Major stories in the Sinhala and Tamil press: Jun.16 – 22

Signposts the differences and nuances in reporting between Sinhala and Tamil language newspapers.

Over the past week the Sinhala and Tamil press converged in relation to four main stories. The four stories were on the: (i) NPP taking control of the Colombo Municipal Council; (ii) escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel; (iii) increase of the electricity tariffs by 15 percent; and (iv) former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella being accused of selling toxic water as medicine. The Sinhala press exclusively featured three main stories, and they were on the: (i) reported rise in organised crime; (ii) National Tax Week to create awareness about paying taxes; and (iii) reported release of containers without inspection by Sri Lanka Customs. The Tamil press exclusively featured three main stories, and they were on the: (i) excavations at the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna and the launch of the ‘Unextinguishable Flame’ protest; (ii) visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to Sri Lanka; and (iii) formation of coalitions of Tamil political parties to take control of hung local government authorities.