Email 
Print 
Media: If you are not covering Sri Lanka right now, why not?
Written by: Andrew Stroehlein
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
"A mass slaughter of civilians will take place Tuesday at noon. And everyone knows it." These are the words my colleague used to describe what is happening in Sri Lanka today in his new article for Foreign Policy's online magazine. It is not an exaggeration: what's happening in Sri Lanka is a massacre in progress.
There are over 100,000 civilians trapped in a tiny area, squeezed between the Sri Lankan government forces, who are shelling them, and the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) who shoot them if they try to escape. The Army is advancing, and the death toll is rising rapidly. The situation has been compared to Srebrenica -- which many journalists reading this will remember first hand -- but the number of dead already exceeds that Balkan tragedy.
Just because journalists are not allowed into the Sri Lankan conflict zone doesn't mean we don't know what's going on there. We have satellite imagery showing large concentrations of people caught in the fighting, and we have information from reliable sources on the ground. Recent reports that significant numbers of civilians have escaped have not changed the overall figures: independent sources on the ground continue to report 100,000 people or more remain trapped, exhausted, with limited access to food and medicines, and many under fire.
The recent information from the ground -- fresh this morning -- is that as many as 1000 persons were killed in yesterday's operations. The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) have pushed into the No Fire Zone from the north by about 2 or 3 km, and they are currently trying to consolidate their positions around Pokkannai before attempting the next bloody push, which may happen in 2 or 3 days time.
The LTTE are trying to get people to move to the town of Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal, which will become the final battle ground. People are trying to resist the LTTE's demands to be moved, saying they have no bunkers in the south and that they have already had to move too many times.
What can be done? Crisis Group outlined a number of specific steps for the international community in a statement yesterday. Journalists should have a look and try to cover this story not just as some inevitable humanitarian tragedy but as a political problem that political pressure can put an end to.
Of course, some media outlets have been doing an excellent job of covering this crisis: Al Jazeera English, BBC World Service radio and BBC World News come immediately to mind. But other major media outlets have ignored the emergency or given it a ridiculously low priority.
All individuals and institutions with power have responsibility, and the international media are no different. Journalists covering foreign affairs have a duty to ring all available alarm bells when situations get to this level of seriousness and so many human lives are at stake. I urge you to ask relevant officials of your government and of the EU and the UN, what they are doing about it. And ask yourself as a journalist: "If you are not covering Sri Lanka right now, why not?"
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
We welcome argument but AlertNet will not publish comments that are racist, abusive or libellous.
32 responses to “Media: If you are not covering Sri Lanka right now, why not?”
Please note that comments should not be regarded as the views of Reuters.
Leave a Reply
When you submit a comment to us we request your name, e-mail address and optionally a link to a website. Please note where you submit a website address, we may link to it via your name. By sending us a comment, you accept that we have the right to show the comment and your name to users. Although we require your email address, this will not be published on the site, and is only required to enable us to check facts with you, e.g. if you are making a claim we can not confirm easily. Additionally, if you would like your comment removed at anytime, you'll have to use this e-mail address when you contact us. To remove a comment at any time please e-mail us at blogs-(at)-reuters-(dot)-com (address obscured to avoid spam) specifying who you are and what you would like removed. We moderate all comments and will publish everything that advances the post directly or with relevant tangential information. We reserve the right to edit comments in order to maintain the quality of the comments, and may not include links to irrelevant material. We try not to publish comments that we think are offensive or appear to pass you off as another person, and we will be conservative if comments may be considered libelous. Reuters will use your data in accordance with Reuters privacy policy. Reuters Group is primarily responsible for managing your data. As Reuters is a global company your data will be transferred and available internationally, including in countries which do not have privacy laws but Reuters seeks to comply with its privacy policy.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content in this article, including by framing or by similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
Journalist Andrew Stroehlein is Communications Director for the International Crisis Group, the conflict resolution organisation, where he promotes responsible coverage of current and potential conflicts and helps draw attention to forgotten wars around the world.
22 Apr 2009 06:21:48 GMT
Dear Author,
I welcome your report here. Why all media in the world are not coming forward to cover the true news in Srilanka. If you fear for Covering a news, then what is the need of journalist around the world. I welcome these lines by the author ''Journalists covering foreign affairs have a duty to ring all available alarm bells when situations get to this level of seriousness and so many human lives are at stake''22 Apr 2009 06:22:44 GMT
Dear Sir, I want to know , why all the foreign media keep silence over the death of inncoent tamil civilians in the north part of the country. But you are covering all the inccidents taken place in Iraq, Aftangistan,Gasa, even Obama's wife plants crops in her house premises. Our people's life consider by your media even less than that of mentioned above. I beg you all , please help the inncoent tamils trapped in the so called "Safe Zone". If you dont know the ground situation then publish both sides news rather than government one. Once again i call all the media to act soon on this issue.
Regards Tamils..From Northern Part of SriLanka22 Apr 2009 06:24:06 GMT
Hello Andrew, Thanks for asking a very timely question about reporting on the plight of thousands of innocent Tamils facing a genocidal war. Thanks again for stirring the conscience of journalist of the world. Ranjan
22 Apr 2009 06:25:55 GMT
It is sad to see thousands die like stray dogs every minute. please show some humane in reporting. it is not the time to evaluate who is responsible. it is well understood that the sri Lanka government is killing his own citizens in the name of rescue operation. Let this not be another Ruwanda, where world talks about it after the genocide. Media is giving more prominent for Iran's Presidents speach than a human tragedy. please have some heart
22 Apr 2009 06:26:28 GMT
I think the low attention to this situation by western countries and some western media is because that actual situation is not that terrible as you report. I believe western countries have better intelligent reports that you have. You are just reporting what Tamilnet.com giving out. Tamilnet.com is not a reliable source. Do you have reliable source for that 1000 people got killed yesterday? I bet your report will be shameful one at the end of this situation. I believe there may be about 50-100 death sofar.
22 Apr 2009 06:27:53 GMT
Thank you Sir for this article! This is the question all Tamils of Sri Lankan decent is asking. Why the media is not covering this tragic story that is unfolding in the North of Sri Lanka? This situation has taken many innocent lives especially the young. Please media give a voice to the voiceless. The International Community (IC) today remembered the Holocaust victims. It seem that the IC is very good in remembering the dead but not preventing one.
Thank you!22 Apr 2009 06:29:13 GMT
It is media like Reuters that Andrew is referring to. You published very biased and one sided news reports, giving the government total support to prepare for its Genocide. You, among other major media are not only complicit but also abetted the Genocide. Your credibility is already lost among those who value NEWS. I dare you to publish this.
22 Apr 2009 06:29:54 GMT
Dear Andrew Stroehlein, I am very grateful for your Media: If you are not covering Sri Lanka right now, why not? article. I am a Tamil and I have lost contact with many of my relatives in northern Sri lanka, I have tried emailing many media outlets here in Canada but they seem not to be too interested in covering this human tragedy. Reading your article gave me some hope, I will keep writing others outlets to encourage them to help stop this madness. How can such a tragedy happen in modern times?
Thank You22 Apr 2009 06:30:26 GMT
Thanks Andrew for bringing this very important message at this time. I was deeply frustated when I read about yesterday's sri lankan attack that killed more than 1000 civilians. Still no one condemned this attacks and tried to stop further. Media has a very important role in bringing these truth from the war zone to all external world. Only then responsible people can get the message and do whatever possible to save the innocent people whom we will loose otherwise. Its a shame that these kinds of inhuman activities are happening in this 21century also. Thanks again Andrew.
22 Apr 2009 06:34:32 GMT
Dear Andrew,
Excellent article. The Tamil Genocide is the latest example showing how even the journalists have become political puppets in the modern world. Journalists and newspapers were meant to inform the people which in retrospect has led to people making their own opinion. Nowadays however, sadly, the newspapers already write in such a way to influence the reader's judgement or as it is the case with the Sri Lankan issue fully ignore and does not cover at all. Its a sad world we are living in.22 Apr 2009 07:17:58 GMT
Thanks, all, for the kind words. Someone asked me what people can do about this problem: well, if you like this article, you could email it or fax it to news outlets who are not covering this story...
Quick answer to 5 above: I don't read tamilnet.com. My information comes from relief workers and others (mostly internationals), who are on the ground.22 Apr 2009 12:39:04 GMT
I agree with Kana Sivanantha. there is no such thing happening in Sri Lanka
22 Apr 2009 13:11:45 GMT
The real tragedy as far as Asia is concerned, are the devious methods used by the western media to 'sesationalise' the problems we face. As 'old' civilizations, Asia carries the burdens of history..and this is made more burdensome by irresponsible journalism. Srilanka has faced up to a cancer caused by a terrorist band, and has surgically removed it. The civilians who have been killed, which we all mourn, is part of the cancer. What option other than remove the disease.Does a surgeon allow the predatory press to be in the theatre and report on an operation, cut by cut? So why allow them in the actual war areas? It is a most ridiculous idea.
22 Apr 2009 13:13:17 GMT
Mr.Anura, you still have not yet studied the situation. The live videos and photos are taken by people who are there in war zone. Srilankan Government(GSL) do not alow any media to witness. Again what you and rest of the sinhalese read only the GSL edited version of news. Most the of the websites are blocked in Srilanka by defence ministry(Tamilnet.com). Remember, when there is a war, the first victim is "Truth". Why do GSL not alow any international media? There are lot of media personals covering news from the war field in rest of the world. First GSL sholud tell the truth to thier own sinhalese citizens. Until they understand the situation the problem will never end.
22 Apr 2009 13:14:56 GMT
Thanks, Andrew. It's many periods of press censure in Sri Lanka over the last sixty years that has been convoluting the conflict so much.
22 Apr 2009 13:15:44 GMT
Your argument makes absolutely no sense. International governments are fully aware and following closely what is happening in Sri Lanka. Even regional governments are aware of events as evidenced by Tamil Nadus present political dance.
It is therefore not clear how the blatant media activism you are advocating will serve to generate more governmental awareness. Your argument seems aimed at building political pressure, but I ask: to benefit whom? The Sri Lankan government, or the Tigers who are holding hostage and killing the people they claim to represent?22 Apr 2009 13:16:13 GMT
It is a crime that 28 yrs after the late Prof Virginia Leary said that ''The fate of the Tamils in Sri Lanka remains a matter of international concern'', the situation has worsened to this point.
22 Apr 2009 13:17:42 GMT
Thank you sir for covering tamil people news.
22 Apr 2009 13:36:47 GMT
"A mass slaughter of civilians will take place Tuesday at noon. And everyone knows it."
Who? As a Sri Lankan and an individual who lived and grew up in that country for over 20 years the words above deeply offend me. If you want to make an accusation why not visit the country and see what is going on in there and then make those accusations. While I grew up I witnessed many suicide bombing and witnessed innocent people being murdered/mamed by my own eyes. A few years back I nearly lost parents to a suicide attack. My countries government is trying to get rid of the LTTE and not the Tamils. The LTTE who have orphaned many Tamils, Muslims and sinhalies children. If you bothered to look at the UAV video footage shown (on all major news websites) you can see that the LTTE themselves, the sole protector of Tamil people shooting their very own kith and kin to stop them form fleeing to the govenment controlled areas. Why? for the LTTE knows that when the human shield is gone the LTTE will too. What is disgustingly funny is that the protesters in London and Paris want to save the LTTE and not the Tamil civilians who are suffering due to the conflict. All I have to say is me being offended is far lesser an issue than the people who are suffering. Our troops will save all the Sri Lankans being held by the LTTE and will only fail those who the LTTE will get to first. Remember this for those not aware that the Sri Lankan armed forces consists of Tamil, Muslim & Sinhala nationals.22 Apr 2009 16:19:51 GMT
Thank you to Andrew Stroehlein for voicing for the voiceless. The world pro-peace pro-democratic countries have pressed the Sri Lankan government to stop this nonsense. However, they are keep on going because they have some similar powerful aggressors in their side. If there is nothing to hide then why do they ban the media from the war zones and keep on killing free media persons? It is a clear genocide without any witnesses.
22 Apr 2009 16:31:36 GMT
Hi,
It's really "interesting" to read at the National Post" news paper about how the "Srilankan" people were celebrating New Year on April 20th this year in Colombo. Published on National Post Monday April 20th 2009 by National post photo department on Page A2 Under the catagory of "Photo of the day" . Huh, it is really important than compared to the blood bath in the same country? Doesn't this show the discrimination of minority and majority in the same country? In that small space minority are starving and dying under bombs and shells while the majority celebrate New Year at the same time. The Srilankan Government who is supposed to save its Civilians are Killing them. Doesen't this show how LTTE was initially started? DISCRIMINATION OF TAMIL BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA. MOREOVER, The NATIONAL POST NEWS PAPER doesn't have the ears to hear the crying of Tamils nor the eyes to see our pictues. In addition They don't have the knowledge or technology to get any pictures of tamil who are wonded or died in the "Safe" War Zone? huh? Very nice. Give HI 5 to the reporters of National Post.22 Apr 2009 16:38:50 GMT
Dear Andrew, thanks for this great piece of writing. In a conflict there are two parties, each guilty for the deaths of combatants and non combatants. Each playing their propaganda 'games'. Tamil Diaspora read one side's information while Singhalese in south of SL hears GoSL media. Of course they become biased. Contrary to many of the respondents i have been in north of SL recently and can tell from what people have told me that many have died. Does it matter who kills who? SL mentality is one of never accepting responsibility and always find a scapegoat or blame the other. This is of recent years, and has become norm as I find in many replies to your article. Now the independent media is blocked by GoSL, while LTTE has always controlled media in their areas. Listen to what people say. They are pleased to be out, but want to return to Vanni. Will GoSL let them? Time will tell and GoSL has huge task ahead to fulfill promises of pea! ce. Otherwise young Tamils from Vanni will believe that maybe LTTE was right. It is a potential new tragedy in the making in IDP camps!
23 Apr 2009 14:56:37 GMT
@ Nicalin G....
Where you were when Sri Lankans celebrated the NEW YEARS of last 30 years under the brutalities of rebels. Did you rasie your voice to help Sri Lankans at that time. I guess NO is the answere. Please visit Sri Lanka to see how they/us celebrate the New Year. By the way Sri Lankans celebrated the dawn of New Year on 14th April. Not 20th April. And Government of Sri Lanka declared a cease fire during 13th & 14th, to which LTTE didn't adhere to....23 Apr 2009 14:59:05 GMT
Srilankans be a true Buddist. This earth is to share and care. Do not kill any human beings, it is against our religion. Thanks Andrew for writing the truth.
24 Apr 2009 08:15:12 GMT
Hi Andrew, It was great to publish an article like this at this situation which may open some of Journalists around the world. The bad news is that no one seems to be getting the news of what's exactly happening in Sri Lanka now. But it is evident that the Government of Srilanka is killing it's own people in the name of eliminating Terrorism. If Tigers are not allowing civilians to escape it's your (Govt.) responsibility to save your people and not blamming Tigers. The worst part is countries like India, Japan and now UN is accepting Srilankas genocidal acts. My humble request is please please send some Reporters to affected area and tell the truth to this world.
25 Apr 2009 11:22:52 GMT
Thanks you Andrew for writing the article about the real situation in SriLanka. Why is there no independent media in the war zone in Sri Lanka ? Why is the media not allowed to talk to injured people in the hospital? ( which is outside of the war zone)
25 Apr 2009 11:26:15 GMT
Andrew,
Excellent post about a wildly important issue. I urge people to look at Global Voices, a great effort to use bloggers around the world fill the foreign news coverage gap. I don't mean to draw away from the content of the posting, but I am curious about your self-description. Perhaps I am missing something, but I find it self-contradictory. You call yourself a journalist, but also a "communications director" of an organization charged with promoting and drawing attention to that organization's agenda. (ICG is a great group with a great purpose, but it does have donors, a board and its own agenda.) Can you really be a journalist AND a communications director? I say this as a former foreign correspondent at the IHT and NY Times now working for Ogilvy. (Full details on my blog thomascrampton.com ) Is your contradictory status something we will see more often as news organizations cut budgets? Should we be worried if this becomes a trend? (I am!) Tom25 Apr 2009 11:50:25 GMT
ref to rakhtha dias.
how did you survive suicide bombing? how come you were at the same time several times? I suspect if you are a LTTE member too? My gran parents were killed in 1956 there was no LTTE at that time. In 1977 our house was burnt down and my father assasinated and chased to Jaffna by ship. Was LTTE there then? In 1983 yet again my uncles and aunts were killed and houses burnt. I saved my life because I spoke sinhalese, but my firend wasn't lucky. That was the LTTE's first attack against the army. Was LTTE to be blamed for that. I have lived many more years in SL than your self and have lived in all parts of the country and speak both languages. I do have both Sinhalese and Tamils in our family. What is happening now is a GENOCIDE and it will be clear very soon, but it will be too late for many Tamils. My family still lives in SL and I know how they are being terrorised. My Sinhalese relatives do not have to sign and register them selves with the Police, but my Tamils relatives have to do that. Is it democracy? No media allowed in North, isn't it dictatorship? All who violate human rights must be tried in the Hague. My uncle who was in the Navy had to resign after 1983 because he was a Tamil. He captined the Sri lankan hockey team. Do you know how many Tamils are in the Armed forces today? Less than 1% according to statistics. But I feel there is none. Wake up and see ehat is happening to the innocent civilians. Ask the government to stop the GENOCIDE and lets see if you will be alive next week!!!! What happened to Lasantha for speaking the TRUTH?25 Apr 2009 13:45:25 GMT
Tom,
I am both. I don't believe journalism was ever, or could ever be, fully objective. Right from the very first decision the person makes -- ie, what story to cover and what not to -- every journalist makes decisions that are subjective. I know many journalists like to think they just cover "the facts" and nothing else, but to me, that has always been an illusion or self-deception. Journalists, especially those covering foreign affairs, have always been activists, pushing for more coverage of the topics they think are most important. And the best foreign correspondents have (rightly) always sided with the victims rather than trying to strike some "balance" between the victims and those committing crimes against them. I don't see any major difference between that and NGO activism. And yes, NGOs are filling the foreign news vacuum more and more -- a bit on that here: http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/3159/2009/02/16-143828-1.htm It doesn't worry me. It's quite exciting, actually. As for Crisis Group and our policy recommendations, we are in quite a good position in that we have very many funders contributing to core budget (as opposed to individual project budgets), and that give us flexibility with our funders should any try to apply pressure on us. Thus, we are able to hold firm to our field-based analysis -- the overwhelming majority of our staff are in the field -- and we often criticise, for example, the policies of the very governments that fund us. I think if you go through our reports, you would be very hard pressed to say we are pushing any government's agenda. Our recommendations are always based on the specifics of each conflict and how to resolve it, not the result of any ideology or funder pressure. (That all said, of course, I write this blog in my personal capacity, not as a Crisis Group representative. Crisis Group doesn't have an opinion on the current state of journalism. But I certainly do.)25 Apr 2009 18:10:44 GMT
Andrew,
As I said (and as you seem to understand) I am certainly not attacking you or ICG. Thank you for the links to Anand's story and Carol Bogert's blog posting. They are both interesting reads. Sorry to say, however, that I am much less optimistic/upbeat than you about NGOs ability to fill in for newsgathering organizations. Yes, foreign correspondents and NGO staffers need to have passion. Both are lifestyle choices more than jobs. The end product of each, however, is very different. The success of a foreign correspondent is judged by the accuracy and liveliness of his/her reports, as determined by readers. The success of an NGO staffer lies in fulfilling the strategy sold to funders. Call me cynical, but I would expect NGO staffer reports to dovetail quite well with objectives set by headquarters rather than run counter to the NGO's policies. Another issue arises when an NGO's full range of activities in a given country would be jeopardized by reporting something extremely important, such as high level corruption. The NGO could make the rational self-interested decision that overlooking the personal enrichment of a few generals is a price worth paying to continue nourishing thousands of children. A foreign correspondent, on the other hand, can write about that corruption without fear of retribution being exacted on anyone but himself. The interests of foreign correspondents can align with those of an NGO staffer, but they are not always the same. It is better for everyone if there is tension, oversight and independent critical thinking. The phenomenon you correctly observe is the collapse of independently supportable journalism under the crushing power of new media. The corollary rise of agenda-based reporting supported by non-news organizations seems to be an unstoppable trend. It is not, however, something I care to celebrate.25 Apr 2009 19:21:55 GMT
Tom,
No worries. I understand it's not an attack. It seems to me, that the success of an info-NGO is also judged by the accuracy and liveliness of its reports, as determined by readers. If it gets it wrong, its credibility is shot. Maybe you have a point with aid-providing NGOs. Sometimes they have to pull punches to keep people alive. But there are more and more information-centred NGOs, and that's more what I'm talking about. I don't know if they can ever take the place of foreign correspondents working for media outlets. But it seems that if any sector has a chance to fill that vacuum, which I think we agree needs to be filled somehow, it is the field-based NGOs working primarily in information. Who else has the networks in the field to do it?26 Apr 2009 18:42:52 GMT
Andrew,
Yes, I absolutely agree there is a vacuum of coverage from most of the world's hellholes and that vacuum will only get worse as news budgets get cut. I guess I would look at the effect of Social Media as a new and powerful way for NGOs to increase their impact and reach rather than as a way to replace foreign correspondents. Disappointingly, we already seem to have reached a shared middle ground, so not much excuse to carry on the discussion. I have enjoyed it, however, and will keep reading your postings! Tom