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A video of group of employees of the Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation hooting and engaging in a protest has been widely circulated on social media since 21st. Many people were curious about to whom this protest was directed at, and misleading comments about this video were circulatiing, so we decided to conduct a fact check regarding it.
Social Media Posts :
A video of the event was posted on social media, stating, “National Television employees hoot and chase the chairman back to revival”. (“පුනරුදය ඉස්මුරුත්තාවට ආපසු ජාතික රූපවාහිනී සේවකයින් සභාපතිවරයාව හූ කියා පන්නා දමති”)
Below is a post that was shared regarding it.
The same video was shared on Facebook, stating that this video was an instance of “Nalinda’s boss being chased away for coming drunk and attacking employees”. (“බීමත්ව පැමිණ සේවකයන්ට පහර දීමට ගිය නලින්දගේ රූපවාහිනි ලොක්කට හූ තබා පන්නයි”)
Below is a post shared regarding that.
This is how we took steps to investigate whether the Sri Lanka Rupawahini Cooperation employees has ousted the Television Chairman.
Fact Check :
As the two versions reported the video as an instance of employees of the National Television beating up the ‘chairman’ and the ‘boss’, many people speculated that the incident referred to here was related to Gihan de Silva, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation.
Information officer, National Television Corporation
For this reason, we contacted the Information Officer and Director (Channel Eye) of the National Television Corporation, Mr. Sanjaya Indrakumara, to inquire about the accuracy of this.
He stated that the video circulating on social media does not show a protest by employees of the National Television Corporation against its Chairman Gihan de Silva, but rather against the officer serving as its Deputy Director General (Administration).
He clarified that the protest was due to many administrative problems that occurred under her leadership, and that the news that a management official had drunkenly assaulted an employee was false.
Ministry of Mass Media
We contacted the media secretary of the Deputy Minister of Mass Media, Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, by telephone.
When we inquired, he stated that this protest was not directed at the Chairman of the National Television Corporation, but at the Director who holds the position of Deputy Director General (Administration), who was appointed last February.
He pointed out that television employees have cited issues such as the way employees are addressed by her and administrative problems as the reasons for this.
We also inquired about the person entering the vehicle as shown in the video at that time, and the Media Secretary pointed out that the Director General of the National Television Corporation also left with her for her security.
Media Reports
However, some media outlets reported that this protest was directed at both the Director General and the Deputy Director General.
Similarly, the mainstream media outlets had reported on this matter and stated that this protest was directed at Ms. Thanuja Ariyaratne, who was the Deputy Director General of the Sri Lanka Television Corporation, and that she had been removed from that position.
Furthermore, the employees have requested the administration on numerous occasions to remove her from the position. Neth News has reported that several factors led to this, including using political power, and using the power of Director General and treating employees in a very degrading manner.
The news report states that a group of employees have met with Rupawahini Chairman Gihan de Silva and informed him that they cannot work with the Deputy Director General and that she should be removed, but no proper response has been received from the Chairman. It is reported that a group of television employees had then raided the chairman’s room, and that Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, who arrived there on the employees’ notice, had informed the chairman to immediately remove the relevant Deputy Director General. Archived Link
Presidential Media Division
The protest at the Sri Lanka Television Corporation was sparked by dissatisfaction among employees regarding the officer serving as the Deputy Director General (Administration) of the institution. The employees have demanded that the officer in question be removed immediately.
However, they report that the Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media also intervened in this situation and the situation was brought under control with an agreement to provide a solution within two weeks.
They further pointed out that the statement circulating on social media that the employee protest at the television premises was launched against the current chairman is false, and the employees have now agreed to discuss this incident further with the Minister.
Employees of the Television Corporation
Several employees of the Rupawahini Corporation were also asked about this and they confirmed that the protest by the Rupawahini employees was not against its chairman but against one of its administrative deputy director generals. They also confirmed that it was not an incident that occured due to chairman or any other senior official drunkenly assaulting the employees, and that this protest was not directed at the director.
Accordingly, it can be said that this is a protest directed at a Deputy Director General, and the relevant parties state that no protest was directed at the Director.
Also read : ජනමාධ්ය ඇමතිගේ බැනවැදීම් නිසා රූපවාහිනීයේ සභාපති සෙනේෂ් ඉල්ලා අස්වූ බවට පුවත් වාර්තා ?
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Conclusion :
Our investigation shows that the videos posted on social media on 21st showcasing a protest by the employees of the Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation stating the the ‘chariman was kicked out’ and that he ‘assaulated the employees’ are misleading. The video shows a protest directed at the Deputy Director General of Administration of the Sri Lanka Television Corporation. Also, the relevant parties confirmed that the protest was not due to any officer drunkenly assaulting the employees.
Title:Did the Rupawahini employees kicked out its chairman ?
Fact Check By: Pavithra SandamaliResult: Misleading
