Groundviews Internship Opportunities

Basic
role and responsibilities

• Demonstrable commitment to the values, principles and objectives of the Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CPA) as set out in its mandate and founding documents
(http://www.cpalanka.org).
• Very good knowledge of written and spoken English. Working knowledge of Sinhala or Tamil
an added advantage, but not essential.
• Experience in Internet research, including accessing legal authorities and sources related to
freedom of expression online in other countries.
• Willing to travel around the country and stay in basic accommodation.
• While based in the Media Unit conduct research and contribute actively on, inter alia:
1. Issues related to governance, human rights, media freedom, democracy and
peacebuilding Groundviews and the work of CPA are anchored to.
2. Investigative reports on socio-‐political, cultural and religious issues
3. Multimedia productions that can be featured on the site, including photo essays,
slideshows, mixed media productions, podcasts, short form video and creative writing
based on contemporary realities
4. Content analysis of Groundviews, including commentary
5. Contribute to the marketing of content on Groundviews through the curation of social
media platforms and other means
6. Incorporate aspects of the site’s raison d’etre and published content into larger research
projects
• Ability to work across various Units of the organisation as the need arises
• Undertake any other research, litigation or organisational responsibility as may be assigned
from time to time by the Media Unit.

Interns are encouraged to bring their own audio-‐visual gear and computing equipment. CPA will
provide,

• A desk with wifi / wired connections to broadband internet
• A telephone
• Unhindered Internet access for the duration of the study
• Depending on the nature of the study, access to GV’s backend including access to commentary
• Access to 24” iMac with digital production tools

CPA is not in a position to pay a stipend or cover any costs association with airfare and
accommodation.

Interns are strongly encouraged to write to the editors of Groundviews with a project proposal
and secure adequate funding before their sojourn in Sri Lanka.

Groundviews Internships 1
2010 -‐ 2011
Groundviews overview

Short description of the site
Sri Lanka's first and award winning citizens journalism website uses a range of literary styles and
media -‐ from prose and poetry to satire, photos, podcasts and video to amplify critical
perspectives on culture, humanitarianism, media freedom, human rights, peace and democratic
governance.

Long description of the site
Groundviews was launched in November 2006 and is the first citizen journalism website in Sri
Lanka.

The central idea was to use a blog to publish compelling content in the form of text, audio, video
and photos in English, Sinhala and Tamil. The strategy was to raise awareness of the blog virally.
Key authors were asked to contribute pithy and provocative articles that pushed the boundaries
of polity and traditional media and forced readers to think outside their comfort zones. Measures
were taken to register the site outside of Sri Lanka in light of the repressive regime in the country
that could take steps to block the website. The target audience of the site were identified as Sri
Lankan policymakers based in Colombo, traditional media and journalists, civil society actors,
human rights activists as well as 2nd and 3rd generation diaspora (youth).

Fortnightly email updates on new content are sent to over 9,000 email addresses of key local and
international civil society organisations, human rights activists and journalists. Detailed
guidelines governing the expression and publication of content on the site, the first on any online
media website in Sri Lanka, were drawn up at the time of the site’s launch. These guidelines
allowed for progressive communication on highly contentious and emotional issues. Given the
huge erosion of human rights and the culture of abductions and murder, the safety of
contributors was secured to the extent possible by anonymous postings that are editorially
vetted.

Given the unprecedented violence directed against independent traditional print and electronic
media, the Internet and web became the primary means through which civil society found
expression during the years of heightened war in Sri Lanka. Groundviews now gets around 2,250
pageviews a day. In December 2007 the site was awarded an Award of Excellence in New
Communications from the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) based in Boston.
"Groundviews exemplifies the mission of this awards program: the successful and innovative use
of new communications solutions and social media practices to enhance communications and
relationships" commented Mike Manuel, SNCR Best Practices Committee Chairman (see
http://www.groundviews.org/2007/12/05/groundviews-‐wins-‐2007-‐award-‐of-‐excellence-‐in-‐
new-‐communications-‐from-‐society-‐for-‐new-‐communications-‐research/). Groundviews is
currently referenced on 57 other blogs globally and has a Technorati
(http://www.technorati.com) rank of 91,856 out of the over 70 million blogs Technorati indexes
and ranks. Further, Groundviews is the only citizen journalism website in Sri Lanka to be directly
indexed on Google News (http://news.google.com) and ranked Number 1 on Google itself by
keyword. Articles on the site are regularly republished in other local media, including media
websites such as InfoLanka News, Tamil Canadian and Tamilnet. These articles have exposed
rights abuses, the absence of ethics in traditional media and the growing democratic deficit in Sri
Lanka. Leading journalists and civil society activists have sent in content to be featured on the
site and we are the only website in Sri Lanka that regularly features human interest stories from
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees from the embattled regions of the country.

The respect for and recognition of for insightful, sui generis and courageous content on the site is
well established amongst key stakeholders in media, polity and society in Sri Lanka.

2010 -‐ 2011
Important Milestones
1. In December 2007 the site was awarded an Award of Excellence in New Communications
from the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) based in Boston
2. "For ongoing analysis of the conflict, the citizen journalism site groundviews.org provides
interesting and often tragic reporting” says the renowned press freedom organisation
Freedom House of Groundviews on its blog
(http://blog.freedomhouse.org/weblog/2008/02/weekly-‐governan.html).
3. Publication of Winning the War, Winning the Peace, an article by Dayan Jayatilleke, Sri
Lanka’s hawkish Representative to the United Nations in Geneva in July 2008. Dayan
subsequently became one of the best read and most commented on authors on Groundviews.
His engagement on the site with critical commentary was the ONLY example, in any media
local or international, of a highly placed official of the Rajapakse regime engaging in debates
with the public on issues related to human rights, war crimes, genocide, governance and
humanitarian aid.
4. In March 2009, the widow of Lasantha Wickremetunge (the most senior journalist to be
assassinated in Sri Lanka in January 2008) wrote in desperation to Groundviews to publish a
letter to the Inspector General of Police on the death of her husband. Groundviews was told
that no newspaper in Sri Lanka was willing to carry this letter in full. See
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/03/26/is-‐the-‐president-‐hiding-‐lasantha-‐
wickremetunges-‐killers
5. Groundviews was the only voice to critique a reference from Wikipedia used by the Sunday
Times, a leading newspaper, to buttress a case for the alleged pro-‐LTTE bias of Canadian
Liberal MP Bob Rae, deported from Sri Lanka after first being issued a visa to enter. It is now
used by journalism schools in Sri Lanka as a case study in the study of online sourcing. See
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/06/14/bob-‐rae-‐the-‐sunday-‐times-‐and-‐wikipedia
6. In one of the most under-‐reporting yet compelling humanitarian news in post-‐war Sri Lanka,
Groundviews was the first and ONLY media site to report on the flooding in IDP camps
recently. We also published the first images, taken secretively from a mobile phone, of the
devastation on account of the flooding in the IDP camps – images the government of Sri
Lanka does not want the world to see. See the following stories for details of coverage and
comparisons with mainstream media:

• http://www.groundviews.org/2009/08/14/breaking-‐news-‐idps-‐in-‐zone-‐3-‐and-‐4-‐in-‐
menik-‐camp-‐affected-‐by-‐flooding/
• http://www.groundviews.org/2009/08/15/first-‐images-‐the-‐flooding-‐in-‐menik-‐camp-‐
and-‐the-‐increasingly-‐dire-‐situation-‐for-‐idps
• http://www.groundviews.org/2009/08/16/update-‐on-‐menik-‐camp-‐flooding-‐more-‐
images-‐and-‐reports-‐from-‐the-‐ground
• http://www.groundviews.org/2009/08/18/a-‐first-‐hand-‐perspective-‐of-‐sri-‐lankas-‐
largest-‐idp-‐camp-‐are-‐they-‐really-‐our-‐people

This groundbreaking content was republished in NYT and the BBC, as well as other local and
international media sites.
7. The creation of Banyan News Reporters, a device to encourage a number of authors to use
well written satire to interrogate issues related to corruption, war crimes, impunity,
censorship, civilian displacement, abductions, torture, extra-‐judicial killings, human rights
violations, "national security" and humanitarian aid. It is the ONLY example of satire used in
the pursuit of peacebuilding, and now has a cult following with some article republished in
mainstream media. See,
• http://www.groundviews.org/author/banyan-‐news-‐reporters/
• http://www.groundviews.org/2009/03/26/bridging-‐comedy-‐and-‐conscience/

Why Groundviews is unique in Sri Lanka
• There is no other comparable citizen journalism site in Sri Lanka. Our reach is both local and
global, and our content is now on the radar of key policy makers, government, the diplomatic
community, bilateral and multilateral donors and the UN.

2010 -‐ 2011
• There is no other media website in Sri Lanka that is mobile / PDA friendly, with access
through these devices as easy as reading the content from a browser on a PC.

• There is no other media website that uses a combination of prose, poetry, satire, photography
and video to flag issues that are critical to peacebuilding, human rights and democratic
governance in Sri Lanka.

• The website is a catalyst for progressive debate on highly contentious issues. The editorial
framework for commentary excludes vicious and vituperative input, thereby maintain a
standard of engagement that encourages the respect of difference and the diversity of
opinion. This makes the site appealing to a broad constituency ranging from government to
NGOs, from domestic voices to those in the diaspora, from youth to elder statespersons and
diplomats and importantly, those from every community and ethnic group in Sri Lanka.

Accolades and recognition
Groundviews sets the bar for web based citizen journalism in Sri Lanka. It has demonstrated by
example that new and web media can serve as vital mechanisms for investigative reporting and
dissent even in a context where traditional media is censored and violently curtailed. Renowned
poets, writer, activists, youth leaders, politicians, senior diplomats of the Rajapakse government,
a previous President of Sri Lanka, academics and others have written well over 1,500 articles
that have collectively generated hundreds of thousands of reader generated comments.

• “What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It’s a new age media for a
new Sri Lanka… Free media at it’s very best!” – Grand Jury, Manthan South Asia 2009

• “Want bottom-‐up insight into Sri Lankan conflict? @groundviews is awesome.
http://bit.ly/9Hq0Vo“, via @GlobalIntegrity (the Twitter feed of Global Integrity)

• As an avid reader of Groundviews, please accept my hearty congratulations on winning the
coveted ’Manthan Award South Asia’ from the 300+ nominations. Please continue your good
work in advocating for good governance, transparency and freedom of expression. As the
Grand Jury’s evaluation noted that it’s a new age media for a new Sri Lanka. – Mrs. Shanthy
Vadi, Toronto, Canada

• What’s also remarkable is the exchange of opinion that has followed each post on Menik at
Groundviews — a robust, passionate, not always polite exchange of views from both sides of
the political fence. In Sri Lanka, that alone qualifies as something of a miracle. – Keith
Hammonds, Ashoka Foundation

• I have really found Groundviews ground breaking – and yes it is an effective site for debate,
although i have to admit that I get outraged by some of the racist and bigoted comments that
appear. Good that they do though, as one begins to realise the nature of what we see out
there. – Renowned Sri Lankan author on Groundviews who contributes anonymously citing
security reasons

• For ongoing analysis of the conflict, the citizen journalism site groundviews.org provides
interesting and often tragic reporting. – Renowned international media freedom organisation
Freedom House.

• Been watching the media clips interviewed by you with Tracy and Dayan. Great pieces of
interview style. Been starving for delicious English as such you use. – Jade

• Brilliante! Encore! -‐ Lakshman Gunesekara, one of Sri Lanka’s leading journalists and former
Editor of the Sunday Observer (responding to Banyan News Reporters)

• Thanks for Groundviews, by the way, and for keeping everyone on the ball. – by Sunila
Abeysekera, award winning human rights activist

• All the best, and congrats for doing a wonderful job through GV. – Kalana Senaratne
2010 -‐ 2011

• I read your site with much enthusiasm and was especially thrilled to read your exposure of
Sunday Times. These people have no shame, it seems. – Gamini Viyangoda, a writer and
former editor of the Lanka Dissent news website

• I am a dedicated Groundviews reader of yours and I have to congratulate you on the success
of the site. – Mark Gereis

• Congratulations mate! Excellent work! -‐ Chamath Ariyadasa, Editor of JNW SMS news service

2010 -‐ 2011

Groundviews Internship Opportunities

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