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Presentation that accompanies lecture I deliver on media and peacebuilding at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies
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Media, Peace & Conflict in Sri LankaSanjana Hattotuwa
History of broadcasting in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka has the oldest radio station in
Asia - Radio Ceylon.
• Experimental broadcasting was started in
1923 - 3 years after the inauguration of
broadcasting in Europe.
• 1925 broadcasting began
Statistics
Modes of Information in Sri Lanka
What media do you consume the most on a daily basis – television, radio or newspapers?
71.2
22.1
5.0 1.50
20
40
60
80
Television Radio Newspapers Word of mouth
%
What media do you consume the most on a daily basis – television, radio, newspapers? Gender breakdown
66.3%75.6%
23.3%
21.2%
8.7% 1.8%1.8% 1.2%
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Male Female
Word of mouth
Newspapers
Radio
Television
Media and conflict
Media and Conflict
• In most cases of long term conflict, media becomes part of the conflict and not part of the solution.
Media and Conflict
What a jackass !
We must have more balanced coverage
There is nothing wrong
with our editorial policy !
I feel left out…
What the hell is going
on?
Every single person here has
a different perspective
Why am I the only woman here?
Truth?
Security
Job security
Personal security
No training
No equipment
No insurance
No identification
Volatile ground situation
What are the problems you see with media?
Media and Conflict
• Lack of professionalism/ journalism training in State and Private media
• Most of the newsrooms in Sri Lanka are monolingual.
• Lack of diversity.
• No democracy in the newsroom.
Media and Conflict
• Polarization of newspapers on ethnic lines
• Self-censorship of Editors
• State owned media has been a political tool of the governing political party
• Lack of training / Existing training not up to industry demands
Media in Conflict Transformation
Framing and defining the
conflict
Encouraging a balance of
power
Identifying the interests underlying the issues Channel of
communication between
parties
Confidence-building
Counteracting misperceptio
ns
Face saving and
consensus-building
Analyzing the conflict
Media Roles in
Peacebuilding
Process Events
Process Events
1. Long term
2. Variable & changing
3. Different actors at different times
4. Difficult to imagine, especially as an advance project
5. Outbreaks of violent periods likely and undermine confidence in the process
6. Necessary to maintain the optimism and hope
1. Short-term
2. Episodic
3. Sensational - what bleeds leads
4. Difficult to contextualise / frame
5. Hard to understand the significance of one event
6. Are the foundation of the public’s perception of a peace process
Media as a shared space
1. Women need to be more visible at the higher decision-making levels
2. But not just a numbers game - real decision making power is hard to come by
3. Awareness-raising on gender - especially editorial and management levels
4. Give women agency & represent agency at all levels
5. Men & women need to be engaged, not just one sex
Engender media
Two (different) films
New Media
New Media / Citizens Media
“As media proliferate and as the world becomes the more volatile and unpredictable, the greater becomes the need to organise citizens’ media associations and to promote community based media which alone can serve as balancing factors to check the unhealthy dominance of State-media and corporate media.”
Javid Jabbar, Convenor, Citizens Media Commission, Pakistan
http://www.wiredet.com/cmd/files/studies.asp
What is New Media?
• Old Media – Single Producer
• New Media – Multiple Producers
• Old Media – National, Regional
• New Media – Local, Grassroots / “Glocal”
• Old Media – Journalists
• New Media – Citizen Journalists
http://www.jnw.lk
Mobile Phones & Citizen Journalism
How can New Media help professional standards?
• Accountability
• Audience feedback and debate
• Ethical reporting and standards
• Promotion of alternatives, including alternatives & revisions to old media frame
• Investigative journalism
www.youtube.com
www.flickr.com
http://radio.voicesofpeace.lk
http://www.groundviews.org
• 500+ (avg) individuals log on to the website on a daily basis (Pageviews)
• Around 15,000+ pageviews a month (avg)
• 77,360 pages viewed to date from around 29,000 unique readers
• 25+ original articles per month are uploaded to the website
• The split in local and international readership is 60/40
• 80+ subscribers to email update and its growing.
http://www.vikalpa.org
Growth of new media producers and users globallyGrowth of new media producers and users globally
Questions
• Can New Media work in Sri Lanka?
• How useful is New Media in changing the old media cultures?
• Can New Media help conflict sensitive journalism and peacebuilding?
Thank You