The Island Editorial

Of those cyber hit men

30 November 2016

 

The Professional Web Journalists’ Association (PWJA) has lashed out at the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government for adopting the same repressive policies as its predecessor in handling the web-based media. It has taken exception to action against two web publications, which, it says, should have complete freedom to continue their operations.

We both agree and disagree with the PWJA. We agree with it that the government is trying to tar all web publications with the same brush and introduce draconian laws and regulations to keep them under its thumb. This move must be resisted with might and main. You don’t kill all dogs to tackle rabies, do you?

But, we don’t agree with the PWJA that web publication should be able to enjoy the freedom of the wild ass. Anyone who feels that a website has violated his or her rights must be able to seek justice as in the case of the excesses committed by the mainstream media. Regrettably, some of the web publications are behaving like sickos who, under cover of darkness, hurl stones at vehicles on expressways or moving trains, hurting people. Their victims suffer in silence.

The onus is on the PWJA, which has rightly taken up cudgels for media freedom, to ensure that web publications end the unspeakable practice of defaming people without facilitating the government efforts to muzzle the media.

The PWJA says that although the leaders of the present government complain of unfair criticism they encouraged the web-based media to mete out the same treatment to the Rajapaksa regime while they were in the Opposition. In other words, the powers that be are now condemning the brand of journalism they promoted for political expediency while struggling to capture power. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

It is said that the media, in providing information to the public, should act like a caring mother who nurses her baby rather than a crow that feeds its offspring. A mother picks her food carefully, consumes it and turns it into milk to feed her baby. A crow swallows rubbish and regurgitates it for its chicks. Sadly, most of the news-oriented web publications specialising in Sri Lankan affairs act like crows. (It needs to be added in the same breath that the so-called mainstream media is far from perfect!)

The mainstream media are much easier to control than their web counterparts. A government does not have to resort to violence to do so. It can bring pressure to bear on media owners in numerous ways including the cancellation of licences issued to television stations. Web publications are like guerrillas; they are difficult to tackle and certainly have a vital role to play in a society where freedom of expression is under threat. It is incumbent upon them to desist from abusing their freedom and conduct themselves responsibly. Power or freedom sans responsibility is synonymous with disaster.

Sri Lankan media practitioners ought to turn the searchlight inwards. There is something terribly wrong with the local media culture, where anything apparently goes. Boosting hits and sales has come to take precedence over the standards of journalism and professional ethics. The media have chosen to cater to low, vulgar taste of a section of the public so as to attract more viewers or listeners or readers and thereby advertising. They like the sellers of soap and shampoo tend to target the so-called bottom of the pyramid at the expense of quality, ethics and social responsibility. True, popularity is a yardstick for the success of a media outfit, but it should not be confused with quality.

Those who visit the websites which evince a voyeuristic interest in people’s lives and specialise in character assassination are also responsible for the deterioration of the web-based media. Socrates it was who famously said, "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people."

People, addicted to the nauseously scurrilous websites, are as sick as those who run them!