Sri Lanka, July 20 -- Sri Lankan media, especially websites that publish gossip, have been behaving in an unethical, hence unacceptable, manner for decades. Unfortunately, many of these websites and a significant portion of the media have abandoned the role of a watchdog and instead taken on the roles of a stray dog and, at times, even a rabid dog. If the media fails to perform its duty as a watchdog, that may be regrettable. However, at the very least, local media should refrain from behaving like a stray dog. This discussion concerns the prison officer who opened fire during the deadly unrest recently reported at the Negombo Prison.

Almost every media outlet gave maximum publicity to the prison officer who opened fire during the deadly...