Obviously the reporting from the war zone is restricted, as we noted. Neither side lets independent reporters in there.
The general Sri Lankan population has a lot of options, actually. Despite my being very critical of the government and saying we have a shrinking media space, in fact international broadcasters—CNN, CBC, BBC—are available, wire service reports continue to come out, and there are still some papers that are openly critical of the government. And Sirasa TV is independent, likely the most widely watched broadcaster. It has three television stations and four radio stations. They continue to broadcast. Some of it is just general consumption news, but some of it covers the government and covers it critically. They're under increasing pressure.
I think one thing we should all come to grips with is that the Rajapakse government is not an unpopular government, that elections will be called most likely in May of this year, and that they expect to win fairly handily. The path that it's taken has been a populist and very nationalist one that has resonated well within the Sinhalese community.
I worry about when the elections come. I'm afraid that the space for journalism will grow even smaller and will shrink even more. As is so often the case in any country or any society, people read the news they want to hear. A lot of it is consumed and a lot of it....There are many people in Sri Lanka who are not unhappy with the way the war is going. I'm not saying they're glad about the large number of deaths, but they feel they can tolerate that; others less so.