The president felicitates Edmund Ranasinghe. Says that media outlets should adhere to the country's legal framework or enter into international agreements.

October 04, 2023

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that all media outlets, including social media, should engage in a discussion regarding whether to enter into international agreements or adhere to the respective country’s legal framework.

The President was speaking at the celebration of veteran media personality Edmund Ranasinghe at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

He was of the view that the advent of social media has led to a situation where some entities publish content according to their own whims, circumventing established regulations, and thus emphasised that media in any country must operate within the framework of its own laws.

“The future of media art will undoubtedly unfold in the coming two or three years, and expertise in this domain may emerge not just from New York but also from Sri Lanka”, President Wickremesinghe said.

This event marked the inauguration of a program initiated by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to pay tribute to senior journalists who have made significant contributions to the field of journalism in the country.

In 1977, when I initially ran for office in the Biyagama Constituency, I sought out a skilled journalist to write an article for me. My father promptly recommended Edmund Ranasinghe, who subsequently penned my first political article. I held onto it until last year, but regrettably, I no longer possess it. During my father’s tenure as the Chairman of Lake House, Mr. Edmund Ranasinghe served admirably as the Editor of newspapers such as Silumina and Dinamina. Piyasena Nishanka and M.A. Silva, along with Martin Wickramasinghe, received recognition from senior journalists and writers. Consequently, Mr. Ranasinghe possesses substantial experience in both the media landscape that existed before independence and the one that emerged thereafter.