The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK may or may not have been beaten up by a government catcher at an official function in New York. He may or may not have resigned. I don’t know because the mainstream media reports nothing to really clarify. There’s basically a media blackout. And it’s not just this.
When the police execute prisoners, it’s routinely reported as they were killed while trying to escape. Recently someone reportedly ran away, with handcuffs on, and drowned in a canal. It beggars belief. You would think that suspects would also stop showing police where they hid weapons and then grabbing them, but according to the media they do this all the time.
I wouldn’t say that Sri Lankan media is censored. I’d say that it’s self-censored. The government has previously employed violence and economic pressure to create this cowed beast that goes crazy for stories about people falling or dying or impossible earthquakes or prostitutes with snakes. Essentially the Daily Mail, without the occasional reporting.
Thankfully there is still some reporting going on via blocked websites, social media and the Sri Lankan grapevine is still strong. The trouble is that in the absence of mainstream media reports, nothing is official. We live in an almost pre-literate environment of hearsay, rumor and the evidence of ones own eyes. Right now the greatest evidence in omission. Some information is definitely missing here.
Twitter and Facebook are not the best platforms for alternative journalism, although they can spread snippets of information.
Blogs however can be a substitute but we need to wait for some strong voices to appear. A platform (curated blogroll) would also be helpful for publicity.