Spin doctoring – some successful examples
In chronological order here are some of the best examples of spin doctoring.On June 20 in 2006 GoSL accused that the LTTE of attacking the Somawathi Buddhist temple in Polonaruwa district. It claimed that the attack was thwarted by the troops guarding the temple. This was widely reported by the major international media. A day later the chief priest of the temple himself denied that any such attack took place. This second part of the same news did not receive the same degree of publicity.
On 15 January 2007, after invading an LTTE area in Amparai, the GSL claimed that they found torture chambers like dog kennels and cannabis growing. Extensive pictures were put on its websites. Again the international media was duped in. It turned out the torture chambers are prison cells of normal size and the cannabis growing was indeed carried out by the Sinhala villagers from the adjoining villages. Again this second part of the same news did attract the attention of the media as the first part. On 22 April 2007, GoSL claimed that LTTE was involved in credit card frauds in London. Failing to produce any evidence except a statement by the Sri Lankan Ambassador in UK to implicate the LTTE the story died down. But it was too late for the international media to escape being duped. On 20 May 2007, GoSL claimed that LTTE stole hundreds of thousands of Norwegian passports and sold it to terrorist organizations. International media again took up the story. Two days later Norwegian Government made a public statement denying that there is no basis for this allegation. There are hundreds more examples of successful spin doctoring about events in the Tamil homeland occupied by the Sri Lankan military. When the spin doctoring is about events in the Tamil homeland it is even harder for the international media to verify due to repression of media in these parts controlled by the GoSL. What these examples show is the success of the Sri Lankan spin doctoring industry. It could easily be the most efficient industry within the GoSL.
24 May 2007
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Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
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