For many years, the media community, including journalists, has emphasised the need for a chartered institute dedicated to media professionals. At a time when this need was fading from the media community’s immediate attention, a draft bill to establish such a chartered institute was recently published as an unnumbered Gazette (dated 05 June 2026). The Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA) has carefully analysed this document.
It is clear to us that behind the attempt to establish this institute, the State’s true objective lies on a completely different plane—specifically, within a framework of media suppression. It is our firm belief that a chartered institute dedicated to media professionals must possess an independent institutional structure. Such a structure should manage matters such as journalists’ freedom, independence, welfare, professionalism, ethical promotion, and media education.
Ironically, the proposed chartered institute for media professionals detailed in this Gazette will be controlled by media or other professionals who are subservient to the Minister of Media and appointed by him. We wish to draw the attention of the entire media sector to several extremely dangerous clauses contained within this Bill.
Repressive Clauses Contained in the Draft Bill:
1. Placing the Governing Authority Under the Direct Grip of the Government and the Minister
• Clause 5(4)(a): The subject Minister is granted full power to appoint an “Interim Council” to govern the institute until the permanent council is appointed.
• Clauses 5(4)(a)(i) and (ii): This Interim Council will consist of the Secretary to the Minister’s Ministry and six other members nominated by the Secretary (with the concurrence of the Minister).
• Clause 5(4)(b): The power to formulate the criteria for electing members to the permanent council is also vested entirely in this government-appointed Interim Council.
• Consequently: In the future, the governing authority of the institute will be comprised of individuals “subservient” to any arrogant or short-sighted Media Minister, appointed entirely at his whim.
2. Creating a “Police Force” to Punish Journalists Through Disciplinary Control
• Clause 12(1)(c): A “Disciplinary Committee” will be appointed to conduct inquiries into disciplinary matters concerning members.
• Clauses 23(1) and (2): This committee is granted sweeping powers to investigate “Professional Misconduct” as defined by rules enacted by the Council itself.
• Clause 24: If a journalist is found guilty of professional misconduct, the Governing Council is empowered to revoke their membership, issue a warning, or suspend their membership for a period not exceeding one year. This confirms that the true underlying objective is the suppression of professionalism rather than its promotion.
3. Vesting Monopolistic Power to Enact Regulations Solely in the Minister
• Clause 25(1): The power to make regulations under the Act is vested solely in the Minister. This completely undermines the independence of the institute, allowing the Minister to enact laws as he sees fit.
4. Entrapping the Entire Media Sector in a Single Net
• Clause 27: Under the definition of “Media Professionals,” everyone in the media industry—including writers, content editors, announcers, publishers, media owners, media managers, and videographers—is brought under the control and disciplinary rules of this institute.
5. Stripping Independence
• Clause 4(a): One of the functions of the institute is to advise the Minister on media education and professionalism.
• Clause 4(na): It is made mandatory to obtain prior approval from the Department of External Resources of the Ministry of Finance when receiving foreign aid or donations.
The current National People’s Power (Malimawa) government came to power promising to repeal the Online Safety Act (OSA) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Yet today, they are using these very Acts to arrest singers and youths who put up posters in the North. They are creating an environment where the books of Tamil writers are seized and censored, and editors of media institutions that expose state malpractice are summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Furthermore, the country is currently being ruled by a government that has requested the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to revoke the broadcasting licences of television channels. It is a government that turns a deaf ear to demands for justice regarding crimes committed against journalists, and one that is diluting the Right to Information (RTI) Act under the guise of amending what was a robust piece of legislation.
The President’s media heads, along with the police and security forces, are being deployed to assault and obstruct the professional rights of journalists. It is highly farcical that a government engaging in such practices is now attempting to grant a State-sponsored “chartered status” to journalists by resurrecting a draft bill said to have been drawn up by a previous administration.
If a government’s sole aspiration is truly the advancement and promotion of the media community, its duty is not to construct repressive institutional frameworks by exploiting a small group of editors, media heads, media consultants, and journalists who are willing to compromise their integrity for financial gain. Instead, what must be done is to formulate a chartered institutional structure within an independent framework through a broad, inclusive dialogue involving the entire media community.
As long as this chartered institutional structure does not operate within an independent framework divorced from the State, the “wind of State suppression” hunting down journalists and media owners will only grow stronger and harsher.
Therefore, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association appeals to all those currently blinded by the allure of a chartered institute, as well as to the entire media community operating across Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages, to remain deeply aware of and vigilant during this perilous juncture. We urge our entire brotherly media community to stand united for a chartered institute dedicated to media professionals that possesses an independent governing authority entirely free from government control.
Ranga Bandaranayake
President
Mithun Jayawardhana
General Secretary