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The media were unanimous in applauding the government’s decision to remove the censorship imposed on military news. The censorship was in 1988 to curb the reporting of sensitive military matters. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga removed the censorship Wednesday (May 30). Military Analyst Iqbal Athas speaking to the PRIU, said that although it was long overdue he appreciated the move. “The greatest beneficiaries of this exercise will be the people who will get a better understanding of what is going on,” Athas said. Lalith Alahakoon editor of the English daily, The Daily Mirror welcoming the move said, “Press freedom is an essential ingredient in a democratic state and a fundamental right of the people.” He expressed satisfaction about the lifting of the censorship and said that this had been a long cry of the media. Editor of the Sinhala daily Lankadeepa Siri Ranasinghe, said that he welcomed the move “The removal of censorship alone would not establish media freedom, but implementing the pledges made in the manifesto of the PA government in 1994 on media freedom'. Editor of Sri Lanka’s leading Tamil newspaper Virakesari said that he appreciated the move but said that this move alone would not be sufficient and that practical steps should be taken for local and foreign journalists to cover the war in the north. The Island in its editorial today said, “It looks as if the government had come to terms with harsh reality that censorship is an exercise in futility” it stated that it now had an opportunity to blow the lid off many a scandal. The editorial continued, “It is not only the government, which is faced with a challenge. The media, too, has a challenge before it.”
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