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Newspaper editors resolve 243 complaints under the ‘Right of Reply’ option: PCCSL
View(s):National newspaper editors resolved 243 complaints made directly to them by aggrieved readers in 2018 and 31 complaints with the involvement of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL).
During the year under review, the PCCSL received 79 complaints from the public, of which 19 were outside its scope, a news release from the PCCSL said.
The complaints resolved by the Editors come under Clause 04. ‘Opportunity to Reply’ (‘Right of Reply’) procedure laid down by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka in their Code of Professional Practice (Editors’ Code).
The Code, which is implemented by the PCCSL now provides for conditional third party complaints.
The annual report of the PCCSL for 2018 which was released on Wednesday (September 4), states that the PCCSL conducted 14 meetings with 118 publishers, editors and journalists. Fourteen awareness meetings were held with 50 members of civil society. They also had six awareness meetings with 253 youths who represented various youth groups in the island. These meetings were held in Colombo, Akmeemana, Negombo, Ulapane, N’Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, Anuradhapura and Galle areas.
The PCCSL works on the principles of Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration through its Secretariat and the Dispute Resolution Council (DRC). The DRC is made up of six non-journalists, including the chairman and five journalists. It is headed by former Secretary General of Parliament Attorney Nihal Seneviratne. The other non-journalist members are; Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Javid Yusuf, Dion Schoorman, Lucille Wijewardene and Gnana Moonesinghe. The journalist members are: Siri Ranasinghe, P. Balasingham, Daya Lankapura, Pramod de Silva and Rajitha Weerakoon.
The nine-member Board of Directors comprise; Kumar Nadesan (Chairman, nominee of SLPI), Sinha Ratnatunga (Deputy Chairman, nominee of The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka), Nimal Welgama (nominee of the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka), Jagath Liyanarachchi (nominee of the Free Media Movement), Manik de Silva (nominee of the SLPI), Frank de Zoysa (nominee of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association). Siri Ranasinghe, M. N. Ameen and Mohanlal Piyadasa were re-elected by the general membership of the PCCSL.
The PCCSL Secretariat is headed by the CEO, Sukumar Rockwood and includes Kamal Liyanaarachchi, Complaint’s Officer.
| SLPI marks 16th AGM with many achievements  SLPI Chairman Kumar Nadesan chairs the AGM The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) held its 16th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday at its auditorium at 96, Kirula Road, Colombo 5, attended by representatives of its constituent partners – the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, the Free Media Movement, the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association and its members. Presenting the annual report of the institution, Kumar Lopez, Chief Executive Officer of the SLPI, stated that 2018 had been a successful year with many improvements, a news release from the SLPI said. He stressed on the signature event of the SLPI calendar for the previous year; the 20th anniversary of the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility that ended in grand success. SLPI has made prominent interventions especially in spreading awareness on Right to Information among various strata in society. The Right to Information conference commemorating the first year anniversary of RTI implementation in Sri Lanka took place under the title “Reflection of Right to Information Act implementation in Sri Lanka”. The CEO also mentioned the success in their reach to the youth on RTI awareness and communication that had been able to build over 40 RTI stories from districts across the country. Several projects have been implemented in association with foreign missions such as Norway United States and Germany with the organisations like Norwegian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Open Society Foundation (OSF), Media in Transition and Coordination (MiCT), USAID and the UNDP. Mr. Lopez also mentioned that with the support of The Editors’ Guild, the annual Journalism Awards for Excellence was held in July 2018, the release said. Directors of the Sri Lanka Press Institute re-elected were; Kumar Nadesan (Chairman) of the Newspaper Society, Sinha Ratnatunga (Deputy Chairman), Manik de Silva and Mohanlal Piyadasa of The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka, Seetha Ranjanee, C. Dodawatte and Udaya Kalupathirana of the Free Media Movement, Lasantha Ruhunage and Duminda Sampath of the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association. Messrs. Ernest and Young Global Limited were re-appointed as auditors of the company and F.J. &G de Seram’s Corporate Services (Private) Limited (CSL) were re-appointed as the company secretaries. | |