Dr. Ediriweera Gunasekara

Dr. Ediriweera Gunasekara

Acting Head- Department of History and Theory of Dance and Drama | Director - Career Guidance Unit | Senior Lecturer (Grade II)

Units
Career Guidance Unit
Faculty of Dance and Drama
Department of History and Theory of Dance and Drama

Profile:

A dynamic media scholar and communications professional with deep expertise in child protection reporting, media ethics, and digital communication. Holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with a dissertation focused on the legal applicability of methods used by Sri Lankan media in reporting child sex offenses, offering critical insights into media law and child rights. Completed a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) on the capability of internet platforms in reducing child sexual abuse in Sri Lanka, reflecting a progressive approach to digital intervention and social accountability. Possesses a Bachelor of Arts (Special) Degree in Mass Communication, establishing a comprehensive understanding of media dynamics, journalism, and public communication.

Academic Qualifications:

  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Mass Communication ,  University of Sri Jayewardenepura  2018-2021
  • Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) Mass Communication University of Kelaniya  2013-2015
  • Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (SP) University of  Kelaniya  2007-2011

Professional Qualifications:

  • Visiting Lecturer – Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ) 2019/2020
  • Visiting Lecturer – Sri Palee Campus, university of Colombo 2021/2022
  • Lecturer: Department of Applied Music and Mass Communication, Faculty of Music, UVPA, 2022 to up to date
  • Lecturer: Department of Multi Media Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, UVPA, 2022
  • Visiting Lecturer: Department of Humanities, University of Rajarata, 2024 Up to date
  • Former Officer In Charge – VAPA Television 2022- 2025

Other Professional Experiences:

  • Media Officer, Parliament of Sri Lanka , 2019 -2022
  • News Editor – Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation 2018-2019
  • Freelance News Editor – Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation  2019-2022 up to date
  • Presenter – Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation  .2019- 2024 up to date
  • Information & Media Officer – National Child Protection Authority 2012-2018
  • Bulleting Producer & News Presenter – Siyath TV 2009-2012
  • Presenter – VAPA Television 2022-2025
  • Creative Director, Program Coordinator & Supervisor  VAPA Television  – 2022 to 2024

Research & Publications:

Published Articles:

  • Gunasekara, H D E “Book Review: Handbook for Career Development: Introduction to the ILO Framework for Career Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries(ILO, 2024)” Journal of Career Guidance (JCG) – Career Guidance unit, University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Vol.1, Issue 01, December 2025(ISSN No: 3121-3626)
  • Gunasekara, H D E “The Different Ways of Communicating Peer Group’s Sexual Needs” Sri Lanka Journal of Communication, University of Kelaniya, Vol.01, Issue 01, July 2024, ISSN 3051-5556
  • Gunasekara, H D E “Capability of Internet in Reducing Child Sexual Abuse in Sri Lanka” International Journal of research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), Vol.02, Issue. 09, September 2018, ISSN 2454-6186
  • Gunasekara, H D E “A study on the Necessity of the Utilization of the New Managerial Concept for the Increased Productivity of the Television News Room” International Journal of research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), Vol.02, Issue. 11, November 2018, ISSN 2454-6186
  • Gunasekara, H D E, Abeysekara T.B and Weerasinghe T,“A study on Legal Applicbility of methods used by the Sri Lankan Media in Reporting Child Sex Offences ” International Journal of research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS),Vol.05, Issue. 05, May 2021, ISSN 2454-6186
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ගුවන් විදුලි ප්‍රවෘත්ති සංස්කරණයේ අචාරධර්මීය භාවිතය සහ ප්‍රවණතා”, ගුවන් විදුලි සමීක්ෂා, සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික සහ සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය, සිවුවන කලාපය, නොවැම්බර් 2021, ISBN 978-624-5726-06-6
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “නවමාධ්‍ය හමුවේ, රූපවාහිනි කර්මාන්තයේ ගතික හා ප්‍රවණතා”, රූපවාහිනී සමීක්ෂා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා කලා මණ්ඩලය, දහ හතරවන කලාපය, දෙසැම්බර් 2023, ISSN 1800-2854
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සඳහා ආචාරධර්ම පද්ධතියක් හඳුන්වා දීමෙහිලා පුවත්පත් මණ්ඩල ආචාරධර්ම අදාළ කර ගැනීමේ ශක්‍යතාව” මාධ්‍ය සමීක්ෂා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පුවත්පත් මණ්ඩලය, පස්වැනි කලාපය, 2023, ISBN 978-624-5712-01-8
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “රූපවාහිනි ළමා වාර්තා වැඩසටහන් සහ ආචාරධර්ම”, රූපවාහිනී සමීක්ෂා, සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, දොළොස්වන කලාපය, නොවැම්බර් 2019, ISSN 1800-2854
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ගුවන්විදුලි ප්‍රවෘත්තිකරණයේ මූලධර්ම සහ සංකල්පයීය භාවිතය”, ජාතික මාධ්‍ය සංකථන, රජයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, දෙසැම්බර් 2020, ISSN 2756 – 9322
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ගුවන්විදුලි ප්‍රවෘත්තිකරණයේ න්‍යාය හා ව්‍යවහාරය”, ගුවන් විදුලි සමීක්ෂා, සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික සහ ixialD;sl lghq;= අමාත්‍යාංශය, තෙවැනි කලාපය, තෙවැනි මුද්‍රණය, පෙබරවාරි 2020, ISBN 978-955-3748-44-7
  • Gunasekara, H D E, Munasinghe, W, “ජාතික ගුවන්විදුලියේ ජාත්‍යන්තර සංදිස්ථාන”, ගුවන් විදුලි සමීක්ෂා, සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික සහ ixialD;sl lghq;= අමාත්‍යාංශය, පස්වැනි කලාපය, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, මාර්තු 2022, ISBN 978-624-5726-35-6
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “පාර්ලිමේන්තු ජන මාධ්‍ය වාර්තාකරණයේ සංකල්පීය පසුබිම සමකාලීන ගතික සහ ප්‍රවණතා” පාර්ලිමේන්තු සාර සංහිතා, සන්නිවේදන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව,ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, මාර්තු 2021, ISSN 2806 – 5417
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මහලේකම් කාර්‍යාලයේ ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය පිළිබඳ විග්‍රහයක්” පාර්ලිමේන්තු සාර සංහිතා, සන්නිවේදන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, මාර්තු 2020, ISBN 978-955-8412-14-5
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් සම්මත කිරීම සහ එහි ක්‍රමවේද”, පාර්ලිමේන්තු සාර සංහිතා, සන්නිවේදන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, මාර්තු 2020, ISBN 978-955-8412-14-5
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය රූපවාහිනි ප්‍රවෘත්ති සංස්කෘතියේ සමකාලීන ගතික සහ විශේෂතා”, රූපවාහිනී සමීක්ෂා,සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, දහතුන්වන කලාපය, නොවැම්බර් 2021, ISBN 978-624-5726-09-7
  • Gunasekara, H D E, Samarawickrama, R, “ළමා අපයෝජන පිළිබඳ සංකල්පීය ප්‍රවේශය සහ ළමා අපයෝජන ඇතිවීමෙහිලා බලපාන සාධක”, සෞන්දර්ය සම්භාෂා, නර්තන රංග කලා ඉතිහාසය සහ සිද්ධාන්ත අධ්‍යයනාංශය, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, මාර්තු 2024, ISBN 978-624-5785-25-4
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “මාධ්‍ය නීතිය, අචාර ධර්ම න්‍යාය සහ භාවිතය”, ජාතික මාධ්‍ය සංකථන, රජයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, ජනවාරි 2023, ISSN 2756 – 9322
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “නර්තනය විෂයක් ලෙස සමාජගත කිරීමෙහිලා රුපවාහිනි මාධ්‍යයේ ශක්‍යතාව”, නර්තන ගවේෂී, සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, සංස්කෘතික හා කලා කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය දෙසැම්බර් 2024 ISBN 978-624-5726-59-2
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “Legal Use Activism in Sri Lankan Media’sUse of Child Sexual Crime Reporting”, C. De. S. kulathilaka Archival and Research Unit, Faculty of Music, Vol. 2, Issue 2, December 2023, ISSN 2783-8617
  • Gunasekara, H D E, “ළමා ලිංගික අපරාධ වාර්තාකරණය සහ නෛතික උපයෝජනය, අපරාධ සන්නිවේදන භාවිත න්‍යායයේ ප්‍රවේශය ”, සෞන්දර්ය සම්භාෂා, නර්තන රංග කලා ඉතිහාසය සහ සිද්ධාන්ත අධ්‍යයනාංශය, පළමු මුද්‍රණය, දෙවන කලාපය, ජනවාරි 2026, ISBN 978-624-5785-33-9

Conference Publications:

  • ළමා ලිංගික අපරාධ වාර්තාකරණයෙහි ලා ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය ජන මාධ්‍යයෙහි භාවිත විධික්‍රමයන්හි නෛතික උපයෝජන ශක්‍යතා˜International Research Symposium-2022, Faculty of Music, University of the Visual and Performing arts.
  • The role of Television Media in Socializing Music as a Subject˜ 5th International Conference- November 2023, Faculty of Music, University of the Visual and Performing arts.
  • Political Factor and their Impact on Sri Lankan Television Program Direction (specific to Morning Television Programs), ˜ International Performing Arts Conference- March 2025, Faculty of Dance and Drama, University of the Visual and Performing arts.
  • The Different ways of Communicating Peer groups Sexual Needs”, International Performing Arts Conference- March 2025, Faculty of Dance and Drama, University of the Visual and Performing arts.
  • ශාන්ති කර්ම හා යාතුකර්ම ප්‍රවර්ධනය සඳහා රූපවාහිනී මාධ්‍ය භාවිතය˜ ICH International Research Symposium- November 2023, Faculty of Music, University of the Visual and Performing arts.
  • කාන්තා හා ළමා ලිංගික අපරාධ වර්ධනය කෙරෙහි ජනමාධ්‍ය වාර්තාකරණයේ බලපෑම පිළිබඳ අධ්‍ය‍යනයක්˜ 19th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPRC) – December 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya.
  • Capability of Internet in Reducing Child Sexual Abuse in Sri Lanka”, 5th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Approaches (ICMA) – September 2018, Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
  • A Study on media Reporting on Increasing Sexual Crimes Against Women and Children”, 1st National Conference on Mass Communication (NCMC) – December 2018, Department of Mass Communication, University of Kelaniya.
  • A Study of the Necessities of the Utilization of the New Managerial Concept for the Increased Productivity of the Television News Room”, 4th International Conference on Social Sciences (ICSS) – December 2018, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya.

Books and Monographs:

  • ළමා ලිංගික අපරාධ, සංහතික මාධ්‍ය වාර්තාකරණය සහ නීතිය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.) සමාගම , 2024 ISBN 978-624-00-2661-1
  • ළමා ලිංගික අපරාධ පිළිබඳ නෛතික ප්‍රවේශය,සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,2024 ISBN 978-624-00-26-62-8
  • ළමා අපයෝජන හා ළමා සැකකරුවන් පිළිබඳ ජනමාධ්‍ය භාවිත ප්‍රවේශය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,2020, ISBN 978-624-00-0231-8
  • කැමරාකරණය හා සංස්කරණය මූලික න්‍යාය හා භාවිතය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,2020, ISBN 978-624-00-0232-5
  • ළමා ලිංගික අපයෝජන අන්තර්ජාලය හා නීතිය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,202I, SBN 978-624-00-0121-2
  • රූපවාහිනි න්‍යාය හා ව්‍යවහාරය,සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,2024, ISBN 978-955-30-9719-4
  • රූපවාහිනි සංකථන ශාස්ත්‍රීය ලිපි සංග්‍රහය, සංස්කරණය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම, 2025 ISBN 978-624-00-3213-1
  • දකුණු ආසියාතික මාධ්‍ය නීති හා ආචාරධර්මීය ප්‍රවේශය, සී/ස ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ(පුද්.)සමාගම,2025 ,ISBN 978-624-00-3212-4

Published Newspaper Articles:

  • Article on “Television should be of more service for children” published in Silumina newspaper on 29.12.2013
  • Article on “Reporting should be ethical” published in Silumina newspaper on 15.09.2013Article on “Responsibility in reporting about child abuse” published in Lakbima newspaper on 26.08.2017
  • Article on “Will your photograph be published in the internet?” published in Tharuni newspaper of 17.08.2016
  • Article on “Television Media and Young Generation” published in Suwaya monthly magazine on October 2013
  • Article on “A Media Policy to Protect the Children” published in Silumina newspaper on 11th March 2018
  • Article on using Facebook, Social Media knowing its pros and cons, published in Silumina newspaper on 25.03.2018
  • Article on “Victims Falling from Frying Pan to the Fire while Reporting Child Sexual Crimes” published in Lakbima newspaper on 25.03.2018
  • Article on “Using the Internet” published in Lakbima newspaper on 20.03.2018
  • Writing the foreword to the Life Guide Magazine – year 2018

National/ University Level Awards:

  • Best News Editor – Special Jury Award State Radio Awards Ceremony – 2022 , Department of Cultural affairs, Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural affairs
  • Won a best announcer ‘THURUNU SHAKTHI’ award 2007, National Youth Services Centre.
  • Won a best announcer youth award 2007, National Youth Services Centre.
  • Won a best announcer youth award 2009, [Galle district] National Youth Services Centre.
  • Won a best announcer youth award 2011, [Galle district] National Youth Services Centre.
  • Achieving the award for the Best Announcer at Kelaniya University – year 2007

Creative Writings:

  • “To the New School” short film
  • “We are kind” short film
  • “Kelegama” (Village in the Woods) short film
  • “Guiding” short film
  • “A Family filled with Love” short film
  • “You are a Good Child” short film
  • “Senehasa” (Love) short film
  • “The Correct Path” short film
  • “Kompittu” short film
  • “Let us Bloom Smiles” documentary Script writing of the television programme “Commemoration of Forty Year of Open Economy” produced by the Independent Television Network

Directed Television and Radio Programmes:

  • Directed the television advertisement “Let us Prevent Child Harassment” (Siyatha TV)
  • Directed the documentary of “IIFA” Awards Night (Siyatha TV)
  • Directed the research programme “Facts about Pettah” (Siyatha TV)
  • Directed the research programme “Tsunami” (Siyatha TV)
  • Directed the documentary “Final Cinematic Role of Michael Jackson” (Siyatha TV)
  • Directed the television advertisements on Child Protection
  • Directed the radio programme “Gorgeous Cinematic Journey of H.D. Premarathna” (Siyatha FM)
  • Documentary on “Commemoration of Forty Year of Open Economy” (Independent Television Network)
  • Worked as Director, Script Writer and background voice dubbing of Video Documentary named “SINAHA PURAMU API”
  • Worked as Executive Producer of the “Child Protection Jingle”
  • Worked as Producer of the “Day Against Child Cruelty Documentary Proramme”.
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Radio Commercial to Aware Children about Good Judgements.
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Radio Commercial to Aware Parents about the role of the father.
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Radio Commercial to Aware Parents about the role of the father (Parents Meeting).
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Television Commercial to Aware Children about Good Judgements.
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Television Commercial to Aware Parents about the role of the father.
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Television Commercial to Aware Parents about the role of the father (Parents Meeting).
  • Worked as Project Coordinator of Radio Commercial to Aware Parents about the role of the father
  • Directed an advertisement named “SAFFI”.
  • Worked as Director, Script Writer of Radio Programme of H.D. Premarathne’s Film Visual Report.
  • Directed an advertisement named “Hinsanayen thora Lama Lowak”.
  • Worked as Director of Video Documentary named “PITAKOTUWE THATHU” by Siyatha Tv.
  • Worked as Director of short film named “NOLIU KAVIYA”.
  • Worked as Director of broadcasting Programme named “CINAMA”.
  • Worked as Art Director of short film named “KARMA”.
  • Worked as Camera Assistant of short film named “KARMA”.
  • Worked as Programme Coordinator of Tv Programme of “Child Protectors 2016” telecasted on ITN
  • Creative Director, Program Coordinator, Presentor & Supervisor Thaksalawa – VAPA Television, 2022- 2025
  • Creative Director, Program Coordinator, Presentor & Supervisor මහාචාර්ය හෝරාව වැඩසටහන VAPA Television, 2022- 2025
  • Presenter, Program Coordinator & Supervisor, Arunanandaya – VAPA Television Artha – VAPA Television, 2022- 2025
  • Presenter Dr. Ediriweera Gunasekara, Artha – VAPA Television, 2022- 2025

Activities at the National Level:

  • Coordinated affairs of the National Journal of Guidelines on the matters to be taken into consideration by the journalists in order to protect the child rights while reporting about child abuses – child suspects
  • Worked as the Chief Organizer of the National Programme to Commemorate the International Day of Girl Child, 2017
  • Worked as the Chief Organizer of the National Programme to Commemorate the International Day on Child Labor, 2017
  • Worked as the Chief Organizer of the National Programme of World Children’s Day, 2017
  • Construction of the first bus halt in the island, displaying facts related to child protection
  • Preparation of a national assessment report relevant to mass media reporting about child abuses
  • Monitored and coordinating the national programmes of publishing media propaganda advertisements about child protection
  • Edited of the Sinhala draft of National Child Protection Policy
  • Edited of the Sinhala copy of the guideline manual containing the principles to be followed by the Police Officials when conducting a crime investigation on child abuse incidents.
  • Worked as a member of the Project Committee of preparing the National Simple Copy of the United Nations Child Rights Policy
  • Coordinated the “Halo Yaalu” (Hello Friend) book published at a national level by the Wijaya Newspaper Company
  • Coordinated “Wonder of Forty Years – Heritage of Tomorrow” National Exhibition and Carnival on behalf of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and working as a member of the National Technical Committee of the video tape prepared on the same.

Activities at University, HEI’s and Institutes:

  • Resource Person: “Television Media Workshop” Department of Cultural affairs, 29th of October 2024
  • Resource Person: “Educational Seminars” Department of Government Information, 16th of September 2025
  • Resource Person: “Media Workshop” Sri Lanka Press Council, 04th of October 2025
  • Resource Person: “Media Workshop” Sri Lanka Press Council, 18th of October 2025
  • Resource Person: “Media Seminar” Sri Lanka Press Council, 16th of February 2023
  • Resource Person: “Career Guidance Workshop” Faculty of Music, University of the Visual and Performing arts 13th of September 2025
  • Resource Person: “Career Guidance Workshop” Faculty of Dance and Drama, University of the Visual and Performing arts 30th of August 2025
  • Resource Person: “Educational Seminars” Department of Government Information, 06th of August 2024
  • Resource Person: “Media Workshop” The Department of History and Theory of Dance and Drama, Faculty of Dance and Drama, University of the Visual and Performing Arts 07th of April 2024
  • Resource Person: “Communication Workshop on IHRO” International Human Right Organization, 16th of October 2025
  • Guest Lecture: “Media Literacy on line workshop” Sri Palee Campus, 13th of July 2020
  • Resource Person: “Preparation of Prefects Guidelines” Ministry of Education, 17th and 18th of July 2019
  • Resource Person: “Media Literacy Workshop” National Police Training Institute, 09th of September 2025
  • Resource Person: “Workshop on Crime Reporting” National Police Training Institute, 26th of June 2025Co- Chair, International Performing Arts Conference (IPAC) 2025, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Media Coordinator, International Performing Arts Conference (IPAC) 2025, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Conference Reviewer, International Performing Arts Conference (IPAC) 2025, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Committee Member, Students Research Symposium (SRS) 2024, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Media Coordinator, Students Research Symposium (SRS) 2024, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Panel Member, Students Research Symposium (SRS) 2024, Faculty of Dance and Drama, UVPA
  • Committee Member , ICH International Research Symposium (ICHIRS) 2023, Faculty of Music, UVPA