A Sinhala broadcast news extract from the Rupavahini Channel’s main news broadcast on the 15th of May 2019. The extract covers a workshop on the post disaster role of media representatives. This workshop was organized by the Institute for Research & Development in Health & Social Care (IRD).
Justification
The IRD organized this workshop with the aim of capturing this opportunity to further the capacity of media representatives, to better aid relief efforts in post disaster situations, by sensitizing them to their moral obligations beyond reporting and the effect that it can have on the state of mind and the mental health of its viewership.
Sri Lanka is a largely multiethnic and multicultural nation. Media representatives need to be cognizant of these diversities. Therefore, reports need to be delivered to the public with the utmost discretion and only after all aspects regarding the consequences of such action have been considered. However, in the frenzied bid to achieve popularity and better ratings, news networks should not sensationalize news items that guarantee higher viewership. The human element behind the news item, the impact on those receiving the segment and its consequences, often take a secondary position.
Therefore, it is vital that media representatives are reminded of the social impact that their work can have and their responsibility to ascertain the human cost before releasing the information available to them. If this responsibility, which is part of the post disaster role of media representatives, is ignored, it could incite further civil unrest, or cause the public to suffer in silence.
Conclusion
The workshop introduced attending media representatives to the discourse on the post disaster role of media representatives, taking into account the social influence that they wield and its accompanying responsibilities.
It served to sensitize and introduce those in attendance to the true nature of the mindset upon which an individual who would carry out such an attack would operate, and how not to inadvertently promote or foster future attacks. It also sensitized those in attendance to the impact that their work can have on the well-being of survivors & even those who were not directly affected by the attack.
The attendees were able to gain knowledge regarding the important considerations that must be made before preparing and presenting news items to the public.