i. rM«N VMM M« m Self Regulation and Braved Reyordng Report -. •ike Conferee tc Cekibrating the 3.0th Anniversary o'i the Press Cci^jaints Commission of Sri Lanka January 13-155 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka Rapporteur: Toby Mendel, Executive Director, Centre for Law and Democracy Canada Contents An Overview.............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 4 Agenda ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Inaugural Session (January 13, 2014: 5.15-6.45 pm)................................................................... 7 Session I: (Tuesday, January 14,2014:9.15-10.45 am) Right to Information: India’s success story................................................................................ 10 Box 1: The Right to Information................................................................................................ 12 Session II: (Tuesday, January 14,2014:11.15 am-12.30 pm) Media Ethics and Good Governance......................................................................................... 13 Box 2: Main Models for Regulation........................................................................................... 15 Session III: (Tuesday, January 14,2014:1.30-3.00 pm) Country Reports........................................................................................................................ 16 Box 3: Challenges in Implementing a Self Regulatory System.................................................. 18 Session IV: (Tuesday, January 14,2014: 3.15-4.45 am) Journalists’ Ethics: Promoting High Quality Journalism, Self Regulation and Media............. ...19 Box 4: Development of a Code of Conduct.............................................................................. 20 Session V: (Wednesday, January 15,2014:9.30-11.00 am) Journalism, Ethics in the Age of Media Globalization............................................................. 22 Box 5: Dealing with Pressures................................................................................................... 24 Session VI: (Wednesday, January 15,2014:11.15 am-12.30 pm) Country Reports....................................................................................................................... 25 Box 6: Establishing a Press Council.......................................................................................... 27 Session VII: (Wednesday, January 15,2014:1.45-3.15 pm) Self-Regulation within Online news media.............................................................................. 29 Box 7: Regulating the Internet................................................................................................... 31 Recommendations:.................................................................................................................... 32 Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 34 Welcome address....................................................................................................................... 36 UNESCO Representative......................................................................................................... 38 Secretary UK Code Committee................................................................................................. 40 Video Message.......................................................................................................................... 43 Key Note Address....................................................................................................................... 45 Code of Professional Practice (Code of Ethics) of The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka adopted by the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka.................................................... 50 International Conference in pictures......................................................................................... 53 ii | Self Regulation and Ethical Reporting An Overview The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka joined in and from it was born the ‘COLOMBO (PCCSL) was a “fair exchange” by the joint media DECLARATION ON MEDIA FREEDOM AND organizations viz., the Newspaper Society of Sri SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY’, the brainchild of one Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the of India’s foremost media activists of that era, C.R. Free Media Movement at the time campaigning Irani, a lawyer, editor and managing director of the furiously as they were for the repeal of the draconian Kolkata-based The Statesman. Criminal Defamation laws that had landed editors The Colombo Declaration of 1998 drew up and publishers alike in court. the roadmap for Media Freedom and Social Those in favour of doing away with these laws Responsibility in Sri Lanka insofar as the Press asked the legitimate question; “What about the was concerned. It, inter-alia, demanded the repeal poor public servant who gets bludgeoned by the of Criminal Defamation and the clause on Self- powerful Press. What recourse has (s)he got if (s)he Regulation referred to the a new Press Council Act cannot afford lawyers and civil action”. Our answer on the lines of the UN’s International Covenant on was that practice has shown that it is not the poor Civil and Political rights (ICCPR) and a under the public servant who has recourse to this law, it is the clause on “responsibilities of media Institutions and President and Cabinet Ministers and they alone. It Personnel”, a voluntary Code of Ethics, and a Right is . i > v‘i they complain that the Police, the Attorney of Reply for readers aggrriebed by news items. Generals Department - and even sometimes, the And so, after Parliament unanimously agreed Courts move with the speed of greased lightning. in 2002 to repeal Criminal Defamation laws, the Nobody bothers with the poor public servant. The PCCSL was set up and running by October the next only purpose of the law is to bludgeon the Press. year (2003). Then Justice Minister V.J.M. Lokubandara of the It was the then senior partner at the leading law Ranil Wickremesinghe Government presented the firm, F.J. & G. De Saram, U. L. Kadurugamuwa who Bill to repeal Criminal defamation and Parliament helped prepare the Memorandum of Association repealed the law unanimously with all political and Articles of Association of the PCCSL. It was to parties agreeing that the law needed to be erased be an arbitral body and was thus created under the from the country’s statute books. But before that Arbitration Act No. 15 of 1995. though, the campaign for the law’s abolition had Simultaneously, there was the question of gathered momentum. The three organizations funding. The Sri Lankan newspaper industry was representing publishers, editors and media not able to carry the load of self-financing a self- activists lobbied long and hard, both locally and regulatory mechanism of this nature. Foreign sources internationally. After some initial meetings with of funding was a a must in view of Government like-minded groups locally, a landmark event, an contributions being none. The foreign funding came International Symposium was held in April 1998 in the form of a package from the Scandinavian under the banner ‘Media Freedom and Social countries and UNESCO which established the Sri Responsibility’, a title given by the then editor of the Lanka Press Institute and the Sri Lanka College of Ravaya, Victor Ivan, himself a victim of the law. Journalism along with the PCCSL. FMM frontliner, The symposium had the participation Waruna Karunatilake of Reuters was in the forefront of international media associations, the of this exercise with some others. World Association of Newspapers (WAN), The Government of the day agreed to suspend the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU), the the Press Council of Sri Lanka, a statutory body set International Press Institute (IPI), the Media up in controversial circumstances back in 1973 “to Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and Article give self-regulation a chance”. Unfortunately, that 19. The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association Government did not go the full extent of repealing Self Regulation and Ethical Reporting 11 the Press Council Act which it had vigorously was a need for a Code of Ethics -guidelines both for opposed back in 1963 when it was first mooted, and journalists and the PCCSL. Strictly speaking there then again in 1973 when it eventually passed into was a Code of Ethics drafted under the Press Council law. The result is that a few years ago, the present Law back in the 1980s, but hardly any practitioner Government re-activated the statutory Council, knew of its existence. without even adhering to the existing provisions in Journalists, particularly editors loathed such that law - and despite the vehement opposition of all a code preferring instead an open general licence. media unions in the country that refused - en voce - They saw it as an intrusion into their freedom. to nominate representatives to sit in that body. But the time had come for a code. Journalists The PCCSL was meant to dispense with public could no longer be the ‘sacred cows’ of all professions. complaints on a ‘Free, Fair, Fast’ basis. It was to I recall writing in the Lankadeepa when the PCCSL adjudicate progressively through