Saturday, October 01, 2005
Clues to What's to Come? |
I'm assuming all you lot have been to the UNP website (unpsrilanka.org), I heard that our ol' pal Indi's the one who set it up for them. I don't know if he does any admin work on it now, but I have some serious issues with the way it's being run.
This is taken from a post on the UNP site:
Moving on to the bigger issue-
If you read some of the posts on the site, particularly this one, you'll be amazed by how all the people who leave comments are people who are very pro-UNP and call Ranil the great leader, and wish him luck and all sorts of such things.
Some golden lines:
Now let me be clear about one thing, I have nothing major against the UNP and/or Ranil Wickramasinghe. (Personally I guess I'd like to see him win, though I won't vote for him myself as I seem to be out of the voter list!). I do disagree with them on certain economic policies of theirs but I admire the party for taking the peace process forward (even if it was only to watch it stall) and or having the balls to bring about the ceasefire.
I do however have a big problem with curtailing the freedom of expression.
Seriously, if the UNP site allows space for people to comment, then it's bound to have a few resident trolls like our buddies dextr and astrocyte. Sometimes people like that (who seriously need to get away from their PCs and get a life) are mildly annoying, but they're quite entertaining. Allowing for anyone and everyone to say what they want, when they want to is what freedom of expression is all about. In standard practice hatespeech and such stuff is not tolerated but over here we've decided to let them be.
Getting to the point, I wanted to see why the UNP website didn't have any anti-UNP comments. The way I saw it, it could be one of several things.
1) Everyone online liked the UNP and thought Ranil was the great leader.
2) The site admin were deleting comments unfavourable to the UNP.
So I decided to test it. Using the name Morquendi, I made a comment on a post about not using abusive language in the comments made on the UNP site. The post has a rant about how the UNP does not engage in mudslinging. (I quoted that part at the start of this post).
This is how my comment went:
When I was done writing, and had hit publish, I got a message saying 'Your comment is awaiting moderation'. So would the moderators make it vanish? Luckily I had made a notepad copy of it so I would know what I wrote (which is why I was able to reproduce it here DUH).
Today when I went online the comment was there on the post, almost. There was a slight hitch. A teeny weeny bit, but perhaps the most important bit, was missing. It had been edited out of the comment.
This was what was missing:
The UNP just fell quite a few notches in my standing. What does the future hold for journalists and the free media if people such as those who run the UNP website were to manage the media in Sri Lanka?
Things do promise to get better if Ranil wins, but some things like the freedom enjoyed by the media, just might vanish.
This is taken from a post on the UNP site:
As you know the UNP is the first and still the only party to have an interactive website to invite peoples views on current issues. The response so far has been overwhelming! We are receiving hundreds of comments and emails daily, with views, comments and even specific recommendations. We have already sent the important ones to Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe’s senior aides for necessary action. So help us continue this good work in the spirit of fairness and decency.Maybe if you count all the comments left for all the posts on the UNP site you'd make a hundred. Go to the site and check it out. Maybe they've hit 100 today, but they were on 90 something last night. So this statement is an outright lie. I don't like people who fudge their numbers and cook their books. If the UNP wants to play fair like they say their trying to do, then they should stop doing things like this.
Moving on to the bigger issue-
If you read some of the posts on the site, particularly this one, you'll be amazed by how all the people who leave comments are people who are very pro-UNP and call Ranil the great leader, and wish him luck and all sorts of such things.
Some golden lines:
I wish you a grand victory.I'll stop before I choke on my own puke...
You are the only One, have a Vision about our Economy & the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka. Good Luck….
The country badly needs a honest, patriotic leader with a vision. You posses those qualities and hope after 17th November the golden era will be back in Sri Lanka.
You are the only honest leader, telling the truth and the reality to the people, with hiding nothing, proving the real meaning of the word “LEADER”.
Now let me be clear about one thing, I have nothing major against the UNP and/or Ranil Wickramasinghe. (Personally I guess I'd like to see him win, though I won't vote for him myself as I seem to be out of the voter list!). I do disagree with them on certain economic policies of theirs but I admire the party for taking the peace process forward (even if it was only to watch it stall) and or having the balls to bring about the ceasefire.
I do however have a big problem with curtailing the freedom of expression.
Seriously, if the UNP site allows space for people to comment, then it's bound to have a few resident trolls like our buddies dextr and astrocyte. Sometimes people like that (who seriously need to get away from their PCs and get a life) are mildly annoying, but they're quite entertaining. Allowing for anyone and everyone to say what they want, when they want to is what freedom of expression is all about. In standard practice hatespeech and such stuff is not tolerated but over here we've decided to let them be.
Getting to the point, I wanted to see why the UNP website didn't have any anti-UNP comments. The way I saw it, it could be one of several things.
1) Everyone online liked the UNP and thought Ranil was the great leader.
2) The site admin were deleting comments unfavourable to the UNP.
So I decided to test it. Using the name Morquendi, I made a comment on a post about not using abusive language in the comments made on the UNP site. The post has a rant about how the UNP does not engage in mudslinging. (I quoted that part at the start of this post).
This is how my comment went:
In my opinion it would be incorrect to say that the UNP does not engage in mudslinging. While they do resort to personal attacks much less than many of the other groups do, by giving stories like 'PM-CBK Heated Exchange at Cabinet Meeting'' undue prominence on this site the UNP too is resorting to a certain kind of subtle mudslinging. As far as the public is concerned giving prominence to stories that bring out the weaknesses of your opponents is equal to mudslinging.Many of you may believe that this is a lot milder than the stuff I normally write. But that was the point. I just wanted to see what level of criticism the UNP website's admin were prepared to tolerate. So I thought I'd start at the bottom by being mildly critical yet friendly.
Also when UNP members make statements like 'Mahinda Missed Opportunity to Clear Name', again they are resorting to subtle mudslinging. They are not accusing their opponent of anything, but they are insinuating it, and in terms of the impact this has on the audience, there's little difference.
This is why I believe the UNP's attempt to conduct themselves in a proper manner during this election campaign has failed so far, and needs to be a more genuine effort.
When I was done writing, and had hit publish, I got a message saying 'Your comment is awaiting moderation'. So would the moderators make it vanish? Luckily I had made a notepad copy of it so I would know what I wrote (which is why I was able to reproduce it here DUH).
Today when I went online the comment was there on the post, almost. There was a slight hitch. A teeny weeny bit, but perhaps the most important bit, was missing. It had been edited out of the comment.
This was what was missing:
This is why I believe the UNP's attempt to conduct themselves in a proper manner during this election campaign has failed so far, and needs to be a more genuine effort.The admin chose to remove this part. This is the level of critisism that the UNP website won't tolerate. What does this say about their attitude towards the freedom of expression? Does anyone here think they should have removed this? Was this offensive? Was this abuse? Was this hatespeech? If the UNP were to come to power would their media people treat the entire media like this? Would this kind of control expand to cover the print and electronic media as well? Would people who are critical of the UNP be 'deleted'?
The UNP just fell quite a few notches in my standing. What does the future hold for journalists and the free media if people such as those who run the UNP website were to manage the media in Sri Lanka?
Things do promise to get better if Ranil wins, but some things like the freedom enjoyed by the media, just might vanish.
Comments:
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btw my comment above does not mean we have to accept intolerance and curtailment of free speech. we have to actively resist that in whatever way possible and whoever is the perpetrator of censorship. |
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"If the UNP were to come to power would their media people treat the entire media like this? Would this kind of control expand to cover the print and electronic media as well? Would people who are critical of the UNP be 'deleted'?" I think you're extending this a little beyond the scope of reality. It's the website of a political party, not a media outlet. They have a different role and a different responsibility - selling their party and their candidate. In general though, it's sort of understood that a political party isn't about to advertise its deficiencies. If I visit, say, the Liberal Party of Canada's site, I can expect a whole lot of positive spin and absolutely no negativity. It's just expected. But I agree that it's unethical to accept comments and then edit them, especially without some disclaimer stating that possibility. It would probably reflect a little better on them if they removed the commenting ability altogether. A shade less manipulative, at least. |
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# posted by
 : October 01, 2005 11:25 PM |
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At least he's better than the webmaster of PresidentSL.org. .org? A hotmail address as the official email address of the president? |
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# posted by
: October 03, 2005 9:34 AM |
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# posted by
: October 03, 2005 10:01 AM |
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Oh, and do you really blame the UNP website owners for pissing on your face Sanjay? |
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# posted by
: October 03, 2005 7:36 PM |
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# posted by
: October 05, 2005 4:08 AM |
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# posted by
: October 05, 2005 9:31 PM |
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I'm sorry if I have shattered dreams of anyone of you...I just want to give you all a hint about the pathetic efforts of guys like Morquendi to portray themselves as "sophisticated journalists"... |
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# posted by
: October 06, 2005 1:17 PM |
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I don't think Morquendi is a liar. Are you Morq? I'm confused... Please tell me it's not true. |
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# posted by
: October 06, 2005 8:56 PM |
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sittingnut why are you so worrying ? Let Morquendi speak for himself |
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Jini, heard of 'sender lists'? or cellcasting? It is possible to send out one message to more than one person at the same time. I suggest a tech update for you. |
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Since our friend Dextr's been such a loyal fan, I decided to visit his blog today. It's funny, almost an overdose of the single-brain-celled creature we have come to know so well :) |
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morquendi: yes unp is a political party and it's actions should be judged as such. and it's blog policy certainly indicate a fondness for curbing free speech and censorship. people should be aware of that before deciding to vote for them. but that is not the only issue on which people decide to vote. i for one will still vote for them because they are the best available option. anyway this censorship business seems to catching. so called liberal party's blog 'lanka citizen' seems to have decided moderating comments like unp does is not enough so they close off all discussion. when will sri lankan politicians understand the meaning of democracy? |
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# posted by
: October 09, 2005 1:11 AM |
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posted a response as to why blogs are free to delete or moderate comments. Blogs are intrinsicly personal spaces, and the blogger (or organization) has full control over every word that's displayed on their site. Blogs aren't obligated to publish comments in full any more than the Daily Mirror is. Acting like they do displays a fundamental misunderstanding of what a blog is. Post: Blog-Eka? |
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# posted by
: November 25, 2005 12:41 AM |
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Curtailing the freedom of speech or writing is a definite no-no in my list. People just have to exercise responsibility. |
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Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. |
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