| Sri Lanka’s eight main media associations once again reiterated this week their “vehement opposition” to the establishment of the government-appointed Press Council, and condemned moves to reintroduce dormant legislation that provides for wide ranging punitive powers including that of jailing journalists.
The eight associations are the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Free Media Movement, Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance, Muslim Media Forum, South Asian Free Media Association (Sri Lanka Chapter) and the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions. They said they “unequivocally object to government initiatives to reactivate the Press Council, after 10 years”.
The associations that represent the mainstream media publishers, editors, journalists and workers said they are “united in their opposition to this draconian piece of legislation that empowers government appointees to punish journalists selectively”.
In a joint news release issued on Friday, the eight associations pointed out that the government was unable to legally constitute the Press Council because of this united opposition.
“On several previous occasions, our organisations have jointly and severally appealed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, both officially and informally, not to proceed with the Press Council, but to permit the industry-driven self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) to continue with its work in addressing complaints from the public”, the release stated.
Since its establishment in 2003, the PCCSL has dispensed with over 900 complaints from the public at large, through an independent Dispute Resolution Council, chaired from its inception by the respected former Secretary General of Parliament, Sam Wijesinha. This process incurs no financial burden on either the complainant or the State. The PCCSL is also the implementing arm of the Code of Professional Practice drafted by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, and conducts regular training programmes for provincial journalists throughout the country.
The joint release added that, “it is disconcerting to note that, instead of strengthening self-regulation, President Rajapaksa and his government have reneged on their previous promises and opted to re-activate the Sri Lanka Press Council Law No. 5 of 1973, with powers to imprison and fine journalists, which will have a chilling effect on media freedom in Sri Lanka. These organisations demand from President Rajapaksa an immediate halt to ongoing moves to re-activate the Press Council and urge a dialogue with all stakeholders on this urgent issue”. |
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