(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 15 December 2003 FMM press release: On ban of government advertising in state media FMM condemns the United National Front (UNF) government’s cabinet decision to ban the allocation of state sector advertising in state media that is under the president. By this decision, the government has once again shown […]
(FMM/IFEX) – The following is a 15 December 2003 FMM press release:
On ban of government advertising in state media
FMM condemns the United National Front (UNF) government’s cabinet decision to ban the allocation of state sector advertising in state media that is under the president. By this decision, the government has once again shown that the tendency of governments to control the media through state advertisements is still in practice.
FMM does not accept the reason given by the government, namely that the state media board of directors had been appointed illegally. The real reason for banning state advertising in state media could be that the state media’s coverage under the president has become disadvantageous to the UNF government and advantageous to the president’s party and parties that are in the president’s good books. Even if this is true, a wrong practice is being repeated to undo yet another wrong.
At the same time, FMM expresses its disappointment regarding the state media becoming more and more partisan under the president. This makes the president’s pledge to make state media more balanced and independent elusive.
FMM has consistently taken the position that the procedure whereby state advertisements are allocated should be transparent and fair. All Sri Lankan governments have used the advertisement power of mammoth state institutions to control the media. This hinders a free media environment. FMM urges the government and the president to do away with this practice and to consider state media not as a ground for contention but as a public space for the expansion of media freedom and democratization.
Sunanda Deshapriya
Spokesperson,
FMM
