My Wish for 2012 is for the Sri Lankan Journalists to use ‘Common Sense’ in helping their audience to think!!!

New Year’s day 2012 and I almost had a row with my Dad, when he said that according to the papers, Commercial Bank was doing a great job in their CSR by helping 6000 students with Computers and related assistance for IT.

I told him to read further and actually think. The Bank is in the business of using CSR to tell the public how good they are in helping worthy causes so that they get a lot of goodwill. However if Commercial Bank gives one computer to a school with 10,000 students they will say they helped 10,000 students with Computers and IT, because our people are so dumb as to believe what they read. In fact the Principal who has not internet or Computer is more than likely to have it at his office to teach himself computing as he would not want to look a fool while his students learn IT. “KALPANAKARANNA” please.

So the point I am trying to make is that there is always a story behind a story, and we only are shown and led to believe the surface ONLY. So let us get back to basics and teach the audience how to think and rationalize. After all many so called news items in Sri Lanka especially in the papers are planted items. They are either informercials, advertorials both paid by the company or government to boast about something they are about to do or done, and make it sound so much grander or of some journalist putting something by a friend or the owner putting some items of information he wants the readers to see.

It is very important in the present context when we have a Government blessed with misinformation to be able to see the wood from the trees and make up our minds as to what to believe. I call upon all journalists who are worth two cents in Sri Lanka to lend some thought to this and view the information for what it is and not be as gullible as the audience or readership, as they must have more grey hairs of common sense to guide their readership etc. into a frame of mind from which to come to their own conclusions.

With these few words I wish my readers every success in 2012 and please try to understand that my crusade in this blog is for the betterment of the great country of Sri Lanka so that its citizens can grow up, especially our young generation to be valuable citizens contributing immensely for the overall good of this country. I thank those who are sincerely doing their best in this regard and challenge others to take on the mantle as it is a noble cause that will give them the “pina” “good Karma” or any other merit that they deserve in this life of the lives from here on.