Press Complaints Commission holds AGM

Friday, 18 July 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) this week held its Annual General Meeting where the success and the effectiveness of the industry formulated body was highlighted. In 2013, the PCCSL received 163 complaints last year and opened a branch office in Jaffna to receive complaints, according to the Chief Executive Officer Sukumar Rockwood’s Review in the 2013 Annual Report.

He said the Jaffna office was opened on 3 May which is World Press Freedom Day to enable the security forces and local politicians seek redress against wrongful news items by way of mediation. The report was read out at the Annual General Meeting of the Commission held on Tuesday (15 July) at the Sri Lanka Press Institute auditorium in Colombo. CEO Rockwood further stated that the Sinhala press which comprises 39% of the country’s newspapers attracted the majority of the complaints in 2013. He said that the Commission received the fullest co-operation from editors to resolve these complaints amicably and swiftly. He said that as many as 353 complaints were resolved by editors providing a Right of Reply to aggrieved parties. The report stated that four English language newspapers however did not cooperate with the PCCSL, which is a voluntary self-regulatory body of the newspaper industry having the support of the Newspaper Society, Editors’ Guild, Free Media Movement, Working Journalists Association and other media unions. The CEO’s report said that the PCCSL’s autonomous Dispute Resolution Council headed by former Parliamentary Ombudsman Sam Wijesinha met bi-monthly to inquire into complaints that required their attention. The report also stated that an All Island Essay competition conducted with the Education Ministry and workshops for provincial journalists on ethical reporting and for government officials and the public on the Editors’ Code were conducted in Colombo, Avissawela, Kalutara, Jaffna, Ampara, Kilinochchi and Moneragala during 2013.

The CEO’s report states that the PCCSL celebrated its 10th anniversary last year but an international conference to mark the event had to be postponed for January this year due to the Government’s request that it would clash with the holding of CHOGM last November. Lankadeepa Editor Siri Ranasinghe, Silumina Editor Sundera Nihatamani de Mel and Navamani Editor M.N. Ameen were re-elected to the Board of Directors of the PCCSL by the general membership of the PCCSL at the AGM. The other members of the Board of Directors representing separate media organisations are Kumar Nadesan (Chairman), Sinha Ratnatunga (Deputy Chairman), Nimal Welgama, Manik de Silva, Gnanasiri Koththigoda and Seetha Ranjini. The PCCSL Secretariat includes Sinhala Print and Promotions Officer Complaints Officer Kamal Liyanarachchi and Tamil Print Complaints Officer Ameen Hussain.