අදාළ නොවන වාර්ගිකත්වය ඉස්මතු නොකරමු!

Abstract

On April 26, 2023, Aruna, Dinamina, and Ada newspapers reported on the seizure of the kush drug worth 84 million by the customs. Aruna and Dinamina highlighted that these drugs were sent to Sri Lanka by a "Drawida/Demala jathikayeku" (ද්‍රවිඩ/දෙමළ ජාතිකයෙකු) residing in Canada highlighting the ethnicity of the suspect. However, the Ada newspaper only mentioned that the individual was residing in Canada. Likewise, the Tamil language newspapers Thamilan and Thinakkural which reported this incident did not mention the ethnicity of the suspect. Aruna and Dinamina violated the media ethical guideline to not mention ethnicity of individuals when it is irrelevant to the news as it contribute towards negative attitudes and stereotyping of those belonging to the same ethnicity.