Category Archives: Media

When Worlds Collide #114: Welcome to UPF – United Planet of Football!

Posted on 11 July 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today newspaper on 11 July 2014 Last time the FIFA World Cup was approaching its climax in mid July 2010, I did my bit for interstellar cooperation (or conquest). If … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, ICT, Media, Social Media, Telecommunications, Television | Tagged 1962 World Cup in Chile, alien planning to invade the Earth, Arthur C Clarke, Brazil, couch potatoes, Estádio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Facebook, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), FIFA World Cup, geostationary communications satellites, How the World Was One, instant telecommunications, lanetary scale stadium, live broadcasts, mobile phones, Narrowband Internet, Olympics, Planet Football, social media, Twitter, Uruguay 1930, World Cup 2014 | Leave a comment

When Worlds Collide #113: Outpacing Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean: Are we ready?

Posted on 4 July 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today newspaper on 4 July 2014 Timely warnings about on-coming disasters can literally save lives – provided the word reaches those at risk. And they know what to do, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Communicating Development, Disaster, Disaster Communication, ICT, Indian Ocean, Media, Public information, Social Media, Sri Lanka, Telecommunications, Tsunami | Tagged cell broadcasting, Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), Dialog, Disaster early warnings, Dr Rohan Samarajiva, Dr Stuart Weinstein, Facebook, global public goods, Good communications, Google Public Alerts, Indian Ocean tsunami 2004, IOC-UNESCO, LIRNEasia, LIRNEasia Disaster Risk Reduction Lecture, mobile phones, ndian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC), Real-time Tsunami Reporting Systems (DARTs), Sarvodaya, seismic waves, SMS alerting, The Long Last Mile, Tsunami Warning Systems, tsunami waves, Twitter | Leave a comment

When Worlds Collide #112: Social Media ‘Candles’ for Mainstream Media Blackouts

Posted on 20 June 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today newspaper on 20 June 2014 What is the best way to manage public information in times of national crises – whether disasters, epidemics or conflict? All governments face this … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Current Affairs, Disaster, Disaster Communication, History, Humanitarianism, ICT, Journalism, Media, Media freedom, Peace & Conflict, Public information, Public perceptions, Religion, Social Media, Sri Lanka, Telecommunications | Tagged @AmanthaP, @dinidu, @Dinoukc, @InduNan, @Nimilamalee, @tingilye, Aluthgama, Amantha Perera, ‘knowledge hub’ of Asia, ‘Stand Against Racism', Beruwala, Black July of 1983, Bradman Weerakoon, conflict, Dharga Town, disasters, epidemics, Facebook, First Post, Global Village, H R Premaratne, ICTs, information and communication technologies (ICTs), Information control, IT literacy, Jaffna, memes, Nagadeepa temple, Rajan Hoole, Sanjana Hattotuwa, Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, social media, Tsunami, Twitter, Voltaire | Leave a comment

When Worlds Collide #111: Science Journalism for Better Governance

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today newspaper on 13 June 2014 Years ago, as a young science journalist working for Asia Technology magazine of Hong Kong, I was shown around Pakistan’s space agency SUPARCO premises … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Communicating Development, Environment, Environmental policy, Journalism, Media, Poverty, Public health, Public information, Public policy, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Sustainable Development | Tagged 'policy-based evidence', Accelerated Mahaweli River Development programme, accountable government, Asia Technology magazine, ‘Charismatic mega-science’, Benazir Bhutto, Big Agro, Big Government, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Coordinating Secretariat for Science, critical cheer-leaders, David Dickson, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Good governance, Mahaweli River programme, nuclear energy, Pakistan’s space agency, pharmaceutical drugs, Pokhran, Ranjit Devraj, S&T for global development, SciDev.Net, Science and Development Network, science communication, Science journalism, SUPARCO, Technology and Innovation (COSTI) | 2 Comments

When Worlds Collide #110: Saluting unknown ‘Tank Man’ 25 Years Later

Posted on 6 June 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today newspaper on 6 June 2014 This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Chinese government’s brutal crackdown on protesting students at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. In our media saturated world, … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, History, Human Rights, Journalism, Media, Media freedom, Peace & Conflict, Television | Tagged Anders Østergaard, Arthur Tsang Hin Wah, “Unknown Rebel”, Beijing’, Berlin Wall, Burma, Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country, Charlie Cole, China, Cold War, Deng Xiaoping, Eastern Europe, Jeff Widener, Jiang Zemin, Man vs. Chinese tank, Middle East, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nepal, People’s Liberation Army, photojournalism, Pico Iyer, Stuart Franklin, Tank Man, Tiananmen Square, TIME magazine, World Wide Web | Leave a comment

When Worlds Collide #105: Exploring Twentieth Century Time Capsules with British Pathé

Posted on 2 May 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today broadsheet newspaper on 2 May 2014 Time travel is not a technological possibility – at least not yet. Right now, we can travel back and forth in time only in … Continue reading →

Posted in Archives, Broadcasting, Ceylon, cinema, Culture, Documentary Film, Documentary films, Generations, History, Media, Movies, Photography, Sri Lanka, Television | Tagged 24/7 TV news, British Pathé, Ceylon, Ceylon Gains Independence (1948), Ceylon malaria epidemic of 1934-35, Ceylon Tea, First World War, how to drape a saree, Huntley Film Archives, Kandy peraheras, Lipton's Tea, major floods, malaria, mosquito menace, Newsreel archive, Newsreels, old Ceylon, old Ceylon films, Open Archive, religious festivals, royal visits, rubber, Second World War, Sri Lanka Government Film Unit (GFU), Suriya Mal movement, tea and rubber plantations, The War Against Malaria, Time travel, YouTube | 1 Comment

When Worlds Collide #98: Kalpana Sharma: Journalism that Cares

Posted on 21 February 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today broadsheet newspaper on 21 February 2014 Plain good journalism does not need any more labels. Having been associated with the world of public interest journalism for over two decades in … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Development, Disaster, Gender based violence, Journalism, Media, Public health, South Asia, Sustainable Development, Urban issues, Women's Rights | Tagged ‘other India’, Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book, conflict zones, corporatised media, Deep Divide film, Dharavi slum, disasters, farmer suicides, female infanticide, Frederick Noronha, global poverty line, good journalism, Himmat magazine, India, Indian Express, InfochangeIndia.org, journalist Kalpana Sharma, Mumbai, Nepal, Panos South Asia, patriarchy, public interest journalism, R M Lala, Rajmohan Gandhi, Rediscovering Dharavi, religious fundamentalism, Slumdog Millionaire, Sri Lanka, The Hindu newspaper, The Hoot, The Other Half column, Times of India, under-reported stories, Vijitha Yapa | 1 Comment

When Worlds Collide #96: Before Malala came Meena…

Posted on 17 January 2014 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today broadsheet newspaper on 17 January 2014 Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager turned activist, was a key newsmaker of 2013. Having survived an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen in October 2012, … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Cartoons, Communicating Development, Creative Writing, Culture, Education, Film making, Gender based violence, Innovation, Media, Movies, Poverty, Public health, South Asia, Sustainable Development, Television, Women's Rights, Youth | Tagged access to education, Bangladesh, Bhutan, child health and survival, child labour, child survival and development, Christian Clark, early marriage, Fil Cartoons of Manila, gender equity, Hanna-Barbera animation studio, HIV/AIDS, India, Malala and Meena, Malala Yousafzai, Maldives, Meena, Meena animation, Meena cartoon, Meena Communication Initiative (MCI), Meena: Count Your Chickens, Mithu, Neill Mckee, Nepal, Pakistan, Ram Mohan, rights of the child, SAARC Year of Girl Child, sanitation, Sara, Sesame Street, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Taliban, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Unicef | 5 Comments

When Worlds Collide #94: Nelson Mandela as a Great Communicator

Posted on 8 December 2013 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today Sunday broadsheet newspaper on 8 December 2013 Nelson Mandela is no more. The world is exceptionally united in saluting the iconic fighter for democracy, freedom and equality for all humans. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Communicating Development, Current Affairs, Documentary films, History, Journalism, Media, Movies, Poverty, Television | Tagged "46664", 1995 Rugby World Cup, African National Congress (ANC), ‘long walk to freedom’, Bill Gates, Bono, Broadcast television, Clint Eastwood, colour, Danny Schechter, dela: Long Walk to Freedom, democracy, equality, Fidel Castro, freedom, gender, HIV-positive babies, independent media, Invictus, Jimmy Carter, Madiba, Madiba A to Z, Mandela quotes, Media Mandela, Morgan Freeman, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela in His Own Words, poverty, President Mandela, race, Roger Thurow, South Africa, the new Hollywood film Mandela, the poor, UN headquarters, Vaclav Havel, Yasser Arafat | 2 Comments

When Worlds Collide #92: When Mafia Goes ‘Green’, Nobody is Safe!

Posted on 24 November 2013 by Nalaka Gunawardene

Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today Sunday broadsheet newspaper on 24 November 2013 Twenty years ago, Italian police and Customs officials going after narcotics were considered ‘heroic’ while those investigating any environmental crimes were seen as ‘boy … Continue reading →

Posted in Business & Commerce, Disaster, Environment, Environmental management, Environmental policy, Green Economy, Media, Public health, Sustainable Development, Urban issues, Waste | Tagged Anti-mafia Commission, Antonio Pergolizzi, ‘ecomafie’, “Land of bonfires”, China, Christine MacDonald, Dr Antonio Giordano, Eastern Europe, ecomafia, Ermete Realacci, Franco Robert, Greenaccord, Greenaccord International Media Forum, Horn of Africa, Legambiente, Naples, The Camorra, Toxic waste, Toxic waste mafia, transparency | 1 Comment

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Category Archives: Media

When Worlds Collide #111: Science Journalism for Better Governance

When Worlds Collide #110: Saluting unknown ‘Tank Man’ 25 Years Later

When Worlds Collide #105: Exploring Twentieth Century Time Capsules with British Pathé

When Worlds Collide #98: Kalpana Sharma: Journalism that Cares

When Worlds Collide #96: Before Malala came Meena…

When Worlds Collide #94: Nelson Mandela as a Great Communicator

When Worlds Collide #92: When Mafia Goes ‘Green’, Nobody is Safe!

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