Freedom of the press in reporting Sri Lankan civil war : with special reference to reportage of journalist D.B.S.Jeyaraj

Abstract

A journalist is a person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people. Freedom of the press is the guarantee by a government of free public press for its citizens and their associations, extended to members of news-gathering organizations (journalist), and their published reporting. D.B.S. Jeyaraj is a freelance journalist. Jeyaraj 's journalism is critical of both sides in the Sri Lanka civil war; the government and the LTTE. For this, he was arrested by the Sri Lankan government in 1987 and also has been the target of death threats and beatings from hard-core LTTE supporters in Canada where he presently resides. Objective of this study is to analyze the threats against the freedom of press in reporting Sri Lankan civil war with special reference to journalist D.B.S.Jeyaraj. This is a qualitative research. Case Study Method is used as the methodology of study. Primary and secondary data are used in this research. To collect primary data interviews have been used .. Secondary data are obtained from the internet, news papers and magazines. Conclusion of this study is that both sides of the conflict (the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE) are not tolerating reportages critical of them and they are not reluctant to resort to unethical means to stop such reportages being published.