On media rights post-Sunanda

by Malinda Seneviratne

(December 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) issued a statement yesterday (December 19, 2008), announcing that Sunanda Deshapriya, former Director and former Head of the Media Unit, associated with CPA since 2002, has resigned with immediate effect, that he has personally returned in full, the money owed to the organisation after an investigation into financial anomalies of a project he was responsible for. Earlier, Executive Director, CPA, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu stated that Deshapriya was involved in a transaction that ‘lacked clarity’.

He is a swindler

Now this is a gentlemanly way of saying, ‘he is a swindler’. Sunanda has been an ardent advocate of media rights for a long time. The organizations he is associated with have affiliated themselves with anti-corruption programmes. Sunanda himself has been quite loquacious about corruption, transparency and accountability, among other things. As someone who has always been opposed to Sunanda’s brand of politicking and his ideological preferences, the easiest thing would be to use these revelations to vilify the organizations he has been associated with. I choose to resist.

Disturbingly, it is becoming clear that it is not just Sunanda, but key individuals in the groups of media advocacy outfits led by the Free Media Movement (FMM) have also been implicated in the matter. The President and Secretary of the Working Journalists Association have been directly named in some of the accusations. It is reported that the FMM is instituting or has instituted an audit inquiry into transactions that include the period when Sunanda acted as its convenor.

These are individuals who have been rewarded and awarded for ‘contributions’ to media freedom in Sri Lanka. For me, there are two issues that need to be addressed.

First of all, we all know that these individuals are frequently quoted by foreign media and are referenced in all manner of reports on media freedom in Sri Lanka. Their submissions have been taken as fact and they have been treated as authorities on a wide range of political issues. They have been deemed ‘neutrals’. When ‘profit’ enters the equation, ‘neutrality’ flies out of the window, one observes. This is why I am less concerned about Sunanda, Jayantha, Balasuriya, Lankapeli et al at this point than about those who treated these individuals as veritable ‘last words’ on anything and everything.

All those who signed petitions authored by these people or were co-signatories to petitions along with them, and all organizations which were associated directly or indirectly with them are not required to come out with statements. They are required, morally, moreover, to engage in serious self-reflection and re-assessment of conclusion drawn based on the things that these individuals have said and done.

I have, in previous writings, pointed out that while journalists are good at pointing fingers, they are for the most part a sorry lot when it comes to self-reflection and self-criticism. The strongest foundation for a decent media culture is made of 3 things: a) integrity, b) integrity and c) integrity. It is easy to write well, but writing honestly is a challenge indeed. The flaws of our tribe naturally find expression as flaws in the organizations founded to protect our freedoms and safeguard our interests. ‘In the pay’ is a tag that we try to avoid at all costs. ‘In the pay’ is the tag that many in our profession have earned. We can accuse governments of curtailing media freedoms, but our arguments fall on deaf ears for the most part because of this reality.

Not be taken seriously ever

The FMM makes a big song and dance about a lot of things. The FMM has got the ear of funding agencies that are either peopled by people whose agendas are as dubious as some of the members of the FMM or are utterly naive. The FMM is treated with scorn by the general public, not because their rhetoric is logically flawed but because those who do the articulation are compromised on principles.

Sunanda will not be taken seriously ever again and all individuals. Organizations associated with Sunanda and his partners in crime will not be taken seriously either, unless they themselves come clean, disassociate themselves with these individuals, confess to their crimes of omission and commission consequent to this association and strive to do better in the future.

The Free Media Movement is on the face of it an excellent brand name. No serious takers, though. The FMM and the media rights outfits associated with it have suffered a massive blow because they were in fact identified with these individuals. The easiest thing would be to scream ‘conspiracy’ to the world and to be silent within the organizations choosing to do the sweeping-under-the-carpet thing. Wrong strategy if there are any individuals among their membership who were/are serious about chosen mandate and relevant articles of association.

The brave and necessary thing to do is to come clean, institute investigations, be transparent about it all, and start afresh. These organizations can play an important complementary role in the struggle to push out the horizons of democracy. We need them, even though we may not identify with some of the ideological preferences of some of their spokespersons. However, we are better off without them if they happen to need crooks, want to protect crooks or if they violate within their institutions the values and practices they advocate for society and government.

I am certain that there are honourable individuals in all these organizations. This is their difficult hour. They could fold up operations of course. It is up to them to see these recent revelations as tragedy or opportunity. Let us hope they come through with flying colours. Different colours,certainly. - Sri Lanka Guardian