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success “Though the winning of the award itself came as a surprise, I was quite confident of my writing,” she said, giving a triumphant smile, when we met her at her work place last week. “I sent in my articles for nominations only at the last minute, that too after I was told by my colleagues, so I was quite pleased with the outcome!” she said, adding that she has been attached to the newspaper for the last one-and-a-half years. Holding a special degree in Mass Media from the Sripali Campus, she joined Lakbima whilst in her third year at University. “Everyone in our batch is sent in for training during the course, and I initially had my training at the Environment and National Resources Ministry. Later, with the guidance of Mr. P.M. Senaratne attached to the ministry, I was directed to the Lakbima, and that is how I got into mainstream journalism,” she explained. Being chosen for the job based on the articles she had written whilst at university, was a tremendous boost for her confidence as a student. Speaking about the award itself, she feels that apart from it being an individual achievement for herself, it must also be a huge encouragement for other university students studying mass media as well. “Getting a chance to join a newspaper and getting involved with the practical aspect of journalism, whilst I was still a student at campus, is quite a rare opportunity. The fact that I won this award for my writing during my stay at campus, will definitely be something positive for all students of mass media,” she said. Going on to explain that journalism and mass media are subjects that essentially require practical knowledge, Apeksha appreciates the fact that the Sripali campus enables its students to experience this. “The university gave me a good chance, since getting into journalism, especially the Sinhala media, is still quite a struggle for young journalists. By sending us for training during our third year itself, we got a chance to enter the field and gradually get established,” she said, adding that students specialising in mass media at the Sripali campus, get to study mass media subjects during all four years of the course, and this gives them an in-depth knowledge of the subject. Though involved with the print media at the moment, Apeksha’s preference ironically, is the electronic media. “I do enjoy writing articles for print, but my real interest is in the production side of electronic media, and I hope to get involved with that kind of work in the years to come,” she said. Studying for an M. A. and maybe a Phd. in mass media, specialising in electronic media, are among her future plans. She also added that if you are to do well in the field of journalism, a scientific knowledge of the subject is essential, since there is a huge difference between studying the subject in a lecture room and applying it to the practical world. So as a young journalist, how does she see the field of journalism today? “There is a huge difference between the theoretical and practical aspects of journalism. This is an intellectually stimulating profession, and though most people don’t realise the gravity of journalism and see it as something very much on the surface, it is an extremely complex process.” According to Apeksha, the key to being a good journalist is being completely responsible with what you report. “Since this is a job which can totally change opinions and points of view, you need to be extremely careful with what you write, present or produce. You can make or break public opinion with your work. Even the simplest mistake made by a journalist, could create chaos in society.” She feels that a number of improvements need to take place in the Sri Lankan media, but as a young journalist, believes that something constructive can be done at present too. “The perfect scenario in journalism which we learned about in theory might never be chieved, but we must try to do something positive.” While she has written a few news stories, Apeksha concentrates more on feature writing, with environmental topics being her speciality. She feels that writing features is more of a difficult job, since in a feature, many areas such as content, organisation, presentation, technique and language style need to be considered. And her message to future students of mass media? “If you try hard, you can enter the field. Since journalism is a profession that needs practical experience, it’s important that you try your best to get into the field as early as possible. Also, I feel that this is a complex subject that can’t be understood completely during a degree course at university, and so should be introduced into the school syllabus as well. Since journalism is an area that has a great demand among young people, the authorities responsible need to take note of the loopholes and better the quality of journalism as a whole,” she said. Coming from Ambilipitiya, Apeksha was a student of Ambilipitiya Maha Vidyalaya. Though none of her family members are in the field of journalism, the support and encouragement given by her parents and sister has been great. She also wanted to thank Dr. Tudor Weerasinghe, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Media for all the support given to her while she was a student, in addition to all at Lakbima. |
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