To gain edge for President, state-run

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000514

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT, SA/PD; NSC FOR E.
MILLARD

PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03-23-14
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO PREL CE
SUBJECT: To gain edge for President, state-run
newspapers seemingly fabricate poll results

Refs: Colombo 503, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Two state-run, pro-President
Kumaratunga newspapers appear to have fabricated results
of a recent USAID-funded poll to make it seem that Sri
Lankan voters favored the President over the PM and
distrusted donor countries. In a March 22 courtesy call
with SA DAS Patterson, Minister of Media and
Communications Lakshman Kadirgamar, a close adviser to
the President, told the Ambassador that he knew nothing
about the matter, but would look into it. While
creative interpretation of poll results are not uncommon
in the Sri Lankan press, outright fabrication of this
sort by state-controlled media is relatively rare. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) ARTICLE IN STATE-RUN PRESS: On March 20, the
state-run English-language DAILY NEWS carried a front-
page story headlined "Impressive Freedom Alliance lead
in independent opinion poll." The story was also
printed in DINAMINA, the Sinhala-language sister paper
of the DAILY NEWS, the same day. The article said it
was recapping the main points of a recent poll conducted
by the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA),a local
think-tank. (The results of the U.S.-funded poll were
reviewed in Reftels. USAID funding was not mentioned in
the March 20 article.) In discussing the poll, the
article stated the following:

-- That 52 percent of those polled felt that President
Kumaratunga was more honest, compared to 33 percent of
people who rated Prime Minister Wickremesinghe higher in
this regard;
-- That 65 percent of poll respondents felt Sinhalese
Buddhists were "under threat from the church and donor
nations";
-- That 69 percent of people polled felt "some external
powers were diluting the culture of the Sinhalese"; and,
-- That 64 percent felt "the chances of donor nations
'pushing' their culture is very high."


3. (C) GROSS FABRICATION: While the CPA poll covered
various topics, it did not/not include any questions on
the honesty of the country's leaders, possible cultural
dilution, or about "the church and donor nations," etc.
Dr. P. Saravanamuttu, the executive director of CPA,
called Ambassador March 22 to inform him that the above
points were complete fabrications and had not been
included in the poll. Saravanamuttu later drafted a
letter to the editor of the DAILY NEWS pointing out that
the article had "grossly fabricated" the survey's
results, and stating: "The inclusion of such material
and the presentation of it as being part of the CPA
survey is contemptible and unpardonable. It smacks of
the worst forms of shoddy journalism. This is a serious
breach of media ethics and responsibility by any
standard." In response, the DAILY NEWS published an
article on March 23 reprinting portions of
Saravanamuttu's letter, but wrapping up with an editor's
note that refuted the allegations, stating: "This
report was based on a report sent to the DAILY NEWS by
CPA. It is regrettable that the CPA is not completely
aware of all the documents sent to the DAILY NEWS from
his institution. We stand by our report."


4. (C) MEDIA MINISTER'S REACTION: In a March 22
meeting with Media and Communications Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar, Ambassador brought up the fact that the
DAILY NEWS article contained erroneous information.
Kadirgamar reacted in a flabbergasted manner,
immediately seizing his desk telephone to call Tilak
Ranaviraja, the Secretary of the Media Ministry. When
he was unable to immediately reach Ranaviraja,
Kadirgamar promised that he would get back to the
Ambassador about the matter and see to it that a
correction was printed if necessary. Ambassador sent a
copy of the CPA poll to Kadirgamar on March 23.


5. (C) COMMENT: In the almost "anything goes"
atmosphere of Sri Lankan politics, creative
interpretation of poll results is not an uncommon
phenomenon in the Sri Lankan press. That said,
seemingly outright fabrication of this sort by state-
controlled media is relatively rare and quite shocking.
So far, the UNP has not made a political football of the
matter, though it has on many occasions during the
campaign accused the state-run media of being biased in
favor of the President and her party. Given the
foundation the UNP has laid, it is possible that it
could gain some political mileage by attacking the
President and her party on the issue of the fabrication
of the poll results. The UNP may not wish to draw
attention to the issue, however, since the poll shows
the President's alliance in a good position. END
COMMENT.


6. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD