical recordings made with selfish motives. Hence is the danger of discussing history without an unbiased referee. This imminent clash of civilizations is so potent in nations that even a well represented unit set up at the United Nations could be that independent third party to monitor such historical controversies that can lead to much feared terrorism that the US and UN is so concerned about.

Journalists could interview contradictory historians to open out a rationalistic dialogue that could even be taken up to a third party independent arbitrator for a conclusion as suggested.

There are several such burning questions in our country today which without unbiased discussion can lead to further blood shed and foremost among these are ethnic and religious feuds.

In the ethnic area all of us have experienced the heavy toll it has taken and most have read about it and therefore need no exemplification. In the area of religion there are new findings that journalists may get interested in for research and writing in order to have unbiased discussion. This is covered in the book entitled ‘ Lakdiva Kithunu Puranaya authored by Rita Welagama and published in 2003 with authentic references to the book ‘ Concise History of Ceylon’ authored by the well known archeologist and historian Dr Senarath Paranavithane and C W Nicholus with further references to chronicles both here and abroad. These books refer to existence of Christianity in the year AD 57 in Sri Lanka.

Such chronicles, stated by these authors as not being recorded in the Mahavamsa, are subjects for dialogue and rational understanding without sweeping them under the carpet.

The writer has done no research in depth on these subjects but can only point these to be treated by active media bodies for dispassionate interviewing of relevant specialists and for follow up discussions in the media, in order to placate emotional outbursts in the country that could add further fuel to the existing fire.

Would this not be a far better exercise for the UN to provide funds than funding terrorist chasing? And even perhaps a better exercise for us than long drawn out and a more expensive peace processes-barring the joint mechanism to relieve tsunami victims which is an urgent-humanitarian problem sadly politicized.

Oscar E V Fernando.
(The writer holds a diploma from the
London School of Journalism)
24th June 2005

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