Survivalist and Irrepressible: The Two Faces of the Sri Lankan Media

GEHAN GUNATILLEKE-on 01/05/2017

Introduction

The past decade produced two critical moments of transition in Sri Lanka. On 19 May 2009, a 30-year war came to a brutal end with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). On 9 January 2015, the regime responsible for ending the war was ousted from power after ten years of autocratic rule. The media is often expected to play a pivotal role in these moments of transition. Yet the past decade witnessed one of the darkest eras in the history of Sri Lanka’s mainstream media. During this period, it was reduced to self-censorship, self-doubt and servility. Meanwhile, an unpredictable yet dynamic alternative emerged outside the mainstream. By 2014, this alternative media blossomed into a radical force capable of influencing and consolidating opinion.

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