Editors resolve 300 complaints under the ‘Right of Reply’ option

Monday, 26 October 2020 00:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

National newspaper editors resolved 300 complaints made directly to them by aggrieved readers in 2019 and 20 complaints with the involvement of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL). During the year under review, the PCCSL received 83 complaints from the public, of which 13 were outside its scope.

The complaints resolved by the Editors come under Clause 4: the ‘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 2019 presented by its Chief Executive Officer Sukumar Rockwood was released via a Zoom meeting on 21 October, stated that the PCCSL conducted 17 meetings with 252 publishers, editors and journalists. Thirteen awareness meetings were held with 343 members of civil society.

The PCCSL, which is an independent, voluntary, self-regulatory body celebrated its 17th anniversary on 15 October. The PCCSL is supported by the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL), The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL), the Free Media Movement (FMM), and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA); and is affiliated with the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union, the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance, and the South Asian Free Media Association – Sri Lanka Chapter.

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 comprises 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), Lasantha de Silva (nominee of the Free Media Movement), Manik de Silva (nominee of the SLPI), and Frank de Zoysa (nominee of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association), who were re-elected via the Zoom meeting. Siri Ranasinghe, M.N. Ameen, and Mohanlal Piyadasa were re-elected by the general membership via the Zoom meeting of the PCCSL.

Ernst and Young were re-elected Auditors of the company and Corporate Services Ltd. were re-elected secretaries of the company via the Zoom meeting.

The PCCSL Secretariat is headed by CEO Sukumar Rockwood, and includes Sinhala Print Complaints Officer Kamal Liyanaarachchi.