Does the Sri Lankan media exploit parliamentary candidates during elections?

Abstract

The pricing data of media institutions reveals that the media discriminates against the democratic process by charging higher rates for political ads than commercial ads, during election periods. This Insight quantifies the discriminatory pricing and analyses the implications, and highlights the gaps in media regulation that allow for such practices. It notes that there is no specific law/regulation enacted in Sri Lanka which governs the pricing and enforces transparency of political ads during election periods. Consequently, democratic interests are vulnerable to being flouted, instead of being supported, by the media. Furthermore, the insight notes that although the Election Commission of Sri Lanka issues guidelines to promote ethical media practices, the lack of enforcement mechanisms is a common theme of the guidelines, which renders them rather inconsequential. This Insight shows how the lack of regulation in favour of democracy has allowed the Sri Lankan media to introduce a price discrimination system during elections, which exploits the democratic interests of the country, and of the parliamentary candidates.