| A Statement Issued by the National Peace Council
( June 12, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government has presented a draft code of ethics for the media which it proposes to implement. The National Peace Council wishes to express its concern that the government’s draft media ethics code will be unnecessarily stringent with regard to the publication of news which the public have a right to know. The government’s motivation for coming up with the code of media ethics may be due to its concerns that its image and those of its members are being unfairly tainted by various allegations. Sections of the internet-based new media in particular have been severely critical of the government. Distorting the truth or manipulating news for the advantage of politicians or a political party is not an accepted value in a democracy. At the same time the publication of the truth may not always be in the interest of those who have to run the country.
The draft code prohibits “criticisms affecting foreign relations” and which “promote anti-national attitudes.” It also prohibits “material against the integrity of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature.” These are broad categories which could lead to self-censorship by the media on account of fear of being deemed to have violated the governmental code of media ethics. The draft contains language that could be used to intimidate the media. Revelation of military secrets and other sensitive government information may be contrary to the public interest, even if it is true. What is and what is not in the public interest is not an easy decision to make. This problem is compounded by the fact that Sri Lanka does not have a Right to Information Act and hence there is no guideline to the journalists with regard to the scope of the public’s right to know.
We take this opportunity to call on the government to approve the Right to Information Bill that was submitted to Parliament in 2004. While a government would like anything which is adverse to its public image to be banned, the interests of the public requires that corruption, inefficiency and misdemeanors by ruling politicians should be published. They are published in other democracies and there have been several cases in court where the ultimate decision is taken by the courts. We regretfully note that in the South Asian region it is only Sri Lanka that still does not have such a law and we urge the government to pass the Right to Information bill into law and thereby seek to make Sri Lanka obtain its rightful place as a democratic nation in accordance with the United Nations Declarations and the requirements of good governance.
Presently the media are engaged in self censorship for fear of antagonizing those in positions of power in a context of disappearances and killings of journalists who have dared to expose crimes and illegalities by those in positions of power. The National Peace Council therefore believes that the threat to media freedom rather than media ethics must receive the most urgent attention of the government. There are many unresolved cases of murder and disappearance of media personnel. The government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, which made a study of this problem, recommended that the government should thoroughly investigate these cases and ensure that those guilty were apprehended and brought to justice.
Usually codes of ethics are taught in Schools of Journalism. The privately owned media already have a code of ethics which was formulated in 2002 by the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka in collaboration with other media organisations. If it was deficient in any respect it could formed the basis for further discussion with the media community rather than have the government draw up a fresh code of ethics. The publication of the draft code of ethics has given rise to concerns that it is meant to be an instrument of control and impact on the freedom of expression of the media. While journalistic standards in both the state and privately owned media can and must be improved, the National Peace Council believes that this should be a matter for self-regulation and not for governmental imposition upon the privately owned media.
We believe that the government should set an example of high media standards by considering the shortcomings in the state media and applying the government’s code of ethics for the media to the state media in the first instance. The state media has been used to manipulate news – an unethical practice, resorted to by successive governments as their political tool, which is unacceptable. The state media is run with public funds and therefore ought to be non-partisan in its approach and fair to all sections of the polity. The code of ethics drawn by the government should first be followed by the government media. The government could ensure that the state media follows the principles of professional journalism and upholds media ethics. As a first step we would welcome the state media’s adherence to the code of ethics developed by the Editors Guild.
Governing Council ; The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.
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