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Dip into Mass Media Ratings Media Village pioneers new research and ratings culture for print, electronic Third Sri Lanka Mass Media Awards ceremony on Oct. 28 Media Village – comprising a group of reputed organizations like the Sri Lanka Mass Media Foundation, the Mass Media Communication and Media Village Research Company, has come up with the latest ratings involving the country's print and electronic media, after months of hectic research by a dedicated team. The company's Chairman Mahinda K. Premasiri, who has been in the media field for several decades, said his company's mission was to emerge as the leader in the market research industry, thereby creating a new culture in the field. "The thought of starting this research company emerged after the Sri Lanka Mass media Foundation set up by me, four years ago, started the Media Awards ceremony covering the print and electronic media. When it came to the process of selecting the best in every category, we found it extremely tough, since the country hardly had a proper measuring device to evaluate the capabilities of the media in key areas. We found so many loopholes in the existing research systems relating to the media. That prompted us to start our own, neutral mechanism. I strongly believe that any media should cater to the likes and dislikes of the people and not just please a section of the community. If the media belongs to the people, it is imperative that we get the feedback about the media also from the people. This is what we really do. We held the first Sri Lanka Mass Media Awards ceremony in 2006 and then in 2007. Our next awards ceremony will be held on October 28 at the BMICH. In pioneering such a neutral awards presentation ceremony, we had to utilize the services of a dedicated team comprising university graduates and other professionals to get the real feedback of the people and find out as to which media understand and caters to the people – be it areas related to environmental, cultural, social or political. We never asked media personnel or institutions to send us their creations for awards, because we believed it is we who had to evaluate the performances. This method worked and this gave us the idea to start the mass media research company," he said. "We hope that our ratings covering all electronic and print medium in Sinhala, Tamil and English would be of great help to those who really need to know where they stand at any given time. I don't say that all rating or research companies are not serving the real needs or purposes, but I can guarantee that we are target-oriented while striving to maintain quality and error-free work. Interestingly our methodology is transparent and subjected to appraisal. We know that this is a huge responsibility. For results of the latest ratings those interested could browse our website – www.mediavillage.lk or contact us on email [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] ," Mahinda said. "There are some companies which conduct their own research and come out with their own claims. But are these claims going to be convincing? Research and surveys on any product or services should be carried out in a neutral manner," he said. Today the Sri Lanka Mass Media Foundation has been spread with 43 branch offices island wide. This is seen as a healthy sign. All our funds come through activities of the media village and it makes us an independent and neutral body," he said. Explaining details about the third Sri Lanka Mass Media Awards ceremony due to be held on October 28, Mahinda said 60 awards would be presented to journalists in the print and electronic media, apart from the plum Mass Media 22 kt gold award to the best media institution. "An award will be presented to the best Asian journalist too. Our jury spends hours reading all newspapers, listening to radio and watching television channels. Then they meet regularly and boil down their preferences to a final list. We always maintain transparency. We will be inviting all media institutions of this country to nominate two of their representatives to check our methodology and selection. For us what matters most is the credibility," he said. "The awards ceremony will coincide with the launch of our Mass Media Highlights Magazine covering all aspects relating to the media. The specialty about this is that it would be circulated exclusively among the media personnel, media institutions and publishers. We are hoping to expand this magazine to the Asian region by next year, and probably by 2010 this would cater to the world," said a confident Mahinda. (RU) ------------------------------------ -- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTMedia mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE Share media news, discuss journalism issues and network with media professionals across South Asia on this mailing list. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTMedia by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/Yahoo! 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