Monday, March 18, 2013

Ceylon Today a vengeful rag – a case of “sour grapes”



Since its inception Ceylon Today, and its Sinhala bed mate, Mawbima has been a Rajapakse memorial, starting on the Presidents birthday in Nov 2011, and had pretended to Sarath Fonseka that it was partial to his cause. At the same time it had vilified the Leader of the Opposition, with lies from the very outset.
They appear to employ Journalists of questionable repute, and this was proved when some senior journalists left in disgust when it was shown that whilst pretending to allow them journalistic freedom, they really were just asked to tow the line of the owners, Tiran Alles and possibly Maharajas.
So it was the height of absurdity today for its editorial to complain about freedom of the press, when it was banned from reporting UNP activities on the 13th on the orders of the UNP leader.
It was therefore doubly hilarious when they used the Editorial to castigate the Opposition leader as one who suppresses Media Freedom, when this rag has clearly and unequivocally overstepped Journalistic decency by engaging in lies and innuendo, especially against the opposition leader.
This case of sour grapes when they felt miffed at being turfed out of the proceedings is just an indication of its jokers in high office. Not of journalistic freedoms being infringed. After all they are welcome to report any trash they wish, and they seem to make up stories as they go along. It is just a matter of time the paper will cease to print due in part to the absurdity of its editors prejudices against the UNP in general and its leader in particular, except that there is tacit support for Sajith Premadasa as a means of getting back at their personal grudges.
The UNP assistant leader Joseph Michael Perera also had his own take on this same media institution, and interestingly cast doubt on whether it should be treated as a media institution. I let the reader judge for himself.
Wasting an editorial to complain is silly considering the crises facing the people of Sri Lanka. So let’s hope they can grow out of this and become a respectable media institution, worthy of being called one. Only then will they be taken seriously and in the end have a chance of survival in this tough trading time when only lies seem to get past the censor and the truth hidden, for the long suffering public to realize on their own as part of their daily struggles for existence in this utopia.

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