The relationship between the government and universities is an unbreakable one, though of course academic autonomy is well recognized. Mass media plays a very important role in preventing conflict between academia and the government machinery. Mass media either with government involvement or private sector involvement exerts a considerable influence on all sectors and strata of society, Secretary Media and Information Ministry Charitha Herath said recently.
He was addressing the function held at the University of Kelaniya to award Diplomas to students who had successfully followed a course in Mass Media. Continuing, Herath said mass media which has become a power in contemporary society did not receive the attention of the universities, some years back. But the University of Kelaniya was a forerunner in this sector starting a department in the campus and bringing in internationally recognized academics like Professor Wimal Dissanayake from the 1970s.
In the modern day society there are two important forces as seen by a large section of the public. One is knowledge and the other is power, ever changing trends have widened it to money, power, technology and knowledge and those who are responsible for the management of our mass media should ensure that none of these forces are too strong in the media in our country. It was in the United Kingdom that mass media became one of the most powerful sectors, becoming known as the Fourth Estate alongside the legislature, the House of the Common and Lords judiciary, and the Church.
Therefore the mass media in a democratic society as ours has the power and the right to silence some powers when they act incorrectly and has to play the role of safeguarding the rights and privileges of the people at large, Herath also said.