Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

The Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka and the Free Media Movement have jointly set up a Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCC) which will hear complaints by the public against any wrongful commissions or omissions on the part of newspapers published in the country.

The PCC is a legal entity that has been established under the Companies Act, and will have an 11-member council, independent of the three media organisations, that will engage in Dispute Resolution between the public and the press.

This council of the PCC will also be responsible for the implementation and interpretation of the Code of Professional Practice (Code of Ethics) of the Editors' Guild and adopted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), the umbrella body of the three media organisations.

The 11members of the PCC council will be as follows:

Chairman: Mr. Sam Wijesinha, former Secretary-General of Parliament and former Ombudsman. 5-Councillors representing Civil Society: Mr. Devanesan Nesiah, member of the Public Service Commission and former Government Agent, Jaffna; Ms. Swarna Jayaweera, ex-Professor of Sociology, University of Colombo and member of the Womens' Research Centre; Mr. Javid Yusuf, former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and former Principal, Zahira College; Mr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, film director; and Mr. Lucille Wijewardene, chartered accountant.

5-Councillors representing the Press: Mr. Siri Ranasinghe, President of the Editors' Guild and editor, Lankadeepa; Mr. G. S. Perera, former editor, Dinamina and former member of the Press Council; Mr. P. Balasingham, Deputy Editor, Daily News; Ms. Mallika Wanigasundera, free lance journalist and Mr. Dion Schoorman, Senior Representative, Reuters (Sri Lanka) Ltd.

The council of the PCC will be engaged in conciliation, mediation or arbitration between the public and the press and it will be empowered to enforce its decisions through courts under provisions of the Arbitration Act in the event of non-compliance by the press.

The office of the PCC will be situated at Independence Square, Colombo and the public will be notified shortly of a date when the council will begin accepting complaints from the public.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager