THE VIRTUAL PUBLIC SPHERE AND DEMOCRACY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIOD IN SRI LANKA: CASES OF GOVERNMENT ONLINE NEWSPAPER READERSHIP

Abstract

The virtual public sphere (VPS) is significantly more expansive and instantaneous than anything sociologists or political theorists had previously anticipated. The Covid-19 pandemic situation impacted every sector including newspaper publishing in Sri Lanka. According to new contemporary social circumstances affect newspapers ownership started to publish their printed newspapers online. The researcher's main concern was how to influence government online newspaper readership for the virtual public sphere and democracy in Sri Lanka amid the covid-19 pandemic. For this study, three government online publications were chosen: Daily News, Dinamina, and Thinakaran, all of which were published between September 2020 and August 2021. The data for this study was gathered from the Lake House Department of Digital Media's database using a survey method. A sample of fifty e-newspaper readers in the western province, were given an online questionnaire. During Covid-19, this province was the most impacted. According to the findings, the Daily News online papers are the most popular, with Dinamina and Thinakaran readers coming in second and third. In October and November 2020, the majority of e-newspaper readers had access to online newspapers, and this population decreased in April 2021 as temporary isolations and travel restrictions were lifted. The mobile phone was the most popular device for viewing online publications among PCs and tablets. The main reasons for reading online newspapers were for ease of use and for educational purposes. The majority of e-readers are government employees. Others include private employees and businessmen. Due to the country's lockdown, travel restrictions, quarantine, and isolation, online newspapers have become the most convenient and effective resources for the VPS and Democracy in Sri Lankan newspaper readership. The government's development of a work-from-home policy was discovered to have a greater impact on rising demand for online newspaper usage and adaptation.