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| Saturday, 11 October 2003 |
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Press Complaints Commission gets into action The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) will commence work on dispute resolution commencing from next Wednesday. The council will receive, inquire into and make findings on complaints from the public on any matter published in the press from this date onwards, the PCC said in a press release yesterday. The council will also inquire into any breaches of the Code of Practice of the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka which has been adopted by the PCC. The code is geared towards providing a balance between press freedom and social responsibility as proclaimed in the COLOMBO DECLARATION of 1998 to which the Newspaper Society, the Editors Guild and the Free Media Movement (FMM) were joint signatories. The code also covers accurate reporting, corrections and apologies, that right of reply, protection of confidential sources, general reporting and writing, privacy, harassment and subterfuge and journalistic dignity. All valid complaints will be inquired into by the Council of the PCC either by way of conciliation, mediation or arbitration under the Arbitration Act No. 11 of 1995. Eleven eminent personalities representing civil society and the press will form the council which will be an autonomous body within the PCC. A majority of the membership of this council be non-press representatives, the release said. The council will be chaired by former Secretary General of Parliament, Sam Wijesinha. The other members of the Council are former Government Agent, Jaffna and the Public Service Commission, Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, former Principal of Zahira College and former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Javid Yusuf, former lecturer at the University of Colombo, Swarna Jayaweera, Film Director, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, and Chartered Accountant, Lucille Wijewardene. Editor of the Lankadeepa and President of the Editors' Guild, Siri Ranasinghe, former Editor of the Dinamina and member of the Press Council, G. S. Perera, Associate Editor of the Daily News, P. Balasingham, former Senior Representative of Reuters (Sri Lanka) Ltd. Dion Schoorman and Free Lance Journalist, Mallika Wanigasundera. The Council will be housed at the ICPL Arbitration Centre at No. 61, Carmel Road, Colombo 03 with a fulltime staff headed by Chief Executive Officer, Manique Mendis, a senior media and public relations personality. The former Press Commissioner and Secretary of the Press Council, S. Dammulla has also joined the PCC. The Council of the PCC is committed to provide a speedy and cost effective resolution of complaints against the press by the public. Services are provided for a nominal charge to only offset administrative costs. A copy of the Code of Practice and a booklet on How to Complain and a simple Guide to the inquiry procedures will be available in all three languages at the PCC office to assist members of the public. The Press Complaints Commission is a self-regulatory mechanism and is incorporated under the Companies Act of Sri Lanka. Its subscribers are the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka and the Free Media Movement. |
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