|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 31 January 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) has attracted considerable public interest since the official inauguration of its Secretariat on October 15, 2003. In an Interim Report released by the PCCSL it is revealed that 75 communications against items published in the Sri Lankan press were received during the last two and a half months of 2003. The PCCSL's followed up on 64 of these. The report provides insights into PCCSL's activities last year. From the commencement of the PCCSL there has been a steady flow of inquiries on the complaint procedures and scope of the PCCSL. Inquiries have been received in Sinhala, Tamil and English and have come from all over Sri Lanka through letters, telephone calls and personal visitors to the office. Inquiries have been from a wide range of persons and organisations including members of civil society, government organisations, non-governmental organisations, diplomatic missions, business firms, universities and religious bodies. Researchers and students of media from Sri Lanka and abroad have also sought information from the PCCSL. Although the majority of communications received during the formative stages have not been within the time frame the PCCSL is mandated to entertain such complaints (i.e. publications on or after the date of the official inauguration, October 15, 2003) the officers have given hearing to complainants and explained the inability to entertain these complaints officially but nevertheless followed up on them as a gesture of goodwill to the complainants (many who have come from Galle, Valachchenai and Anuradhapura) and as a source of information to the relevant editors. The breakdown of complaints followed up viz-a-viz the different language press is as follows: Total number of communications/complaints sixty four (Sinhala: thirty three, Tamil: eight, English: twenty and general: two. The report goes records that all newspaper editors that have subscribed to the PCCSL and even some others have been co-operative. Some have provided a right of reply to complainants and published corrections and apologies even for articles that were not been within the timeframe of the PCCSL's mandate. Apart from dealing with communications against published news items the PCCSL has witnessed many developments during the period under discussion. The initial spurt of publicity related to the inauguration of the PCCSL was supported by an advertising campaign in the newspapers prepared by Phoenix O & M.P (Pvt) Ltd. A direct mail campaign was carried out to 1000 private sector organisations and 175 civil society organisations. The PCCSL also established contact with over 50 international media regulatory bodies in various parts of the world. The PCCSL made two presentations to groups of journalists during this period. The first was at a residential workshop for business journalists organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the second was to a newly formed group of Tamil women journalists. Both meetings generated lively discussion and clearly revealed that journalists were very interested in self-regulation and The Code of Practice of the Editors Guild. The PCCSL Council headed by Chairman, Sam Wijesinha, former Secretary General of Parliament and Sri Lanka's first Ombudsman comprises 11 councillors: Dr. D. Nessiah, Lucille Wijewardena, Javid Usuf, Prof. Swarna Jayaweera and Dharmasiri Bandaranayake who represent civil society and senior media personnel, Siri Ranasinghe, G. S. Perera, P. Balasingham, Dion Schoorman and Mallika Wanigasundera. Two general meetings of the council were held during this period, one in November and one in December. The Council Members have demonstrated interest and support towards the PCCSL's activities. The Council met on two occasions for a hearing on the case filed by Rohitha Bashana Abeywardena against the Irida Divaina Sangrahaya and the Divaina for their reports on the Sinhala-Tamil Cultural Festival held in Colombo. Six out of 11 council members participated in this hearing which was the first complaint that was taken up for adjudication by the council since the inception of the PCCSL. The complainant the organisers of the festival as well as the chief editors, news editors and legal manager of the two newspapers participated in the hearing. This landmark event was concluded on a very positive note with the case being resolved with an amicable settlement being reached between the complainant and both newspapers complained against. Inquiries and complaints are dealt with in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The PCCSL is committed to resolve disputes between the newspaper readers and the newspapers in a friendly, cordial and effective manner for the mutual benefit of both parties. The PCCSL has been striving to provide high quality service which is fast, free and fair. It looks forward to the support of all print media institutions in Sri Lanka and the public to provide a dispute resolution mechanism. The PCCSL Secretariat is at 65/5, Ward Place, Colombo 7. Telephone numbers are 5333002, 5333006 and 5333008. Tax/Tel. 5335500 and E Mail: [email protected] |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
