The International Association of Tamil Journalists (IATAJ) is holding a conference in London, looking at the role of the media on October 11 in London.
The conference, entitled “The media in post war Sri Lanka: supporting democratisation in the era of the ‘War on Terrorism’”, aims to “to generate an exchange of ideas and insights between academics and professionals on the role of media for counteracting the delegitimisation of democratic process in post- war Sri Lanka”, a media communiqué said.
Journalists, academics and activists from around the world will participate in the conference, including award-winning journalist JS Tissanayagam, Jaffna university lecturer Guruparan Kumaravadivel, Vino Kanapathipillai, lecturer in international relations at SOAS, independent journalist Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Tamil Guardian co-editor Mario Arulthas, Dr.Ibrahim Sega Shaw, a lecturer in media, human rights and politics at Northumbria University, Prof. Rune Ottosen, professor in journalism at Oslo university, Dr Jude Lal Fernando of Trinity University, Dublin, and the head of the Centre for Policy Analysis Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu.
The conference will be held at West London University in Ealing.
"It is a unique opportunity to discuss the democratisation process in the post war Sri Lanka. We are bringing in the subject matter experts, media rights activists, journalists from all around the world to find measures to overcome the challenges," an IATAJ official told the Tamil Guardian.