http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/11/06/fea02.asp
Eye to Eye with Prasad Gunewardene 'Yes.... there is media freedom' Profile Name - Anura Priyadharshana Yapa Schools - IMRA Iriyagolla Maha Vidyalaya,Kuliyapitiya Maha Vidyalaya and Nalanda College, Colombo Profession - Attorney-at-Law Entered Parliament - 1994 Positions held - Deputy Minister of Posts,Telecommunication and Media, Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education, Cabinet Minister of Plantations. Present Portfolio - Cabinet Minister for Media, Information and Mass Communication Politics presented itself to this young man's mind at the age of twenty four as a natural and inevitable pursuit as he hailed from a clan that embraced the country's political process for decades. A direct descendant of the late IMRA Iriyagolla, one of the country's most popular education ministers of yesteryear, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, the great grandson of that late minister who is interviewed today ascended to politics in 1984. Inspired by the call of the clan to serve the people, this young man completed his studies at Law College to first practice at the Kuliyapitiya courts in his native Kurunegala district. From his school days he had the ability to deliver firmly constructed speeches devoid of rhetorical flourishes. Like his great grandfather, Anura Yapa began his political career from the grassroots level. It was a journey from the Pradeshiya Sabha to the Provincial Council and then to Parliament. From the rank of a deputy minister he rose to Cabinet level in no time. Though he initially handled subjects like Posts, Telecommunications, Education and Plantations, the rulers of this country though he was the most suited man to handle the important subject of media. A media Minister has to be friendly, tactful, patient and persevering to get close to the media. The personality and the calibre of Anura Yapa fitted him to the job to walk in the footsteps of his popular predecessors Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, Anandatissa De Alwis, Tyronne Fernando, W.J.M. Lokubandara, Dharmasiri Senanayake and Alavi Mowlana. They were known as the "Friends of the Media". Like his predecessors, Anura Yapa believes that media as an institution should be an intellectual champion of the momentous changing trends at many levels of our society .Minister of Media, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa during this interview stressed that the media was a stream to promote the necessity to respect language, culture and the identity of all at national level based on equality. In the cause for the power of information, the vision of the incumbent Media Minister is not expounded in romantic or idealistic terms but, quite realistic to the belief. The minister himself is of the view of the necessity of a vastly expanded modern information and communication structure to address such a vision. The amiable Media Minister, Anura Yapa like one of his predecessors Anandatissa De Alwis claims that the media is free to do anything in the country but, should exercise more caution when it comes to sensitive military news at times of war. Yapa aware of the imbalance between the widely expanded private or independent media and the State controlled media carefully responded to the following queries: Q: How do you view media freedom before and after the introduction of the 1978 Constitution? A: Many things have happened before and after. That is my view. As in the past, we have seen an imbalance in recent times. The private media due to lack of experience and knowledge act ignorant on national issues. You see...unfortunately they have not been trained properly. I am trying my best to establish a professional institute for training as training is very important for media personnel. The Government has given the green light to move in that positive direction and I am happy to say that we are going ahead with that idea. Laws cannot prevent everything. Laws are there as boundaries demarcating where we should stand. The owners of the media institutions too have a responsibility to be fair by what their institutions do. Q: You mean to say that the media needs more training to perform their duties? A: Yes... we may face a power crisis in the near future. The price of fuel has risen in the world market. How many of our media have focused their attention on that grave issue to educate our people? How many articles had appeared on that subject to outline the danger before us? Have you seen any articles done with extensive research on that subject? That is why I say, the national issue is not only the ethnic problem. There are many other problems at national level. Why not the media focus attention on all these issues to educate our people? They are only concerned about selling their papers publishing sensitive issues. I understand their perspectives. My position is that the media has a social responsibility by the people. Q: Is it fair to withdraw licences of the electronic media without any prior warnings? A: Actually speaking, we have done it after a thorough examination. We have advised and warned them several times. A preliminary inquiry has proved that our action was correct in withdrawing those licences. They should have acted with more caution. You must check the veracity and authenticity of any news item before you broadcast or telecast it. If not you can put the entire country on fire when you broadcast a wrong news item claiming that terrorists have massacred innocent civilians in a village. Q: Is there media freedom in this country? A: How many newspapers are there in this country? Many and some of them target politicians. The freedom is there for such action. But, when it comes to sensitive military news, they must exercise caution and responsibility. It is not fair to give details of the weaponry we use to counter the enemy. If you do so, it will only help the enemy. When the Patriot missile weapon was used, none knew what it was. Then when the atom bomb was used to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no one knew about the capacity and the danger of that bomb. Is it fair for the media to expose every single detail of our weaponry? I don't think that is a fair exercise or a national responsibility. The media can do anything in this country other than encroaching on sensitive military matters that concern the defence of this country. Q: There are many media movements in this country. How do you view the role of the Free Media Movement? A: Actually speaking, they also claim to play a role in the media. They are good people. When they are good people, they must always play good roles. We have nothing against good people who act in a responsible manner. I hope they will always do good things. We welcome them. Q: Most of the programs on the private electronic media have no standards. If Sri Lanka is a national state, do you intend to introduce some standards even at this late stage? A: That is why I said they need more training, guidance and proper direction. Also, the Media institution owners should examine such weal areas. I earlier said that we have got the green light to set up an institute to promote media interests in this country. That institution can play a bigger role to provide a better insight to media personnel about standards and morals of our society. In India, there is the "Shanthi Niketan". But, we do not have such an institution here since independence. I gave thought to these weaknesses we often witness, blame and argue. We cannot everyday blame the media or fight with them eternally. My view is that we should remedy the situation. Q: There are allegations that the Government is trying to curb media freedom. How would you respond to that charge? A: Allegations must first be substantiated with evidence. We have no intention to gag the media. See how many of our ministers and even for that matter the President is ridiculed by our private media. We have not taken any drastic action for such slandering of characters. That's because we value media freedom. When the media goes beyond its decent boundaries, we follow the law of the land to take them before court. That is the right of any individual in this country. Because no one could be allowed to character assassinate individuals without reason. We have not and we do not intend to harass the media or to curb media freedom in this country. We want the media to act in a responsible manner. A country which has a responsible media is strengthened democratically. We welcome the media to play a vibrant role in the life of our people and the society.
