First Sri Lankan newspaper in New Zealand - SriLankaNZ

SriLankaNZ, the first Sri Lankan newspaper in New Zealand, which is launched to promote and encourage Sri Lankans living in New Zealand to express their creativity and talents such as short stories and poems. It is published in both English and Sinhala languages. Through this publication they are focusing on current events and sports related to Sri Lanka and New Zealand. It's a free newspaper and distributed across New Zealand.

SriLankaNZ celebrated its first anniversary last March 2021. It’s been 2 years since the launch of their website by this October. During this time, they have published articles on a variety of topics. Experienced writers and emerging young writers have contributed with their short stories, poems, shared their travel experiences, recipes, health and wellbeing advice with the readers. There is a separate page for kids to share their drawings poems and creative writings

Not only Sri Lankans living in New Zealand but also Sri Lankans living back in Sri Lanka, Australia, and the United States send their articles and illustrations for publication. The first SriLankaNZ newspaper is getting enriched by such support.

An online edition of the newspaper is also published within a few weeks after the release of the printed edition. SriLankaNZ is not just a newspaper, it’s a combination of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Their online followers are growing rapidly. According to the founders Harsha Weerakoon and CJ (Charith) Ekanayake, the numbers of readers exceed 8000 and growing.

Geographically New Zealand is Six times larger than Sri Lanka. It consists of two islands called North and South. SriLankaNZ is delivering the newspaper to every major city on both islands. The founders say that the newspaper has been able to achieve its objectives and numerical goals so far. They are very optimistic about the future of the paper.

Anu Weerakoon, the media coordinator mentioned that SriLankaNZ is building relationships with not only Sri Lankans but also with other ethnic communities in New Zealand.

K.A.B Karunarathne is the editor of the Newspaper and states that both the newspaper and its online units are promoting identity and improving the talents of the writers who contribute to this only newspaper for their community.

The team is planning to further expand and improve the printing and online editions, website, and social media units. SriLankaNZ newspaper is currently a bi-monthly newspaper.

Website- www.srilankanz.co.nz;Team - https://www.srilankanz.co.nz/editorial-team -TIN Bureau