Press Complaints Commission received 291 complaints in 2014

The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (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, PCCSL Chief Executive Officer said in his annual report for 2014.

The report was read out at the Annual General Meeting of the Commission held last Tuesday (July 15) at the Sri Lanka Press Institute auditorium in Colombo, a press release said..

CEO Sukumar Rockwood further stated that the Sinhala press, which comprises 39 per cent of the country's newspapers, attracted a 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 stated that four English language newspapers however did not co-operate with the PCCSL, which is a voluntary selfregulatory body of the newspaper industry, having the support of the Newspaper Society, Editors' Guild, Free Media Movement, Working Journalists Asso- ciation and other media unions.

The CEO's report said that the PCCSL's autonomous Dispute Resolution Council headed by former Secretary General of Parliament Nihal Seneviratne met bimonthly 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, Horana. Jaffna, Matara, Anuradhapura, Galle and Kayts Island.

The CEO's report states that the PCCSL celebrated its 11th anniversary on October 15 of the year under review.

Siri Ranasinghe (Editor of the Lankadeepa) and Manik de Silva (Editor of the Sunday Island), were re-elected while Mohanlal Piyadasa (Editor of Deshaya) was 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, M. N. Ameen (Editor of Navamani), M. T. M. Muzammil and B. M. Murshideen.

Messrs Ernst and Young, the Auditors of the PCCSL were re-elected Auditors and Messrs Corporate Services (Private) Limited, Secretaries of the PCCSL were re-elected Secretary of the Commission.

The PCCSL Secretariat includes Kamal Liyanarachchi, Complaints Officer, Sinhala Print and Promotions Officer.