The Media Unit of Ananda Central College stands proudly with a history spanning nearly 30 years. It was founded in 1998 during the tenure of Principal B.H.A. Ariyadasa, under the guidance of Ms. Jeeva Malkanthi Wickramaarachchi, who was the teacher in charge of Electrical and Electronic Studies at the time. The unit developed further under the supervision of teachers Mr. Palitha Jayasinghe and Mr. Sanath Senarathna.
In 2011, during the tenure of Principal K.P. Wijerathna, the responsibility of the Media Unit was handed over to Ms. Asha De Silva, the Drama and Performing Arts instructor at the time. Later, in collaboration with Mr. Leel Guruge, the unit was enhanced to reach its present state. Since 2012, students have been giving live commentaries and announcements at inter-house sports meets in both Sinhala and English media.
In 2013, under the guidance of then-Deputy Principal Mr. Gamini Karunaratne, a dedicated studio space was set up for the Media Unit. English teacher Ms. Krishni Wijesinghe trained the students in English broadcasting, and later Ms. Thamali Jayasekara took over the English announcement section.In 2016, under the initiative of Tamil language teacher Ms. Shanthi Jayawira, the Tamil announcement division was established.
Currently, the Media Unit is headed by Assistant Principal Ms. Samadara Chandrasekara, under whose leadership it has been transformed into a comprehensive media and broadcasting unit.
At present, the staff members responsible for the School Media and Broadcasting Unit include: Ms. Shanthi Jayaweera, Ms. Ashee Uthpala, Ms.Lakshika Priyashani, Ms. Ayesha Nilani, Mr. Ruwan Kumara, Ms. Vindhya Oshadi, Mr. Pramod Harshana, and Mr. Kavindu Senewirathna. The unit comprises multiple departments including trilingual announcing, technical operations, photography and videography, and Sinhala and English news editing.
A particularly notable milestone was achieved under the supervision of Assistant Principal Ms. Samadara Chandrasekara with the organization of the school's first-ever nationwide trilingual media competition and media day – ACMA '24 – which saw the participation of emerging student journalists from approximately 50 leading schools across the country.Having successfully organized such an indomitable media competition, we could step further, proudly guiding our emerging journalists to participate in some of the most prestigious national level school media contests such as AISAC, DHARA, PRABATHA, SADBHASHANA, SANHATHIKA, and many more. From these, we have brought numerous exceptional victories back to our school.
The Media and Broadcasting Unit, the mediator to Mother Ananda with all her communities spread across the world, continues its noble vision of producing skillful Journalists who are enriched with a comprehensive media literacy . From its very inception, the unit has nurtured talented journalists who now serve in prominent media channels. With this same commitment, we pledge to guide the prospective generation of outstanding journalists to serve the nation.