Media and Stabilisation Action in Sri Lanka

Context and Issue: 

The action recognised that media was both a target and a battlefield during the civil war. Media workers, outlets, and advocates were subjected to myriad problems and challenges. At the same time, the media created suspicion of humanitarian interventions. This dual dynamic affecting media was a key obstacle to effective humanitarian aid that could meet the needs and dignity of those most affected by the conflict. The Media and Stabilization action seeked to both support an enabling environment for humanitarian aid; and defend media freedom and freedom of expression (FoE) as fundamental human rights in themselves. The action reflected the complex nature of this challenge through a multi-pronged approach, whereby it worked to increase: • Safety and advocacy measures in support of media outlets and workers in a difficult environment. • Information to and awareness amongst the general public on development and local human rights issues • Coordination and collaboration between media and humanitarian sectors, in support of coherent and strategic responses to existing needs Inherent in the activities' design is the key goal of supporting the experience, stature, and expertise of national organisations, recognizing that this is the only way to support long-lasting change.

Project's activities: 

• Secure Communications Training and Support • Humanitarian Information Training • Journalist Safety Training • Humanitarian Information Production & Dissemination • Media Monitoring • South Asia Peer Training Workshops on the Role of Private Media in a Changing South Asia

Participants and Beneficiaries: 

Target groups: • leading media advocacy and development organizations in Sri Lanka: the Free Media Movement, South Asia Free Media Alliance, Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Federation of Media Employee Trade Union, Sri Lanka Press Institute and Young Asia Television • national and international humanitarian organisations including the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Inform Human Rights Documentation Centre, UNHCR and others. • select media outlets including Siyatha Media Group (Siyatha FM and Vettri FM), Wijaya Newspapers, Lakehouse Newspapers, Lanke-E-News, Uthayan and Sudar Oli, and Vikalpa; • provincial and Colombo-based journalists. Final beneficiaries: • Up to 300,000 persons displaced by the conflict; • Approximately 2 million Sinhala- and Tamil-speaking general public.

Outcomes: 

• 9 Secure Communications Trainings for 111 participants
• 2 Humanitarian Information Trainings for 35 participants & 1 Humanitarian Information ToT for 14 participants


◦  1 safety ToT & 15 safety trainings for over 300 participants
◦  1 instructional video on journalists’ safety and accompanying booklet: 200 copies
◦  Bi-monthly publication and distribution of 2 national newspapers in Tamil and Sinhala focusing on non-partisan environmental, health, education, human rights, agricultural and cultural news for a potential readership of 200,000

- Daily production of radio segments in Tamil and Sinhala broadcast daily on Siyatha FM and Vettri FM to a potential 1,450,000 listeners.
◦ Daily monitoring of State and privately-owned Sri Lankan media from Dec08 to Feb10, resulting in
• 38 Media Monitoring articles published in the national Tamil newspaper Sunday Thinakkural with a circulation of 30,000 and the national Sinhala newspaper, Lankadeepa with a circulation of 100,000 
• 5 Media Monitoring reports distributed online to over 10,000 national and foreign donors, journalists, NGO workers, academics and media outlets
• 39 Media Monitoring TV programs broadcast weekly in Tamil and Sinhala on national channel TNL for a potential audience of 800,000

“The two-day workshop on safety journalism conducted by Internews has been certainly very successful. We, being media personnel, have had the opportunity to participate in many seminars, workshops and media conferences organised by the state or private sector agencies. In comparison, the way this particular workshop [has been conducted] is exceptional, and exemplary too, as far as the methodologies approached, lecturing and refreshments are concerned. [The trainers] jointly and with thorough understanding, conducted the workshop in such an enthusiastic manner and in a journalist-friendly way [that] it enthralled and attracted me so much. Particularly, the hand-outs were excellent and highly useful.”
Journalist participating at an Internews training workshop in Sri Lanka
“As journalists, we might face threats at any given time. Through the training, we gain the capacity to mitigate the risks we might face in the future. I would like to thank the trainers and Internews for giving us this valuable information.”
Journalist participating at an Internews training workshop in Sri Lanka