Dhavalasri Shelton Abeywickreme Gunaratne (Sinhala: ධවලෂ්‍රි ෂෙල්ටන් අබේවික්‍රම ගුණරත්න; 22 January 1940 – 8 March 2019)[1] was a professor of mass communications emeritus affiliated with Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Gunaratne, a journalist turned mass communication scholar, was born in the village of Pathegama [1] in Weligama, Sri Lanka [2].

Soon after leaving the university in 1962, he joined the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House), where he served as a journalist for five years.

He left Ceylon in 1966 on a one-year fellowship offered by the World Press Institute of Saint Paul, Minn. Gunaratne attended the University of Oregon, where he got his M.A.

Gunaratne taught journalism in four countries: Australia, China, Malaysia, and the United States, where he settled and became a U.S. citizen.

In this book, he attempted to merge Eastern and Western philosophical tenets to derive a humancentric theory of the press to demonstrate the potential of an inclusive framework of diversity (the yin-yang bifurcations) within unity (the ineluctable Dao).

He has argued that the classical Four Theories of the Press has fallen into shambles because it failed to follow the path of "horizontally integrative macro-historical analysis" [30].

Clifford Christians (2011) wrote that while physicist Capra (in his book The Tao of Physics) established parallels between quantum science and Eastern philosophies, Gunaratne (in The Dao of the Press) has opened up the way for a "humanocentric theory of journalism".

Christians (2011: p. 732) said: [Gunaratne] integrates Western epistemology with Eastern mysticism to replace the media's individualism and self-interest with interdependence and mutual causality.

In a Q&A interview that Eric Loo (2004) conducted, Gunaratne explained how the adoption of the Daoist wu wei (action through inaction) model could result in a healthier form of journalism that reflects a multiplicity of views: We reach the level of wuwei [which is also known as the Pooh Way] when we learn to work with the natural laws operating around us [following] ... the principle of minimal effort (p.217).

We have to see the virtues of Winnie-the-Pooh in relation to the ways of its buddies—Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, and the Piglet (p. 219).Gunaratne's contemporary writings, particularly the essay titled "Go East, young 'man' ..." [10], advocate the conceptualization of communication theory by placing the building blocks of Buddhist phenomenology on the Daoist yin-yang ontology.

Responses to this essay by Rakow (2013)[2] and by Waisboard (2013);[3] clearly indicate that a substantial interest remains in the continuing debate over de-Westernizing communication studies.

Gunaratne argues that Daoism and Buddhism converge remarkably well on agreeing that human suffering or discontent is primarily a consequence of desire (for wealth), attachment, feelings and doggedly held opinions.

The Dao of the Press has been cited in almost 50 scholarly publications, including the following: Asante, Miike & Yin (2014);[4] Chen (2006);[5] Christians (2008, 2011);[6][7] Featherstone (2007);[8] Fourie (2008, 2010);[9][10] Ganguly (2012);[11] Loo (2004);[12] McQuail (2010);[13] Murthy (2011, 2012);[14][15] Pearson (2013);[16] Pennington (2012);[17] Servaes (2009);[18] Shao, Xiao, Yao & Shen (2011);[19] and Zelizer (2011).

From Gunaratne's point of view, Eastern philosophy had much to offer to enrich Habermas's notion of communicative rationality.

For example, both Buddhist and Chinese philosophy recognized the validity claim of rightness (conventional truth) derived through social consensus.

This monograph has been cited by more than 20 scholars, including Dolber (2011);[21] Galily, Tamir & Muchtar (2012);[22] El-Nawawy & Khamis (2009);[23] Hove (2007);[24] Kinane (2007);[25] Miike (2007);[26] Min (2009);[27] Rauch (2007);[28] Tran, Mahmood, Du & Khrapavitski (2011);[29] and Weischenberg (2012).

[30] Gunaratne has advocated de-Westernizing science [4, 9, 11, 15, 31] because its primary emblem, the Cartesian–Newtonian paradigm [25, 26], is based upon questionable Western epistemology, which (a) condones Newtonian reductionism—the tendency to study parts without the context of the whole; (b) fails to capture the nonlinear interactions of relevant factors that engender particular outcomes; and (c) erroneously associates science with objectivity based on the Cartesian belief that the mind and body are independent.

He agrees with Wallerstein that science is the smartest Trojan horse used by the West to perpetuate European universalism, when its attempt to do so through Orientalism [12] in the humanities failed.

Theory and research based on these two paradigms entail greater complexity and realism because they enable the understanding of dynamic processes the outcomes of which cannot be predicted through covering laws as claimed by Newtonian science [25.

In a 2007 article published in China Media Research [20], Gunaratne demonstrated how the Chinese yin-yang model [22] could be deployed to explicate global freedom of the press.

Gunaratne asserts that this continuum takes a spiral form because it recognizes the possibility of quantum jumps from libertarianism to authoritarianism or vice versa following coups or revolutions.

The way Gunaratne related Buddhist philosophy to the possible practices in print journalism was path breaking.

[citation needed] Murthy stated that Gunaratne's work will go a long way in so far discovering the richest wealth of communication principles, practices, theories and models that lie in store in the Asian philosophical repertoire, especially Indian.

International communication and living system theory: Using LST model to determine IC focus and research frame.

Public Diplomacy, Global Communication and World Order: An Analysis Based on Theory of Living Systems.

Prospects and limitations of world system theory for media analysis: The case of the Middle East and North Africa.

[Editor of the book and co-author of chapters on Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia and North Korea].

[Buku tentang komunikasi sejagat menjadi pertarungan falsafah antara pihak yang berfaham kanan dan kiri.

Since 1986, his opinion columns and travel articles have appeared in several American newspapers including St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, The (Fargo, N.D.) Forum, Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, and The (Longview, Wash.) Daily News.