දේශපාලන අර්බුදය, මහජන අරගලය සහ විරෝධතා

Abstract

During the month of May 2022, several newspapers and tv primetime news telecasts reported on the ongoing protests against the government around the country and especially at GotaGoGama, the attack on GotaGoGama by SLPP supporters on May 9, and the violence that erupted island-wide in the aftermath of May 9 attacks. An article on Sunday Divaina sought to discredit and demean the aragalaya at GotaGoGama by identifying the protesters there as a group of people seeking to entertain themselves, that the young women were selling themselves, and that drug dealing is taking place on-site. Further, it held that the majority of the drug dealers were Muslim, which is a violation of media ethics as it irrelevantly and negatively highlighted an ethnic identity. Overall, the article amounts to stereotyping and one-sided reporting. On May 5, tv primetime news reported on the islandwide protests and the hartal scheduled for May 6. Derana, Hiru, Sirasa, Swarnavahini and Siyatha in their headlines demonstrated the gravity of the protest movement by mentioning that most of the labour unions would be on strike. Meanwhile, ITN and Rupavahini focused on the groups that would not join the hartal and that services would run uninterrupted by the hartal, thus lessening the gravity of the event. On May 9, Derana, Hiru, Sirasa, Shakthi TV, Swarnavahini and Siyatha tv channels gave live coverage to the tensions at GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama, while ITN, Rupavahini, Nethra TV and Vasantham did not accord live coverage to it. On May 9, Derana, Hiru, Rupavahini, Sirasa, Swarnavahini and Siyatha reported that MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala was killed as a result of violent events that occurred in Nittambuwa. ITN reported that the MP committed suicide, thus telling a different story about the MP's death. When reporting on the events in the lead up to the MP's death, Sunday Mawbima merely mentioned that when the MP's guard fired shots, two to three people who were around 'fell down'. Anidda gave a more comprehensive report by mentioning that the guard shot at and killed two youths. On May 9, Aruna, Mawbima, Lankadeepa, Divaina, and Dinamina discussed the May 9 tensions in their editorials and framed the violence in varying ways - Dinamina sought to justify the government while others blamed the violence on the government and the SLPP. A comparison of how Dinamina framed the aragalaya towards the beginning of May and mid-May shows that, at the former instance it overwhelmingly criticised it in its editorial and that at the latter instance, they show more support and encouragement to young protesters. In April 2022, ITN framed the aragalaya at Galle Face as a carnival. In May 2022, they gave a more balanced framing to it by calling it a protest site. A Sunday Divaina article which condemns the violence that erupted islandwide following May 9 tensions, had a mismatching title and a content. While the title read "religious fanatics have attacked Umandawa (a Buddhist temple)", the content did not include any evidence or information that supported the thesis. Following the burning down and causing damages to MPs' houses by mobs following May 9 tensions, Derana was the only channel that showed MPs getting emotional while inspecting their damaged houses (at the outset of the event). Rupavahini, ITN, Swarnavahini, Sirasa, Hiru and Siyatha did not feature the news. On May 19, Derana, Hiru, Sirasa, Swarnavahini and Siyatha that featured the news of the IUSF (anthare) protest at Fort victimised the anthare in their headlines by reporting that the group was met with tear gas and water cannon attacks by the police. ITN by contrast said that the police and anthare attacked each other. Rupvahini headlines did not report on the protest.