First Phase of ‘Young Journalist’ Workshop Series 2026 Successfully Concludes

The first phase of the ‘Young Journalist’ Workshop Series 2026, organised by the Communication and Media Unit of the University of Kelaniya, was successfully held on 9 January 2026 at the Auditorium of the Staff Development Centre, University of Kelaniya. The workshop was conducted under the theme ‘Towards a Responsible and Ethical Media Culture’.

Held under the supervision of Senior Lecturer Saman Rajapaksha, Director of the Communication and Media Unit, the event aimed to enhance the communication skills and professional competencies of undergraduates of the University of Kelaniya. A notable feature of the workshop series was its openness to students from all faculties, thereby fostering an inclusive and interdisciplinary learning environment.

The workshop featured four insightful sessions conducted by a distinguished panel of senior journalists from Sri Lanka’s electronic media sector. The first session, titled ‘Television Programme Designing’, was conducted by Mr Sanjaya Indrakumara, Director of Educational Programmes at the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. The second session on ‘Television Programme Scriptwriting’ was delivered by Mr Vikum Basnayake, Assistant Director (Commercial Production) of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. The third session, titled ‘Television Programmes and the Role of the Presenter’, was conducted by Mr Manoj Udatiyawala, Senior Programme Manager of Neth FM. The workshop concluded with an engaging practical session jointly conducted by Mr Vikum Basnayake and Ms Devika Kumarasinghe, Assistant Director of Educational Programmes  Unit at the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.

Senior Lecturer Upul Ranepura, Head of the Department of Drama, Cinema and Television; Senior Lecturer Saman Rajapaksha, along with the staff of the Communication and Media Unit; and undergraduates from various departments, attended the event, contributing to its success. The sessions provided a valuable platform for students to engage with experienced media professionals and gain practical insights into the challenges and responsibilities of working in the contemporary media industry.

“යහපත් මාධ්‍ය සංස්කෘතියක් උදෙසා” යන තේමාව යටතේ කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සන්නිවේදන හා මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද ‘Young Journalist’ පුහුණු වැඩමුළු මාලාවේ, 2026 වසරේ පළමු අදියර කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය කාර්යමණ්ඩල සංවර්ධන මධ්‍යස්ථාන  ශ්‍රවණාගාර පරිශ්‍රයේ දී  2026 ජනවාරි 09 වැනි දින සාර්ථකව පැවැත්විණි.