Meet the CIR Fellows
Under CIR’s latest initiative promoting electoral accountability through investigative reporting, six senior and mid-career journalists will produce evidence-based in-depth reports on multiple topics under the theme of electoral accountability.
The two-day intensive training, which will be held on 9 and 10 December in Negombo, will cover election laws, campaign finance, election bribery, election disinformation and more.
Ranjan Kasthuri
Ranjan Kasthuri counts over two decades in news journalism and currently works as the News Editor of Daily Lankadeepa. An internationally trained journalist who has specialized in parliamentary reporting, Ranjan holds a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Kelaniya.
Bingun Menaka Gamage
A multiple award-winning journalist known for his political analysis, Bingun is an extensive user of the right to information law and keen on public interest journalism. He currently functions as News Editor of Mawbima newspaper. He holds a Diploma on Journalism from the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ) and is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Colombo.
Ravichchandrasarma Ramkumar
Ramkumar is a multiple award-winning senior journalist counting over 15 years in print and electronic media. A trainer and mentor himself, he presently functions as an Assistant News Editor at the weekend edition of the Virakesari newspaper and an Assistant Producer with Vasantham TV. Ihe holds an MSc in Mass Commutation from the Asia e University, Malaysia.
Priyadarshini Sivarajah
Counting nearly three decades in media, Priyadarshini entered the field as an Editorial Assistant to Sarinihar, an alternate Tamil language publication. She holds a BA in Arts degree from the University of Peradeniya and a Diploma in journalism the University of Colombo. She is a media trainer and functions as the Assistant Secretary of the Free Media Movement (FMM).
Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana
Kurulu Kariyakarawana is serving the Daily Mirror newspaper as an Assistant News Editor for eight years. Counting 22 years in journalism, Kurulu is a skilled news reporter with a focus on crime and defence. He works with multiple media rights organizations locally and internationally to foster freedom of expression and ethics.
Sanuj Hathurusinghe
Sanuj Hathurusighe cut his teeth in journalism at the Ceylon Today newspaper and counts eight years in print journalism. He currently serves Ceylon Today’ as the publication’s Features Editor. In 2017 and 2018, Sanuj won the Feature Writer of the Year Award presented by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL).
