It is every journalist’s worst nightmare. You write a major story in the newspaper, perhaps a scoop or something controversial alluding to ruling party bigwigs and the next day, you get visitors in your newsroom. Not just ordinary visitors – sleuths from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), who should certainly be having better things to do than interrogating journalists.
Alas, that is what they do, most probably at the behest of the politician(s) exposed by the story. They mostly want to know two things – why did you write the story and who gave you the story. The visit may even be topped off with a not-too-gentle ‘invitation’ to come to the CID Headquarters. Granted, it is much better than being killed or being beaten senseless by a shadowy hit squad.
This Government came to power with the promise of changing that culture, which was once the modus operandi of most Governments. For almost two years, there were almost no incidents of State-sponsored harassment of journalists, though there were a couple of instances where local level politicians had done so. This was indeed a good sign that the Government was keeping its word on press freedom.
Yet, a political authority who seems to be defying even the President and the Prime Minister has now decided to change this course, sending a shiver down the collective spine of both print and electronic media journalists throughout the country. According to reliable sources, the CID had summoned the journalists after Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena had complained over several comments made by a former Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Director over the recent garlic scam where four officials of the State-owned Lanka Sathosa were suspended after they were found to be involved in selling imported garlic for a lesser price to third-party sellers. The officials were found following a tip-off by an employee of the Lanka Sathosa, who had noticed false entries in the institution’s logbook that was used to clear containers of imported essential items.
It is the duty of the press to expose wrongdoings of this nature, regardless of who the perpetrators are. The public have a right to know about corruption and corrupt elements. In this case, instead of probing the garlic scam itself, the CID has been called in to “shoot the messenger”, a favourite tactic of many Governments.
Many in the Government have been shocked by this development, judging by the swift reaction. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had informed the CID not to summon or question journalists who had reported on the garlic scam, Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.
The Media Minister has apologized to the journalists on behalf of the Government, a very laudable move. We cannot remember any instances from the past of Media Ministers apologizing for the conduct of the CID or Police vis-à-vis journalists. All journalists should be reassured by the Government that their reporting will in no way be under scrutiny.
Sri Lanka ranks 127 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index for 2021. We have made good progress as we were near the bottom end of the scale sometime back, but we can and should do much better than this. However, incidents of this nature tend to be taken seriously by the International Community as our credibility in terms of media freedom takes a hit.
We have passed a number of dark eras in which the press was muzzled and journalists murdered in cold blood. Richard de Zoysa and Lasantha Wickrematunga are two high profile victims, but there were many others who parted with their lives due to their fearless reporting. Some others were maimed for life by goons while a few simply ‘disappeared’. Sadly, the investigations into most of these are yet to be completed. We hope that the new Media Minister will set the ball rolling in this regard.
The media landscape has changed immensely from the days of Richard de Zoysa, with the proliferation of the electronic media and the advent of the new kid on the block – the Internet or more specifically, social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Today, anyone with a smartphone can be a so-called citizen journalist, with the capability of beaming live audio and video around the world. In this free-for-all, the truth can sometimes be a casualty.
Indeed, the phenomenon of fake news has turned the media world upside down. There is a ready market for falsehoods, as seen by the many myths circulating about Covid-19 vaccines which are believed by millions. In this milieu, the print media still have a major role to play. They can be more analytical, more investigative and more in-depth. In fact, investigative journalism is still the forte of the print media. They are best qualified to tell a story like the garlic scam after investigating all angles. If the egos of certain political bigwigs are deflated in the process, so be it. The media must not be discouraged by the latest incident. On the other hand, they should be even more determined to tell the truth, which should be their raison d’être.
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