US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO514

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, Elections, Political Parties 
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