Kalpanakaranna – Absence of news is the most important news- just think about it

The aim of this blog is to enable people to think for themselves. You may or may not agree with what I write, but at least you are able to comment and I have never removed a comment that I disagreed with unless it was censored for foul language.
In that vein, it is not just what is written in the media that is news. In countries such as Sri Lanka where the press is gagged, often what is not written about is news and we are left to surmise and sometimes make insinuations that are not correct because of the inability of investigative journalism to get the true scoop.

A case in point recently was when the Commonwealth boxing Gold medalist, Manju Wanniarachchi was stripped off his medal due to testing positive in two tests, for Nandralone, a banned substance ostensibly administered to him by a homeopath by the name of Mudannayake, who the police were investigating.

The shame for him and country, was not mentioned in the press anywhere be it in print, or in TV. It was conveniently swept under the carpet. A thinking individual can only come to one conclusion, namely that the press was gagged as this is a news story worthy of being broadcast. The question then arises as who did the gagging and why. Then we come to the next point as to who it would be most embarrassing to. His promoters and those who helped guide him through, namely those other than him who took credit for it and who suddenly seemed culpable.

Who heads the boxing federation in Sri Lanka, just Google and check that out!! Should he be embarrassed? If so why? Is his integrity in question? Is there a loss of face? Has he threatened the press? Is anyone in the press willing to come forward to confirm or deny this innuendo as it is only an innuendo in the face of a lack of clear corroborative evidence?

Well these are the questions of news that we bloggers have to take on board if we are to be true citizen activists protecting individual and collective freedom of our motherland from unpatriotic forces who seem determined to take us down a road to obscurity. The country is facing a threat of disinformation and misinformation.

This example is one that should get serious bloggers to report news items in a responsible manner that the press is unwilling to share, due to reasons beyond their control as they are dependent on powers to provide them with various benefits, like livelihood and profits that are not required in the blogging world. The Sri Lankan blogosphere is probably the only area that currently is not censored or self censored, as even prohibited websites can still be accessed in a roundabout fashion.

A thinking individual can then judge for him or herself having regard to the agenda of the blogger, as evidenced in the stance of the content.