Is it more exasperating being a reporter in Sri Lanka or a reader of Newspapers?

With record number of journalists who have left these shores due to threats to themselves and their families, who are we left with?

A journalist is someone in Sri Lanka who depends on his measly income to survive and fend for his family. He cannot afford even to forego one month’s salary let alone counter the threat of dismissal. They therefore write safely, so as not to offend anyone in power who are able to make their lives difficult for them.

Simply put, the news we read, especially as regards to the wholesale destruction of Sri Lanka as a country, by many who have been elected to run it, and therefore exert undue authority, is not reported on. Further there is simply NO analysis of what is said by politicians, even if it obviously a downright lie.

I reported in the past few blog entries of lies attributed to the Health Minister, Maithripala Sirisena, who I was shocked would make such ridiculous allegations. However NO journalist dared question, the feasibility of accuracy of the statement attributed to him. No one dare do that! Or is it sheer ignorance of our journalists, who just choose to parrot what is said with NO inkling that their job also entails a degree of objectivity and believability. Are we all a nation of Morons, where a few astute liars are able to fib their way around, to such a degree that the people believe the lies and therefore elect them to high office.

We then are fools for electing people who are pathological liars to the highest office of the land, and many would say we deserve what we got due to our own ignorance and incompetence as human beings.

I have always maintained in this blog that people should read what I say with skepticism and make up their own minds, instead of believing what I write. It is so that people can evaluate if they are sufficiently educated to think, and then take what is most likely and drop what is assumed as a figment of a fertile mind!

The issue first is to determine if our journalists are truly not worthy of that title, or if they are intelligent and know the facts and reality, but are afraid to report what they believe because they are likely to fall foul of someone even their prejudiced boss, and lose their jobs. We are then best left with NOT believing anything we read. We can then begin to understand what might be the likely truth and act on that rather than at face value of the news item! God bless the reader who thinks.