Empowering Local Media

Internews has been working in Sri Lanka since 2005, providing information services to vulnerable communities and delivering training to both established journalists and young trainees. Internews works closely with local organisations and the Government to harness the power of media and information to help people develop a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka.

Trinco Media House fosters collaboration between Journalists and Police

The Trincomalee Media house hosted an exciting forum on 08 August, 2010. The topic under discussion was  “Towards a Cordial Relationship between Police and Journalist in Trincomalee”.

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.