Lifetime Achievement presentations to five senior journalists

Journalism Awards for Excellence ceremony on Tuesday

Five senior journalists will receive the Distinguished Service Award for Journalism in Sri Lanka, at the 13th edition of the Journalism Awards for Excellence Ceremony on July 31 (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. in the Empire Ballroom of the Mt. Lavinia Hotel, organized by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Press Institute.

D.C.A. (Bernie) Wijesekera

Kandiah Nithyanandan

Sybil Wettasinghe

S. Hewage Chithrananda

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka

They are:

D.C.A. (Bernie) Wijesekera

Bernie Wijesekera joined the Times of Ceylon of the old Times Group in 1954 as a Proof Reader, and was made a journalist in the same newspaper in 1958. He also worked for the Daily Mirror newspaper at the time. He covered the World Cup Cricket matches abroad even before Sri Lanka gained Test status. After the closure of the Times Group in 1981, he joined the Daily News published by the Lake House Group, which he left in 1996 to join the Sunday Times published by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., He still writes for the newspaper’s sports section. He also writes to the Daily Mirror occasionally. His journalistic career spans 58 years.

Kandiah Nithyanandan

Kandiah Nithyanandan started his media career as a proof reader at the Virakesari in 1961. While proof reading, he also tried his hand at drawing cartoons. Later, he was made a journalist overseeing the upcountry news page, editor of the evening edition of Virakesari’s sister newspaper Mithran Varamalar and editor, Politics and Features. In this page, he highlighted issues concerning the upcountry community. He also wrote several articles and short stories.
Mr. Nithyanandan, also translated Martin Wickremasinghe’s epic novel ‘Madol Doowa’ into Tamil. His career spans 42 years.

Sybil Wettasinghe

Sybil Wettasinghe hails from Gintota, Galle. She illustrated her first book in colour – the Navamaga Std. 5 reader compiled by the late Ms. H.D. Sugathapala, at the age of 15. She joined Lankadeepa at the age of 19 in 1948, when there were no women working on the permanent staff of newspapers. She also contributed to the Times of Ceylon. In 1952, Ms. Wettasinghe joined Lake House and worked for the Janatha as a children’s artist and writer. She contributed to all the newspapers at Lake House as journalist and artist. In 1983, Ms. Wettasinghe joined Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., and moved to Upali Newspapers Ltd. in 1986, when she was invited to inaugurate a children’s newspaper. She was the pioneer editor of Bindu.

In 1956, Ms. Wettasinghe wrote and illustrated ‘Umbrella Thief’, which is now an international publication. Currently, it is being made into a children’s film in Denmark. ‘Umbrella Thief’ has been published in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, USA, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Since 1990, five of her books have been published in Japan.

In May this year, she was the recipient of the prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize for culture given annually to three Asians chosen from the region. It was awarded in recognition of her achievements as a writer and illustrator of picture books that feature Sri Lanka’s cultural diversity and natural beauty.

In Sri Lanka, she has written and authored over 200 children’s books during a career spanning 60-years.

S. Hewage Chithrananda

S. Hewage Chithrananda is a senior photographer who started his career in 1966 as a freelancer at Davasa published by Independent Newspapers Ltd., with the support of W.V. Abeygunawardena and W.P. Sugathadasa. He was later employed at Udaya and promoted Chief Photographer. After the closure of the Times Group, he joined Lake House as Photo Editor. He retired from Lake House in 2002 and started his own studio.

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka joined Silumina and worked for 19-years at Lake House. He served as the Features Editor and Assistant Editor. When the Divaina was started by Upali Wijewardene, he resigned from Lake House and joined Upali Newspapers Ltd., where he became the Features Editor of the Divaina. He is also the Editor of Lakmina. He has received many awards for photography during his career. He has also translated many foreign language books into Sinhala.