{"id":48435,"date":"2012-07-14T21:21:27","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T21:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=48435"},"modified":"2012-07-21T20:02:42","modified_gmt":"2012-07-21T20:02:42","slug":"the-murder-of-the-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-murder-of-the-press\/","title":{"rendered":"The Murder Of The Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/strong>\u00a0Tirantha\u00a0Walaliyadda<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tirantha Walaliyadda<\/p><\/div>\n

Raiding presses and taking press computers with confidential information probably including sources of information into police custody is not in accordance with the democratic process which guarantees freedom of expression and speech.
\nWhen the press is silenced the nation becomes silent and such a one is a dangerous nation.
\nIt waits, it endures, and then it strikes. A nation needs to be governed and not indentured. When the freedom of a nation is threatened it coils like the cobra.
\nThe freedom of expression of a people should be enhanced and not curtailed by governments. Conversely, the press must also realize that it does not have the freedom of the wild ass and bear responsibility for its disclosures.
\nMaybe it is time that the law of criminal defamation was brought back into play \u2013 which was short sightedly removed and abolished some time ago.
\nRaiding presses and grabbing their personal computers is not the answer. It merely aggravates\u00a0 a volatile situations.
\nAs a matter of comment and not criticism, a search warrant is an invasion into the privacy of the individual and should be issued with caution and circumspection and not as a matter of course on the application of the law enforcement authorities who may be motivated by external factors other than the law.
\nIf a false or defamatory article is published the persons responsible may be prosecuted according to law \u2013 if there is a law \u2013 in terms of the material contained in the article.
\nIt does not entitle law enforcement to the sources of information which if allowed will amount to the murder of the press and the final annihilation of the freedom of expression and speech which are guaranteed by the Constitution and in the fundamental principles of the democratic system.
\nA nation governed by the forces sanctioned by the Executive comes to a standstill.
\nAs I have said before, an absolute majority in Parliament does not spell a strong government but a weak Opposition.
\nAn Opposition must get its act together and settle internal conflicts and start thinking about the country and its future instead of their own personal agendas while a government forges ahead trampling the people and making a mess of things.
\nThese are people who are elected by the people to serve them and bring a balance to the system. An elected Opposition owes a duty to the people and to the nation to protect and safeguard the interests of the people and the nation instead of squabbling amongst themselves.
\nIt is akin to the rage of Caliban seeing his tortured and distorted face in the mirror as in Shakespeare\u2019s Tempest set out admirably by Oscar Wilde in the introduction to The Picture of Dorian Grey.
\nA free falling and audacious government is the most dangerous of all.
\nA free press depends on the reliability of its sources of information. It has no investigative police powers to find proof of the information unless it comes by way of informants. It can only verify the information through another source and once verified the news is published.
\nIf the news is incorrect the right of reply need not necessarily be posted on the same website that published the article but in any of the national newspapers and the electronic media.
\nFurthermore, in an environment where free thinking journalists are murdered, abducted, and threatened, one wonders whether any such free thinking journalist would register his identity.
\nIn the wake of such a situation a demand for registration of identity appears to be a clamp down on the free press and a denial of information to the public which is entitled to information in the democratic process.
\nThe truth or falsity of the information may be tested judicially in a civil court in the absence of the law relating to criminal defamation. But by the time the judicial process is over the character of the complainant is often tarnished beyond repair.
\nAs such the press must also be careful about what they publish. At the same time, intimidation of the press by powers that be is not the answer to the question: the answer is the law in its purity.
\nJudicial independence is the governing factor in these circumstances to balance the issues and bring stability to the democratic system.
\nIf the Judiciary becomes subservient to the Executive the system will slide into anarchy in due course.
\nShutting down the free press by threats of murder and abduction to journalists is an indication of an insecure government and is akin to the proverbial cat that did something on a rock and couldn\u2019t cover it up.
\nThe free press is the arterial blood of a democracy provided it acts with responsibility.
\nBut governments that attempt to overawe the free press with coercion and violence have only themselves to blame if clandestine websites erupt all over the internet hurling allegations and accusations and slanders creating pandemonium internally as well as internationally, bringing disgrace and disrepute to the government and the nation.
\nFacing an interview with an experienced journalist on controversial matters is a work of art: once the paint is on the canvas and goes public it cannot be erased. In these interviews diplomacy is of the essence.
\nThe more the power the more should be the diplomacy: one must indulge in one\u2019s power without fornicating it by acts of indiscretion or malignance.
\nPower is an illusion. There have been brilliant politicians in the past who have excelled in the art of parrying, dodging, and fielding probing questions of a volatile nature without insulting the questioner and saying nothing about the issue. That is the art of politics. Then again –
\nThough on the sign it is written
\nDo not pluck these flowers,
\nIt is useless against the wind,
\nWhich cannot read.
\n– Chinese Proverb<\/p>\n

Sunday Leader<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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