It is reported that the media minister Bandula Gunawardena has told the Rupawahini chairman to remove the news director of the television, Tilak Mahagamage, with immediate effect, alleging that the quantity of his news is less in the news broadcast. Sri Lanka Latest News
A spokesman for the television trade union told Lankasara that this could be considered as one of the main opportunities in the operation that has been launched so far to consolidate the power of the television by petty politics due to the turmoil that has been created in the government.
Yesterday, the Chariman of the Rupawahini corporation W. B. Ganegala summoned the TV news director Tilak Mahagamage and informed him the minister wants to remove him from the post of news director.
The reason given is that the minister’s visits to many places are not properly covered by television and broadcast in news broadcasts.
But the trade unions who claim that the minister’s news is being broadcast on television in sufficient quantity and that this minister is still lobbying for air time that no other minister has received, say that after the removal of Tilak Mahagamage, the minister was asked to appoint person as news director because he was a political supporter of Pohottuwa. He was a deputy director who was displeased and removed from there.
Inside sources say that Tilak Mahagamage, who was a dedicated journalist with almost three decades of experience in television, became the director of television news after facing an interview conducted in February and the disciple of the television minister who appeared for that interview and failed.
A television union spokesman said that due to the hard work of the news director, who worked without any charges, television news has reached a certain quality, and that they are discussing the measures they will take as trade unions in relation to this illegal political transfer.
