{"id":45640,"date":"2012-06-18T08:07:21","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T08:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=45640"},"modified":"2012-06-22T10:28:30","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T10:28:30","slug":"what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/","title":{"rendered":"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0\u00a0Lalith Allahakkoon –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lalith Allahakkoon<\/p><\/div>\n

Note :The\u00a0\u00a0Editor in Chief\u00a0Lalith Allahakkoon wrote to all editors today\u00a0explaining the\u00a0\u00a0sequence of events which\u00a0occurred\u00a0at the\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Ceylon Today<\/a><\/span>. <\/em>We reproduce his letter below. The Colombo Telegraph<\/em> has spoken to\u00a0Executive Director of Ceylon Newspapers Dushyantha Basnayake last Friday and he promised to send us their\u00a0version\u00a0of the story, but we haven’t\u00a0received\u00a0it yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By\u00a0\u00a0Lalith Allahakkoon –<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0At around 7 p.m. on the night of Wednesday June 13, Executive Director of Ceylon Newspapers Mr. Dushyantha Basnayake<\/a><\/span> summoned me to his office and said there were several issues to be discussed. Firstly, he informed me that the management had decided to terminate the employment of Senior Cartoonist at\u00a0Ceylon Today<\/em>\u00a0Wasantha Siriwardane. I informed him that while I was satisfied with his performance, if the management was not happy with him and they wished to discontinue him, he should firstly be warned in writing to give him an opportunity to rectify matters.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Subsequently Mr. Basnayake informed me that the management had decided to ask me to leave due to several reasons \u2013 (a) My alleged association with Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP \u2013(with whom I informed him I have not even had a conversation in the past year, but even if I was, as a journalist and an editor I do not see how this would constitute a wrongdoing) – (b) that I failed to greet Chairman Tiran Alles<\/span> <\/a>at a reception held at the Indian High Commissioner\u2019s residence in Colombo and (c) I failed to publish the unsubstantiated lead story by the Mawbima saying there would be a presidential election in 2013 and contradicted the story the next day. However on this point I clarified that the\u00a0Ceylon Today<\/em>\u00a0story was related to the provincial council\u00a0elections and not to the presidential elections. I also informed him that in any case the\u00a0Mawbima<\/em>\u00a0lead story was inaccurate and had no legal basis in my opinion. In my experience, a newspaper cannot publish based on the sensational impact of a story alone, but must adhere to certain ethic codes and accuracy.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Basnayake then informed me that my editorial policy and the management\u2019s editorial policy do not tally. I reminded him that when this newspaper was begun, Chairman Tiran Alles said Ceylon Today would be an independent and non-partisan newspaper \u2013 and even told the editorial team that they would not be required to publish stories praising him. However as time progressed, and subsequent to everything that has\u00a0happened, the impression created \u00a0is that the Chairman\u2019s intention was\u00a0to use me and my editorial team to specifically target and attack his political opponents. I informed Mr. Basnayake that as an editor I could not\u00a0compromise on journalistic ethics and editorial independence as\u00a0spelled out by the company at the outset of this project. If there was\u00a0dissatisfaction with my performance, up to June 13, the management had\u00a0not indicated this to me in writing or in any other way.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Basnayake then informed me that the management wanted me to leave. I requested the termination notice in writing.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0On the morning of Thursday June 14, members of the\u00a0Ceylon Today<\/em>\u00a0staff informed me that Hana Ibrahim had summoned an editorial meeting and announced that the management had asked me to leave. She requested the staff to extend their support to her to publish\u00a0Ceylon Today.<\/em>\u00a0She told the editorial staff that they must help her to carry forward my ideas in my absence.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A few hours later, Mr. Basnayake summoned a meeting of\u00a0Ceylon Today\u00a0<\/em>Department Heads and informed them that the management had made the decision to terminate me because I was not following the editorial policy line the management wanted. Mr. Basnayake requested the heads of department to lend their support to Ms. Ibrahim. Subsequently Mr. Basnayake held private meetings with senior editors Wilson Gnanadass and Dharisha Bastians to convince them to remain at\u00a0Ceylon Today<\/em>, urging them that despite my removal, they should continue to work at the newspaper.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0On June 14 when I reported to work and made several telephone calls to Mr. Basnayake informing him that since I had not been served with the letter of termination so far, I had been compelled to report to work. He told me repeatedly that the letter would arrive within an hour, 30 minutes etc.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Finally Mr. Basnayake asked me to return to my residence and said that he would deliver the letter to my residence.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Following announcements by Ms. Hana Ibrahim and subsequently the management (Mr. Basnayake) that I had been terminated and Ms. Ibrahim would be tasked with overseeing\u00a0Ceylon Today<\/em>\u00a0operations, four senior journalists at the newspaper tendered their resignations to Ms. Ibrahim in protest. They were Deputy Editors Wilson Gnanadass and Dharisha Bastians, and senior journalists Rasika Jayakody and Dinidu De Alwis. They informed Ms. Ibrahim that they disagreed with the management decision to summarily dismiss me for trying to maintain editorial independence that was promised by the management when the newspaper commenced publication.<\/p>\n

10\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I made several telephone calls to him on June 15, and yet again Mr. Basnayake promised to get back to me in an hour. Since that time, he has ceased to respond to my telephone calls.<\/p>\n

11. \u00a0 \u00a0 On Saturday (June 16) I reported to work in order to coordinate\u00a0the Sunday newspaper. When I entered my office, I found it locked. The\u00a0security officers subsequently unlocked the door but when I entered and attempted to commence work, I found that my official Computer had been\u00a0deactivated and I no longer was able to access my machine.<\/p>\n

Lalith Allahakkoon<\/p>\n

Director \/ Editor in Chief<\/p>\n

Ceylon Today<\/p>\n

June 17, 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":45651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[2752],"class_list":["post-45640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial","tag-ceylon-today-lalith-alahokoon-news-latest"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-18T08:07:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-22T10:28:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"625\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"749\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/\",\"name\":\"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-18T08:07:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-22T10:28:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg\",\"width\":\"625\",\"height\":\"749\",\"caption\":\"Lalith Allahakkoon\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2012-06-18T08:07:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-22T10:28:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":625,"height":749,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/","name":"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-18T08:07:21+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-22T10:28:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg","width":"625","height":"749","caption":"Lalith Allahakkoon"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-went-wrong-at-ceylon-today-the-editor-in-chief-speaks-out\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Went Wrong At Ceylon Today: The Editor In Chief Speaks Out"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Lalith-Alahokoon-Colombo-Telegraph.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45640"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45662,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45640\/revisions\/45662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}