Sunday Times 2
PCCSL releases annual report
View(s):The Secretariat of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL), the self-regulatory body of the newspaper industry released its annual report for 2016 this week. According to the report, the PCCSL Secretariat received 133 complaints of which 84 were valid complaints that were resolved while 317 complaints by readers were directly resolved by editors of national newspapers providing a ‘Right of Reply’ opportunity for aggrieved parties to have their say.
An autonomous Dispute Resolution Council (DRC) of the PCCSL Secretariat sits as an appellate body of the self-regulatory mechanism which ensures the Editors Code is adhered to by newspapers. Former Secretary General of Parliament, Nihal Seneviratne, Chairman of the DRC in his message compliments national newspaper editors for resolving reader complaints directly by affording the Right of Reply opportunity.
“The voluntary self-regulation system is most suited for a growing democracy”, he says and adds that it “fulfils one of the main tenets of good governance”.
Picture shows CEO of the PCCSL Secretariat Sukumar Rockwood handing over a copy of the 2016 annual report at its headquarters at No. 96, Bernard Soysa Mawatha, Colombo 5 to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the PCCSL, Mr. Kumar Nadesan. Other Board directors and the Company Secretary are also present.
