By Shelton A. Gunaratne Professor emeritus of mass communications, Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Imagine the entire population of Utah, close to 2.3 million, put behind bars for committing a variety of felonies and other offenses. Also, imagine the entire population of Minnesota, about 4.9 million, put on probation or in parole at the same time. […]

By Shelton Gunaratne Professor emeritus of mass communications, Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ What the United States”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚more accurately, the world capitalist system”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚is currently going through is the New Depression (ND) with hallmarks and features that are entirely its own. It is different but no less a depression than the Great Depression (GD), which engulfed the U.S. […]

By Shelton Gunaratne, professor of mass communications emeritus, MSUM ƒ”š‚ Throughout my 35-year career as a journalism teacher in three countries (Malaysia, Australia and the United States), I have maintained that freedom of the press means much more than the freedom of the media owners and their supplicant editors to maximize profits at the expense of […]

Commentary by Shelton A. Gunaratne, professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ The following story is an excellent example of process reporting. With some editorial touches, a journalist can convert it to Buddhist-oriented journalism (BJ). It does pass muster the principal BJ criterion of reducing or controlling dukkha (sorrow/ unsatisfactoriness). ƒ”š‚  I will […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ In the previous 10 essays in this series, I developed in considerable detail the reasons why a Buddhist-oriented Journalism should emerge in the cotemporary world to coincide with the impending collapse of the tottering capitalist system and the potential establishment […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ The five elements in the mainstream/ Western news paradigm began to take shape in 19th century America. Penny papers emerged as a cheap source with coverage of crime, tragedy, adventure and gossip. The inverted pyramid structure of writing news became […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ When a namarupa consciously writes a news story or a feature from the Buddhist perspective as elaborated in this series, it results in BJ. The Lankaweb, a nonprofit online Web site, has demonstrated the ability of a news medium to […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Let me begin by recapitulating the traits of mainstream/ Western journalism (WJ) in relation to the goals of Buddhist-oriented Journalism (BJ). ƒ”š‚ Traits refer to the characteristics evident in the day-to-day practice of journalism, warts and all. Goals refer to the […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Namarupas labeled Ben Antao and Janaka Perera have asked me to provide examples of Buddhist-oriented journalism (BJ), which I repeat is not exclusively a religious journalism but one based on the philosophical framework of Buddhism. That framework has much in […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at ƒ”š‚ Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ I begin this essay with an attempt to document how Buddhism itself experienced the three features of existence”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚anicca (impermanence), anatta (no self/interdependence) and dukkha (unsatisfactoriness)”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚over the last 20 centuries from the time of its introduction to China in the 1st century. […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ In this essay, I argue that Buddhism is the link that unites India’sƒ”š‚  “Hinduism”ƒ”š‚ (SanƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚tana Dharma) with Sinic philosophies. “Hinduism”ƒ”š‚ was a label that the foreigners used to describe several streams of thought that were native to India dating back to […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Writing to this esoteric list, a namarupa labeled Senaka Weeraratna says, “Before we go into abstract issues on Buddhist Journalism as proposed by an academic based in the USA, we must address more mundane issues as highlighted in the remarkable Press […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Shyamon Jayasinghe is not following the path of right speech when heƒ”š‚ denigrates me from his high intellectual pedestalƒ”š‚ (somewhere in Australia) wherefrom he shouts, ƒ”š‚ “This Shelton guy ƒ”š‚ … likes to revel in his confusion.” The quality of the debate diminishes when a […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State U Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Responding to my column labeled “Notes on Buddhist Journalism”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚1,”ƒ”š‚ Namarupa D. Andre tells me that “journalismƒ”š‚ deals with the honest treatment of current news and comment,”ƒ”š‚ whereas Wikipedia, which scholars are not supposed to use as an authority, tells me that […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritusƒ”š‚ at Minnesota State U Moorhead ƒ”š‚ In a recent blog discussion on the Buddhist approach to journalism (BJ), I chided the namarupa bearing the funny label D. Andre for asking me to explain what I meant by BJ when I thought I had already explained the concept […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead After the arduous exploration of the Big Bend NP and a cozy overnight in Sanderson (pop. 861) in Terrell County, we”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚daughter Carmel, son Junius, wife Yoke-Sim and I”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚left our motel at 7.30 a.m. Friday (29 Nov. 1991) to continue […]

By Shelton Gunaratne, Ph.D. ƒ”š‚ A monk in yellow robes was somewhat of a novelty to the audience of 50 or so people gathered at the Parkway United Church of Christ in Minneapolis (3120 Washburne Ave.). Kathy Itzin, the pastor of the church, had invited the monk to speak to her congregation on Buddhism about which […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead On our way to Cottonwood Campground in the Rio Grande floodplain Tuesday (26 Nov.) late afternoon, we focused on exploring the area along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Because we did not have adequate time Tuesday to explore all […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead As I mentioned in Travels-67, we entered the Big Bend NP through the three-mile long Persimmon Gap, the park’s northern entrance/exit. Named for the Texas persimmon trees that grow in abundance in the nearby arroyos (desert washes), the gap […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚© 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Having camped in almost every national park in the West and the Midwest, I turned next to the South. My attention focused on Big Bend National Park located in south Brewster County, Texas. The Big Bend NP encompasses approximately […]

A review ƒ”š‚ By Professor Shelton A. Gunaratne Suwanda Sugunasiri, 75, a Sri Lankan Canadian who lives in Toronto, has just published his first novel [An] Untouchable Woman’s Odyssey (Distributor: A Different Booklist, Toronto).ƒ”š‚  Sugunasiri describes himself as a poet, a columnist, a literary critic and a Buddhist scholar. Shelton Gunaratne, professor of mass communications emeritus […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead When we left our home in Moorhead, Minn., 17 July 1989, on my summer internship and family holiday trip to the Pacific Northwest, we hoped to return to our own cozy “castle”ƒ”š‚ to unwind and relax after our tedious 10-day […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead Our return journey from Longview, Wash., to Moorhead, Minn., via Trans-Canada 1 enabled us”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Carmel, 5; Junius, 9; Yoke-Sim and me”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚to get a good grasp of the geographic and demographic features of Canada. Sunday (3 Sept. 1989) was our ninth day […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead The four of us”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚daughter Carmel, 5; son Junius, 9; wife Yoke-Sim and I”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚spent Saturday (2 Sept. 1989) morning to get a sense of Calgary, located in the Grassland region of southern Alberta. Two major rivers run through the city. The Bow River […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead We”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Carmel, 5; Junius, 9; Yoke-Sim and I”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚got up Friday (1 Sept. 1989) morning watching the American dippers and a variety of little bird species dive into the icy waters of Yard Creek and “fly” along under the water looking for their […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ British Columbia covers a land area of 925,186 sq. km with a population density of 4.8 people per square kilometer. One-half the BC population lived in the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area.ƒ”š‚  For me, the vast patches of uninhabited land I saw […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead “Dickens”ƒ”š‚ is a small (84-block) neighborhood in east Vancouver, British Columbia. The neighborhood extends from East 12th Avenue (north boundary) to King Edward/ East 25th Avenue (south boundary); and from Fraser Street (west) to Knight Street (east). Kingsway runs diagonally through […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead Monday (28 Aug, 1989) morning, we”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Carmel, 5; Junius, 9; Yoke-Sim and I”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚left the Olympic Peninsula of Washington from Port Angeles (pop. 18,397), the biggest city in the peninsula, by ferry and landed in Victoria (pop. 78,000) in British Columbia (pop. 4.4 million), […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus at ƒ”š‚ Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ All good things must come to an end, the proverb asserts. So did my stint with the (Longview) Daily News. I had to be back in Minnesota in time for the beginning of fall term at my university in Moorhead. […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2011Professor of mass communications emeritus@ Minnesota State University Moorhead ƒ”š‚ Sunday (20 Aug. 1989) morning, all of us got up early to beat the rush for public washrooms at the Illahee State Park’s campgrounds. My mother said she relished sleeping in the tent flanked by her grandchildren Carmel, 5, and Junius, 9, […]