Responsible journalism plays a vital role in combating misinformation, strengthening public trust and promoting peace among communities, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath has told broadcasters meeting in Colombo.
He was addressing the welcome session of the 63rd General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) at Cinnamon Life, City of Dreams, on Sunday, the Daily Mirror reported.
The rapid advance of technology has made information more accessible while making it steadily harder to tell truth from falsehood, the Minister said, and broadcasting institutions carry a responsibility to deliver accurate information. In a diverse society, he added, the media matter for encouraging dialogue and mutual respect between communities, and technological innovation should serve humanity by widening access to knowledge.
“Peace cannot be sustained by diplomacy alone.”
Understanding between people mattered just as much, he said, and responsible broadcasting could help bring societies closer together.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Mayor of Colombo also attended.
The assembly
The five-day General Assembly and its associated meetings run from 30 October to 3 November under the theme “Media for Peace and Humanity: Truth, Trust, and Transformation”.
Representatives of 66 member countries, covering 225 affiliated media organisations, are attending, NewsFirst reported on Sunday morning. Technical and Programme Committee meetings were held over the preceding two days.
NewsFirst reports the assembly as organised jointly by the Ministry of Tourism, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Maharaja Media Network, with a stated focus on promoting Sri Lanka as a destination for MICE tourism — meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. The Daily Mirror describes the event as hosted by MTV Sri Lanka, which is part of the same Maharaja group.
Founded in 1964, the ABU is the regional broadcasting body for the Asia-Pacific.
Source note
NewsFirst is itself part of the Maharaja network co-organising the assembly, so its filing is not a fully independent account of the event. It is a curtain-raiser published before proceedings began and does not carry the Minister’s remarks, which are reported here from the Daily Mirror alone.
Neither filing records what measures, if any, the government proposes against misinformation, nor whether the Minister addressed Sri Lanka’s own regulatory framework for broadcasters.
