COLOMBO // Sri Lankan journalists and publishers are bracing themselves for a fresh confrontation with the government after President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration announced the revival of the now-defunct Press Council.
The Press Council, which had the power to imprison or fine journalists for false and defamatory articles and dealt with complaints from the public against media reports, faded into oblivion in 2000 after media organisations set up the self-regulatory, industry-run Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
The new move to revive the Press Council has alarmed some journalists, but to others it is not a surprise. "The government wants to control the media and this is another attempt," one journalist said.
On Monday, the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka, the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka and six other national media organisations wrote a letter to Mr Rakapaksa urging him to reconsider the move.
"A media culture cannot be based on slapping charges against journalists, fining them or sending them to jail. Instead the modern world has accepted a self-regulatory mechanism by media persons as the way forward," the letter said.
The other media organisations are the Working Journalists' Association of Sri Lanka, the Tamil Media Alliance, the Muslim Media Forum, Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions, the South Asia Free Media Association (Sri Lanka Chapter) and the Free Media Movement.
Despite a proliferation of media rights groups emerging in the past decade in Sri Lanka, journalists have never felt as threatened as they do now.
Fifteen journalists and media industry workers have been killed since 2006 while another 15 have been abducted or arrested by police. At least two newspaper offices have been ransacked and equipment destroyed.
No one has been arrested, detained or blamed by the government in a single case despite "extensive investigations" by state agencies. Last year was a particularly difficult year for the media, as journalists were told to refrain from criticising the government in the campaign against Tamil separatist guerrillas. Journalists were also barred from visiting war-torn areas and in recent times, visits to camps in the north for some 300,000 displaced persons are restricted and permitted only if accompanied by government officials.
The owner of a small newspaper, who declined to be named, said the effort to revive the defunct Press Council is another attempt by the government to control the media.
"If the council is reactivated it would make the PCC redundant and all complaints to the council would be esssentially over articles criticising the government," he said.
Senior government officials say the PCC has not been an effective medium for public complaints. "There were only a few complaints that were entertained last year," a senior official at the media ministry, who declined to be named, said.
However, an official at the PCC rejected this claim saying the commission received 93 complaints from the public and inquiries held. In 2007, the commission received 125 complaints.
The government official also said the cabinet last week approved the proposal to revive the council as it felt society needed a more effective and independent mechanism to entertain complaints against the media from the public.
He said journalists need not worry about its revival as the council, enacted in 1972, has not enforced all its laws and resorted only to requesting newspapers to apologise to complainants, if a complaint was valid, or carry a correction.
But the editor of a daily newspaper rejected this view, saying all over the world, the media mostly regulates itself. "If the government had an issue with the PCC, there should have been a dialogue with this body ? instead of reviving the council, which will do the same work as the PCC," he said.
After a long campaign for a self-regulatory process and proper training facilties, journalist groups in Sri Lanka joined to established the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), about five years ago as the main media development institute in Sri Lanka.
The SLPI operates the PCC and the Sri Lanka College of Journalism, which offers professional training for journalists, promotes self-regulation in the print media and advocates a free and responsible media in Sri Lanka.
Monday's letter by the media organisation referred to an agreement between media organisations and parliament in which the newspaper industry agreed to appoint a self-regulatory mechanism in exchange for the repeal of criminal defamation laws. Journalists are now concerned that the reinstated Press Council will be used to enforce its own set of defamation laws, despite government assurances.
"It is in these circumstances that the media organisations regret that the government has reneged on its earlier commitment to support self-regulation," it said.
fsamath@thenational.ae
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now