Sanjana Hattotuwa

Sanjana Hattotuwa is the founding editor of Groundviews, an award-winning web based citizen journalism initiative that has won international critical acclaim as one of the most vital websites for dissent in Sri Lanka.

Sanjana is a Senior Researcher and Head of the Media Unit at theCentre for Policy Alternatives. In addition to hosting a talk show on public television, Sanjana lectures at the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ), engaging journalists from state, private, and alternative media on how to use web, Internet and mobile technologies to strengthen professional, independent and investigative journalism.

Sanjana is a Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation, where he works to further the use of ICTs in crisis information management and peacekeeping initiatives at the United Nations. He is also a Fellow of the Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he writes and speaks on the evolution of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), with a special focus on mobile telephony.

In 2010, Sanjana was the first Sri Lankan to be awarded a prestigious TED Fellowship. He was also a 2008 recipient of a News & Knowledge Entrepreneur Fellowship from Ashoka. Both awards recognize Sanjana’s pioneering efforts to leverage web based citizen journalism and new media to bear witness and strengthen democracy, human rights and a just peace.