http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/July30164034CH.html
Sri Lanka Media Minister laments the lack of news reporting on progress Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 16:40 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka. July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa today lamented the lack of reporting in the media on issues of development and too much focus on politics. Addressing the Fourth SAARC Journalist Summit today at the Trans Asia Hotel in Colombo, the Minister emphasized the need for the media to be responsible and commended the South Asian Free Media Association which organized the forum for its commitment to playing a progressive role in the region's development. "We are moving into an era which challenges all of us to be more responsible in what we say and do and how we say it and do it," the Minister said. "Where are the well - argued, well - written features investigating development drives, the philosophies upon which they are founded, and the extrapolations thereof?" the Minister asked. Concluding his speech, Minister Yapa proposed a South Asian News Agency for reporting regional issues. "Why should we let others make us inhabit their versions of our reality? Let us first write our stories ourselves. I believe that a news agency of our peoples, for our peoples and with our peoples, is something worth working towards," he added.
