60 professionals  from the Triomalee districts including police officers and journalists attended.  The key representatives from the Poice Department were,  Mr. Charitha A.B. Jayasundara, Head Quarters Chief Inspector Trincomalee, Mr. Nimal Sripala, Officer- In-Charge of Uppuveli Police Station, and Mr. Priyantha Jayakody, Police Officer in charge of the Media .

Mr. Siva Chellappah, Manager Trincomalee District Media House welcoming the participants, pointed out that the Police duty and Journalists duty are  similar when it comes to serving and co-ordinating with the public. Once the Police officers receive a message,  they rush to the accident scene or any other crime scenes without delay. Similarly  the journalists present themselves on the spot to collect the news and send the news  to their media institutions  immediately Therefore,  the police and the media people should work together and create a better understanding among themselves to serve the public more effectively. He stated that the Trincomalee Media House provided an excellent information  and communication system for the co-existence among various professionals and citizen of all communities.  This way conflicts can be averted and friendship and relationship can be improved among the communities.

The Police Media staff spoke about the constraints  they faced in disseminating  news to the media.  All the news they are releasing  to the reporters be first cleared   by the top brass. Due to this, some times there are chances of delay in releasing  news stories  to the reporters.

The journalists elaborated on many problems faced by themselves and other citizens due to misunderstandings with the police. The Police representatives gave a patient hearing and cleared many areas for such misunderstanding .   Finally good understanding was established between the Police and the media and a mechanism to continue dialogue and communication was set up.

Dr. A.L.A. Gafoor, former district judge and  Lecturer of Faculty of Law, University of Colombo led the forum discussion. The East Media House Director, Mr Shadath,  moderated the discussion.

During the  discussion some focal questions were examined:   why , what , how and to whom the  constitution is  changed  and how the fundamental rights aspects and provisions  can  be included  to ensure the smooth operation of government mechanism  to ensure the rights of the people.

The agenda of the forum discussion also featured the replay of three segments to inform the Tamil speaking people of this country about  the perspective and opinion of  the Sinhala community on  the ongoing discussions  on  the process of constitutional changing.

The three radio programmes were  produced from the outcome of Sinhala medium forum discussion held on 11^th of July 2010 . By listening to these radio productions, Muslim and Tamil community participants  got an opportunity to understand the stand of  the Sinhala community on this issue.

During the discussion, the participants requested the Government and opposition to discuss with the citizens  of this country about the  contents of the constitution. Hence most of the participants expressed their opinion about the Post-war and the constitutional making process and maintained that this should be carried out  with sensitivity   to prevent the future conflict.

A  forum Discussion in  the Sinhala medium on  “Constitutional changes in Sri Lanka,  Fundamental rights and human rights”,   was  held on 11^th of July 2010 at Ampara Media House.

22 opinion leaders including journalists, Local political party leaders and educationists participated. . Mr. Chandrasiri, Co-ordinatior of Ampara District Human Rights Commission was the main resource  persons. The forum was facilitated and moderated by  the Media house Director, Mr Shadath.

Mr. Chandrasiri flagged off the discussion by examining the exiting provisions and Articles on the constitution in relation to  fundamental rights   and  highlighted the challenges in  implementation.

Thereafter a  30 minutes radio programme was  played, elaborating on the issue  and  examining further the implications  of ongoing discussions  on constitutional changes / reform and rights of the people to participate in the constitutional  changing or reform process. Most of the participants  urged the government and opposition to ensure a  transparent process of constitutional change and not to return to the previous bad practice of changing constitution without the knowledge of the citizens.

Three segments of radio programmes  were aired as a result of  the out come of this discussion. The programmes  disseminates  the information what was gathered   through the forum discussion.

The  participants concluded  that the  process of consultation on  constitutional reform should be taken  to the grass root level people and media should play a catalytic role in this process.

]]> http://www.internews.lk/internews/emh-faciliates-discussion-on-constitutional-changes-in-sri-lanka/feed 0 http://perambara.org/featured/2010/08/no-peace-in-sight-in-human-vs-elephant-war http://perambara.org/featured/2010/08/no-peace-in-sight-in-human-vs-elephant-war#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:55:49 +0000 Shyamalee http://www.internews.lk/?p=2360

KONWEVA, Sri Lanka, Aug 4 (IPS) – Dusk creeps over Konweva like a black shroud slowly draping over the village. The edges of its paddy fields, where the agricultural plains meet the surrounding thick shrubs, are first to be blanketed in the darkness. Already, there are signs that the night will not be peaceful.

Villagers in Konweva, located in north-western Kurunegala district some 150 kilometres from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, eye one another anxiously as loud booms are heard across the fields. “They have begun to move,” Immihami Mudiyanse, a farmer, warns in hushed tones.

This was the second such programme following the one in Matara.

The trainees were introduced to blogging, Flickr, Twitter and typing in Tamil using Google transliterator. At the end of the session, all the participants had created their blog, Flickr feed and a Twitter feed.

The participants mostly from rural families in Batticaloa found that the training conducted by Malinthe Samarakoon, one of Sri Lanka’s best known web designers and bloggers very useful.

They said that they hardly have any resources to undergo such training and requested for more such programme.

Their initial blog posts also showed that by training regional journalists, how stories from within their communities could reach a wider audience. one of the first posts was on the plight of Kelliveddi IDPs who have been displaced from  almost four years now.

One participant later wrote to the  trainers – “I am very thankful to you.This is first experience in my journalism field.We are expecting (more of) your services in our media house in future. I hope you will do.”

Journalists and law enforcement officials met at the Matara Media house on 8 July to discuss how they should strengthen their collaboration  to serve the community more effectively.

The meeting took the form of a Forum   Discussion on the theme,   “Police, Community and Human Rights”.

Under this theme DIG Neel Daluwatta,  DIG, Southern Province conducted a  lively session about  “Role of media and journalists in protecting law, public order and security”.

Vijaya Sri Damayantha – SP I, Matara Division followed with an interactive  session about “How to complete the duties of the police force while protecting human rights”.

23 journalists  from the Southern  province  participated to this forum discussion. Both  parties (Police officers & Journalists) requested for  a follow up  discussion soon, because they envisaged the need  to confer further  about duty of police officers and journalists in the context  of public security.

]]> http://www.internews.lk/internews/publicsecurityinsouth/feed 0 http://perambara.org/featured/2010/07/reporting-pressure-easing-in-the-east http://perambara.org/featured/2010/07/reporting-pressure-easing-in-the-east#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:02:38 +0000 admin http://www.internews.lk/?p=2335 The reporting climate in the Eastern Province has markedly improved compared  to two years back. We have spent the last two weeks traveling on assignment  in remote areas in the Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts that were for years virtual no-go zones.  Access wise this was the best since 2006 when restrictions began to be imposed.

Traveling into remote  areas in the province is no different to any where else in the country.  Security checks have been reduced to a minimum.

Internews, through its Trincomalee Media House, hosted a forum discussion for local journalists on problems facing journalists in the district.  Thirty-two local journalists attended, including the president of the Trincomalee District Media Society, Mr. Mangalanath. The featured speaker was the Minister of Roads, Irrigation, Housing and Rural Electrification from the Eastern Provincial Counci, Honorable M.S. Uthumalebbe. He was accompanied by his Secretary, Mr. Ziauddin, and his personal assistant, Mr. Jeganhir.

In discussing language challenges facing journalists reporting on official events and attending press conferences, the Minister explained that simultaneous interpretation facilities would be made available to journalists.

The journalists also explained to the Minister other challenges they face, including access to areas for reporting, lack of equipment, and development and infrastructure needs in the community. The Minister discussed potential solutions to these problems and the possibility of opening opening of a Media Unit under the Eastern Provincial Council.

The discussion forum helped improve communication and establish a conducive working relationship between local journalists and the Eastern Provincial Council.

Mr. Sivarasasegaram, Trincomalee Media House Manager for Internews, explained the media house services to the journalists in attendance, including the IT facilities, multi-media equipment, and newspapers provided for journalists.

Internews Media House in Trincomalee was opened in June 2010 with funding from the Royal Netherlands Embassy to provide training and assistance to provincial journalists.

Internews’ media house in Matara held a three-day training for southern provincial reporters on photojournalism from 28 to 30 June. Twelve journalists and four young trainee journalists received training from Mr. Sri Lal Gomes, Pictures Editor at The Island newspaper and Divaina Daily, and Mr. Asantha Abeyrathne, Layout designer from Lakbima newspaper.

Participants received training on framing, lighting, photo editing, and how to take photos with news value.  Training included both lectures at the Matara Media House and hands-on field training outside the classroom, giving participants the opportunity to immediately put into practice what they learned.

The students first received an introduction to radio broadcasting journalism, learning how to write for community radio and produce programmes for radio.  They learned how to use recording equipment and gained IT skills on downloading and using audio editing software Adobe Audition.  Internews also taught them presentation skills and how to use studio equipment.

Students participated in an experience sharing session with Senior Journalists, learning through doing while producing live radio broadcasts.  Students reported that they felt this training was very use full for them apart from theoretical knowledge they gained from the media subject they studied in school as this training included more practical aspects.

The live radio programme were aired from 26 to 28 July on FM 96.1 and  FM 103  and with extensive coverage in Batticaloa, Ampara, Dehiyattakandiya and other places in eastern province.