After a day of Shramadana in the village Kabithigollawa, we had an unexpected discussion with the local police commissioner and an army officer.
This was not only a new perspective of Sri Lanka that we had not heard yet, but it was particularly interesting, because the village bordered areas heavily affected by the war.
I asked the military officer a few questions about the media during the war.
He said there was a mixture of local and foreign media; the locals got the facts right, and he refused to comment on the international reporters.
He said the military protected the journalists who traveled with them, and there was a mutual respect from both sides. Whether he meant this of both local and international reporters or just local ones, there was no clarification.
This snippet of interaction revealed a few things, one is common knowledge that military personnel do not talk to the media unless it is in a pre-determined fashion. They also do not elaborate on their answers.
It was also interesting, because journalism was a life-threatening pursuit during the war in Sri Lanka. There was an eventual exodus during the war of reporters due to the threats on both sides and various cases of journalists being killed or disappearing. So I need to narrow down a timeline of when reporters may have been with troops or if only government favored reporters were protected.
It sparked my curiosity to do specific research on military protection of reporters and that relationship in general. Obviously a key to peace journalism is being researched in war journalism and knowing how to interact with military personnel.
Conflict journalists escorted by military units are given strict rules and restrictions as to where they can go and when. The tricky balance is gauging the importance of protection with the killer curiosity to break the bounds and report what is usually taped off.
This was not only a new perspective of Sri Lanka that we had not heard yet, but it was particularly interesting, because the village bordered areas heavily affected by the war.
I asked the military officer a few questions about the media during the war.
He said there was a mixture of local and foreign media; the locals got the facts right, and he refused to comment on the international reporters.
He said the military protected the journalists who traveled with them, and there was a mutual respect from both sides. Whether he meant this of both local and international reporters or just local ones, there was no clarification.
This snippet of interaction revealed a few things, one is common knowledge that military personnel do not talk to the media unless it is in a pre-determined fashion. They also do not elaborate on their answers.
It was also interesting, because journalism was a life-threatening pursuit during the war in Sri Lanka. There was an eventual exodus during the war of reporters due to the threats on both sides and various cases of journalists being killed or disappearing. So I need to narrow down a timeline of when reporters may have been with troops or if only government favored reporters were protected.
It sparked my curiosity to do specific research on military protection of reporters and that relationship in general. Obviously a key to peace journalism is being researched in war journalism and knowing how to interact with military personnel.
Conflict journalists escorted by military units are given strict rules and restrictions as to where they can go and when. The tricky balance is gauging the importance of protection with the killer curiosity to break the bounds and report what is usually taped off.
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