{"id":10408,"date":"2023-08-12T09:22:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=10408"},"modified":"2023-08-12T09:22:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:22:56","slug":"ms-krishni-kanthasami-making-a-mark-in-sri-lankan-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fmetu.org\/?p=10408","title":{"rendered":"Ms. Krishni Kanthasami Making A Mark in Sri Lankan Media!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a country like Sri Lanka, journalism has always been a compelling and challenging field but had for years been\u00a0dominated by men<\/a>. In the 1950s, the first female journalists in Sri Lanka were employed by English-language publications.<\/p>\n

If being a female journalist in Sri Lanka was hard enough on its own, then being a minority Tamil woman in the media was even harder. Krishni Kanthasamy Ifham can attest to this.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Having embarked on her career as a journalist right in the middle of Sri Lanka\u2019s civil war, Kanthasamy has completed 25 challenging years in local media. Despite the tumultuous context within which she started work, Kanthasamy Ifham was determined to do her best, traveling across the country to report on the conflict.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Kanthasamy Ifham hadn\u2019t originally planned to be a journalist; her ambition had been to follow in her father\u2019s footsteps and become a police officer. In fact, she was close to realising that dream, she said, when her parents raised concerns for her safety, in view of the volatile political and social situation in Sri Lanka at the time. Kanthasamy Ifham recalls being devastated and confused: \u201cI was so disappointed and couldn\u2019t understand at the time why this dream was [being] taken away from me,\u201d she told Roar\u00a0<\/em>Media.<\/p>\n

However, on the heels of this disappointment came a new opportunity. A\u00a0Sunday Observer<\/em>\u00a0advertisement about a journalism diploma caught her eye, and Kanthasamy decided to enrol. A year later, with her diploma in hand, she applied for a position as a trainee journalist at\u00a0Virakesari<\/em><\/a>, Sri Lanka\u2019s leading Tamil-language newspaper at the time, along with six other women. What Kanthasamy Ifham didn\u2019t realise then, was that\u00a0Virakesari<\/em>\u00a0had never hired female trainee journalists before \u2014 which made the employment of these seven women a significant development.<\/p>\n

Having embarked on her career as a journalist right in the middle of Sri Lanka\u2019s civil war, Kanthasamy Ifham has completed 25 challenging years in local media. Image via Krishni Kanthasamy<\/em><\/p>\n

In the years that followed, Kanthasamy Ifham would cover stories relating to crime and security, including those on hostages, prisoners, the disappeared and their families, political unrest, general elections, and a range of other political developments. She believes that she may have been one of the first Tamil women to report on some of these issues.<\/p>\n

The major war-related incident Kanthasamy Ifham had to cover was the 31 January\u00a01996 Central Bank bombing<\/a>. The young reporter arrived at a brutal, violent scene, but she tried her best to not let it deter her. \u201cI was so young, I had never seen blood like that. It was jarring, but I made up my mind that I would not let that bother me,\u201d she told\u00a0Roar<\/em>, adding, \u201cIt was important to me to be able to tell the truth and make the public aware as much as possible about what our country was experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kanthasamy Ifham founded the\u00a0Tamil Speaking Women Journalists Organisation<\/a>\u00a0in 2006 to support Tamil women in media who were facing harassment and intimidation, as her work came with significant risks. In 2009, a month after the end of the civil war, Kanthasamy Ifham was\u00a0abducted<\/a>\u00a0on the outskirts of Colombo, in a manner that came to be remembered as the \u2018white van\u2019 incident<\/a>. She was interrogated and, fortunately, later released in Kandy. Though this event shook her, Kanthasamy Ifham has many memories of the experiences that made her the journalist she is today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Over the years, the stories Kanthasamy has covered have changed, but people have remained at the center of her journalism.\u00a0 She was also the first Tamil woman to win the best journalist award three years in a row from the Sri Lanka Press Institute. Image via Krisni\u00a0 \u00a0Kanthasamy<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One time, she remembers, she had been attending a function when she was suddenly called upon to report on an incident involving the killing of key LTTE members. She left immediately, arriving at a northern village, clad in saree and high-heeled shoes. She recalls how villagers, assuming she was a judge, had made way for her to enter the jungle where the killings had taken place. \u201cIf they only knew I was a journalist!\u201d she said. Kanthasamy Ifham also encountered frequent gender bias; sometimes, when police came in search of a \u201cKrishni Kanthasamy\u201d, they expected to find a man.<\/p>\n

None of this would get her down, however. She soon developed a positive reputation: \u201cI was always the first on the scene, [even if] it was a bomb blast or suicide bombing.\u201d Her editors would use her as an example to encourage more women at the newspaper\u2019s office to take up challenging stories: \u201cIf Krishni can do it, then so can you,\u201d they would say.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over the years, the stories Kanthasamy Ifham has covered have changed,\u00a0but people have remained at the center of her journalism<\/a>.\u00a0 She was also the first Tamil\u00a0woman to win the best journalist award<\/a>\u00a0three years in a row from the Sri Lanka Press Institute.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the journalism landscape today, Kanthasamy Ifham said she feels that it certainly has improved for women. There are far more female journalists whose voices are more frequently represented in the media, she said, compared to a decade ago. Advancements in technology have also made reporting, editing, archiving, and publishing far more efficient and accessible.<\/p>\n

Women like Kanthasamy Ifham have paved the way for journalists, especially those from minority or marginalised communities. Yet, despite her immense contribution to journalism as a woman, a Tamil, and a Sri Lankan, she says she is still learning, still open to collaboration with young people, and still looking forward to ways in which she can contribute to her field.<\/p>\n

Finally, She was elected as President of the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union, Sri Lanka on October 31st<\/sup>, 2022.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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