Four English newspapers snub press commission

Four English language newspapers did not co-operate with the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (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 PCCSL said in its annual report.

PCCSL received 291 complaints last year, hosted an International Conference on ?Self Regulation and Ethical Reporting? and reviewed the Editors? Code of Professional Practice with inputs from the public, journalists, editors, publishers and academics, Chief Executive Officer of the PCCSL said in his annual report for 2014.

The report was read out at the Annual General Meeting of the Commission at the Sri Lanka Press Institute auditorium in Colombo.

PCCSL CEO Sukumar Rockwood said?that the Sinhala press which comprises 39 per cent of the country’s newspapers attracted the majority of the complaints in 2014. 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 323 complaints were resolved by editors providing a Right of Reply to aggrieved parties.

The report however stated that four English language newspapers did not co-operate with the PCCSL.?The CEO’s report said that the PCCSL’s autonomous Dispute Resolution Council headed by former Secretary General of Parliament Nihal Senviatne met bi-monthly to inquire into complaints that required their attention. (Colombo Gazette)