Professor Aaron Rajah, San Diego, California
Have you ever heard of anyone being just “a little bit pregnant”? Sure, according to Associate Press (AP) writer Bharatha Mallawarachi, those who have been reporting on the civil war in Sri Lanka have been attacked. His latest piece titled, “As Sri Lanka’s civil war escalates, so do attacks on its journalists” claims that, “They (reporters) have been hounded by the government, attacked by unknown assailants and accused of aiding the rebels. Many reporters have been arrested or fled the county, while others have resorted to self-censorship, journalists said”. It is alarming that this writer forgets the words, DEAD JOURNALIST. Over twenty journalists reporting on this humanitarian disaster have been killed!  Sure the dead do not count as they do not have a voice according Mr. Mallawarachi. The facts are far from the rosy reporting from the AP writer.

Facts:

Journalist killed during the tenure of the Rajapaksa regime:

Accourding to Satheesan Kumaran from “Ground view”, Well over 20 journalists and media workers have been killed since 2000, over 10 journalists injured and dozens have received death threats if they did not stop criticizing the government, military or the paramilitaries that support them.  following is a list of media persons killed and or wounded.
Mylvaganam Nimalarajan (aged 38) of Virakesari newspaper and reporter to BBC Tamil service and father of three was shot dead on October 19, 2000, while at his residence in Jaffna.  Aiyathurai Nadesan (48) of Virakesari newspaper was shot dead on May 31, 2004, while traveling on a motorcycle in Batticaloa.  Darmaratnam Sivaram (47) of Tamilnet website was abducted on April 29, 2005, by four men in a white van in front of the Bambalapitiya police station in Colombo; his body found later near the parliamentary complex within a high-security zone.
Arasakumar Kannamuthu (38) and Yogakumar Krishnapillai (38), a delivery agent and a distributor of Batticaloa Eelanatham respectively, were shot and killed in Batticaloa on July 29, 2005.and September 30, 2005, respectifully. Mariathas Manojanraj (23), a distributor of Yarl Thinakural and Veerakesari was killed in a claymore explosion in Jaffna on July 27, 2006.  Sathasivam Baskaram, driver/distributor of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna was shot and killed on August 15, 2006. Tamil broadcaster, Relangi Selvarajah, and her husband, a political activist, were killed in Colombo on August 12, 2005. David Selvaratnam (50), a security guard,  Manickam Kamalanathan (49), a proof-reader, Subramaniyam Suthas (29), a computer operator, A.M.F Anas, a visiting employee, were severely injured by unidentified attackers throwing two grenades into the printing office of Tamil-language daily, Sudar Oli, in Colombo on August 29, 2005.
Subramaniam Sugirtharajan (35), a father of two and a correspondent for Sudar Oli was shot and killed at his residence in Trincomalee while waiting for transport to his workplace on January 24, 2006. A gang of five men armed with T-56 automatic rifles entered the Uthayan office in Jaffna on May 2, 2006, killing marketing manager, Bastian George Sagayathas (36) and circulation supervisor, S. Ranjith (25). Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar were killed on May 3, 2006, as journalists gathered in Colombo to celebrate Press Freedom Day. Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah (68), managing director of Tamil-language daily, Namathu Eelanadu, was shot and killed in Jaffna on August 21, 2006.
Freelance journalist, Sampath Lakmal de Silva (24), was shot dead on July 2, 2006, in Colombo.  S. T. Gananathan (64), a journalist, was shot dead in Jaffna on February 27, 2007. Subash Chandrabose (32), editor of the Tamil monthly, Nilam, was shot dead at his residence in Vavuniya on April 16, 2007. Selvarajah Rajivarman (25), journalist of Uthayan newspaper, was shot and killed in Jaffna on April 29, 2007. Nilakshan Sahapavan (22), a journalism student at the Jaffna University Media Research and Training Centre and the editor of Calare, was killed in Jaffna on August 1, 2007.
Not a single name of a dead journalist was reported by AP writer in his latest incident of deceptive reporting
 
How is it that we do not mention the killing of these reporters nor report that the perpetrator has not been found? There were even many more dead who worked with the above journalist who were also left out of the AP report. Mallawarachi never even mentions a dead journalist in his report bringing to light our point of biased, paid reporting.

About the author: Professor Aaron Rajah heads San Diego based media watch dog group “prostitutes busted”. Author also thanks Mr. Satheesan Kumaran from “Ground view”.