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Kaak, kaak, kaak, you wanna media award?
Friday, 31 October 2008 - 4:13 AM SL Time
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It was only the other day that we happened to inveigh in these columns against the conferment by bogus outfits of titles masquerading as national honours like Deshashakthi and the appointment of all and sundry as Justices of the Peace. The Maha Nayake Theras, too, had expressed their concern over the belittlement of national honours by unscrupulous elements and sought the government intervention to put an end to that sordid practice, we reported. The prelates had been perturbed by the reports that the ace con man Sakvithi who cheated hundreds of people of millions of rupees and fled the country had been flaunting the Deshashakthi title to boost his image and gain some credibility to his shady business.
We also hauled the acupuncture joints and similar organisations showering doctorates on the good, the bad and the ugly over the coals. It was one of those outfits that conferred a doctorate on Mervyn the Vermin who is tilting at media institutions, smashing TV cameras and demolishing night clubs, ably assisted by the scum of the earth including his unruly brat perennially in must. Doctorate awarding organisations are on the increase and among the recipients are top politicians and business tycoons.
Ironically, the media which is poking fun at others for receiving bogus doctorates and honours is also being led by the nose. There have emerged some outfits claiming to be mass communication researchers and organising media award ceremonies. Through awards they manipulate the so-called Watch Dog to help further their agendas exactly the way canines are trained to follow their handlers who offer rewards for compliance. Gypsies also employ a similar method to train monkeys.
If a scribe aspires to an international award, all that he or she should do is to curry favour with the prominent members of the international community through their envoys here by looking down upon his or her own country as a killing field with no future at all, calling terrorists rebels and advocating appeasement at any cost. (Colonialists, it may be recalled, did likewise they made native lackeys willing to lick their boots partners in exploitation by granting titles and rewards.) No one critical of the global North can ever dream of an award from a western nation. Even Mahatma Gandhi, a source of inspiration to the entire world, was not given the Nobel Peace Prize! For, he opposed the western colonialism and exploitation. Last year, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden Michael Sohlam told CNN they regretted that Mahatma had not been given the Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, the real loser was not Mahatma but the Nobel Foundation, which lost an opportunity to be honoured by adding that great man`s name to the list of Nobel laureates.
The danger of recognition accruing to awards presented by media Sakvithis is that their yardsticks of good journalism may come to be deemed standards with the passage of time. They have already ruined the electronic media by giving awards for cock-and-bull soap operas, which have, as a result, taken precedence over all other programmes. Beaming cheap teledramas has apparently become the raison d` tre of the Sri Lankan television. FM channels are beyond redemption. The problem with trash is that it is habit forming like heroin or kudu. The more people are given it, the more they demand it.
Sadly, the media has lost its standing as a leader in the society. It has become a mere follower and putty in the hands of external forces. It is willing to stoop to any level if the right price is quoted. A newspaper may even consider relegating its masthead to the so-called bucket and carrying an advertisement in its place for a premium. Or, the masthead may even be printed upside down! We already see the signs of that happening. Cynics argue that Sakvithi made a mistake by discontinuing his advertising campaign after fleeing the country. Had he continued it, they say, he would have been able to use it to goad the media into blacking out his scam. A charge levelled against the media is that while Sakvithi was in the country taking deposits and cheating the gullible, the press did not care to investigate him as he spent a lot on advertising. There are many holy men engaged in lucrative yet unholy enterprises like making money by offering remedies for broken marriages, incurable diseases etc. but they don`t get exposed in the media, as they advertise heavily.
Gravitas has been a casualty of this sad state of affairs in the media world. No serious issues save politics and military affairs get discussed to the extent of policies being influenced. Agriculture won`t be touched with a barge pole in this agricultural country. Pharmaceutical issues, the killer kidney disease of the NCP, melamine contamination, dengue, rat fever etc. get covered only cursorily. The coverage of education is also superficial and aimed at attracting advertising rather than informing the public or helping influence policies. For, those with huge advertising budgets at their disposal to market their gadgets and services through the media are averse to serious issues. Their preference is for gossip and therefore Lolita type journalism has taken ascendancy over a discussion on even national issues that are not considered sexy.
Another curse is the NGO influence. Some journalists are offering their services as foot soldiers to the affluent NGO fraternity for a few dollars. This unholy alliance has enabled some NGO nincompoops with no journalistic experience whatsoever to go places as media experts and serve as media resource persons at important seminars. Some publications have begun to sound just like NGO newsletters, due to their gatekeepers being in the pay of the NGO circuit.
The daunting task before the media is to reverse this trend and regain lost ground as a leader. There are genuine practitioners and proprietors holding out with great difficulty against numerous odds for the love of the media, and strengthening their hands through the recognition of their services should be the goal of media award ceremonies. Organising such events is a task best left to the veterans in the field and well wishers genuinely interested in helping the media swim against the tide and maintain standards without succumbing to the sinister forces all out to gobble it. The best service the lesser minions can render is to keep off the media.
With rancour and malice towards none!
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Gaja
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 31 Oct 2008 23:38:50 GMT Report for Abuse
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calling terrorists rebels and advocating appeasement at any cost
And/Or v.v. |
Gaja
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31 Oct 2008 23:41:10 GMT Report for Abuse
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Colonialists, it may be recalled, did likewise they made native lackeys willing to lick their boots partners in exploitation by granting titles and rewards
If it was done out of faith / trust - then there was everything right about it - for it is the parallel of majority vote which is NOT on merit but whether you identify with the person. |
Gaja
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31 Oct 2008 23:47:22 GMT Report for Abuse
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Even Mahatma Gandhi, a source of inspiration to the entire world, was not given the Nobel Peace Prize!
No - but he was the one who really earned it - and the people gave it to him. Likewise, the status for the policy work I did here in Australia 'happened' in Northern Sri Lanka through a place and community still driven largely by faith rather than merit basis. |
p007
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 1 Nov 2008 03:39:53 GMT Report for Abuse
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It has been Gaja and Gaja only so far in this thread!
Hi Gaja, how are you? Long time no see.
I guess this Editorial piece must be from the Island and the punch is directed at Sirasa Group.
Take it easy Island. No need to feel J. Just imagine If old Upali Wije didn't meet his untimely death, what and what gimmicks he would have tried to outdo Maharajah's in publicity!! |
Gaja
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3 Nov 2008 03:34:11 GMT Report for Abuse
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Thank you p007. I am fine. Thank you also for sharing your feelings on this - as I am not as intuitive about this as I am about public administration.
love
gaja |
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