Wonder boy of Channel 4

The near 4 minute newscast on Channel 4 is a hostile staccato style outburst against the Sri Lanka military and is undistinguishable from the rhetoric originating from LTTE media sources. Even a semblance of a balancing act is absent to give even an iota of respectability; obvious intention is to discredit the Security Forces and prevent its onward march by hook or by crook. It is part of an act by the biased media to save Prabhakaran, the child snatcher.

It cites nameless faceless unknown aid workers or unknown elderly mothers as sources. The words they utter on the footage are not meaningful until presenter decides to carry the narration according to his fancy. The "shots" of the sources on the newscast look patently juxtaposed to the rest of the footage.

The pictures clearly reveal they were not taken in a camp for refugees; the so call aid workers are filmed in a closed location elsewhere. In the absence of any identification, doctoring it with quotes can be comfortably fabricated. Such sources can be easily made to appear and disappear with words put to mouth. Unidentifiably silhouetted in a dark hazy background their identities will forever be unknown. Therefore putting words into their mouth to disgrace Sri Lanka is easy and can never be checkmated.

Incredible statements are made of dead bodies remaining unattended for days...... Girls being removed from the camps......children trampled while waiting in queues...... lack of food and water.....sexual abuse. No complaint of such nature has been made by any person to anybody until the arrival of the foreign journalist from Channel 4.There are 125000 people in these camps but not a single such complaint until the arrival of channel 4 All this makes the story bizarre. It is still not too late to disclose information with specifics in possession of Channel 4 without vague words accompanied by blurred vision.

Wonder boy of channel 4 - Nick Paton Walsh

Even for an inquiry a complaint with specific are a pre requisite in any country with due process of law. Sri Lanka has Commission sitting inquiring into Human rights violations. Why did those "aid sources" wait remaining mum till Channel 4 arrived especially since they are supposed to be aid workers with easy access to foreign sources. They can even now conjure aid workers so that the hazy information can be tested. Strange, they have not even reported these matters to their own aid agency? Surely they would not have been silent for so long?

The camps have been visited by ICRC, UN envoys and officials and several foreign NGOs and dignitaries, including John Holmes. No such complaints have been made to them. The police are ever present and frequent visitors are the GA and other public officer. Most of these officers and NGO officers are of Tamil origin fluent in the Tamil language. Many complaints have been received by them and attended to by them previously; but never anything in the nature of the complaints on Channel 4.

Channel 4 has a history of discrediting Sri Lanka in previous appearance here. Ironically channel 4 is deaf and dumb on the LTTE. Are they patron saints of the LTTE! Did they ask the civilians in the camps of the life they led under terrorist rule. Probably that is a story they desire not to narrate however news worthy.

Does Channel 4 maintain a code of ethics in journalism by admitting they did an act stealthily? If so they could do many more! We can now gauge their authenticity when they report on human rights.