Journalists should not act in an outrageous manner when reporting on incidents involving a person’s privacy, he has told BBC Sandeshaya.

The government should not impose laws, but journalists themselves agree on how they should practice, and act prudently, he said.

“Is it good if we are shown a skeleton instead of Lasantha? Is it good to look at it? Is it good for Lasantha?” he asked.

Journalism is not the only field in which professional ethics have come into question, he noted, pointing to the ethics especially of doctors and tax-paying institutions.

“One big problem Sri Lanka is having is that certain judges, politicians and journalists do not have a responsibility towards society as professionals,” he said.

Police said the media’s presence at the exhumation at Borella Kanatte yesterday (27) was barred at a request by Lasantha’s family.

However, a drone fitted with a camera hovered over the site briefly, before disappearing as police tried to bring it down.