No enforcement of Ethics Code on media

The Government’s Media Ethics Code for journalists will not be enacted as legislation and is not an attempt by the State to clamp down on the free media, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella clarified yesterday.

The Minister said that there was a misconception prevailing that the code would be a enforced on the media in the country.

“There will be no law enacted to enforce this code and no competent authority to oversee adherence. Media organisations can decide whether to abide by the guidelines or not – with no consequences,” he said.

He said it was his personal opinion that guidelines would have no impact on reporting standards since media could report offensively with no consequences such as in the case of the Ethics Guidelines imposed by the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka.

Minister Rambukwella said that however there had been suggestions to reenact the criminal defamation laws when the code was discussed in a consultative committee. (DB)