Home News SLPI strongly oppose reactivation of the Press Council; a threat on Media...

SLPI strongly oppose reactivation of the Press Council; a threat on Media Freedom

The constituent partners of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) vehemently condemn the Executive actions of the President Maithripala Sirisena to re-activate the Sri Lanka Press Council on July 2, 2015 through the provisions of the anti-democratic Press Council Law No. 5 of 1973. The re-establishment of the government appointed Press Council, re-introduces dormant legislation that provides for wide ranging punitive powers including that of imprisoning media personnel.
Completely reversing an election promise of his to ensure the stoppage of direct and indirect threats and intimidation against print media personnel and their owners, the question arises if this is the short-term and long-term programme he promised in his election manifesto to protect freedom of all media personnel.
On the contrary, President Sirisena has proceeded to, illegally re-constitute the Press Council’s tribunal without even the basic courtesy of consulting stakeholders as he is, in any event, bound to do by law under sections 3(b)(i) and 3(b)(ii) of the said law.
A President who has not only vowed to uphold media freedom, but to regain lost freedoms and repeatedly said he is the only President who did away with Executive powers, has unilaterally exercised these very powers to re-introduce laws that allow his nominees to jail journalists and publishers.
Sri Lanka was the first South-Asian country to introduce self-regulation, with the broad support of the newspaper industry. An 11-member Dispute Resolution Council of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL), chaired by a former Secretary General of Parliament, has sat on public complaints against press reports since 2003. Since its establishment in 2003, the PCCSL has dispensed with over 1500 complaints from the public at large, through an independent Dispute Resolution Council. 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 constituent partners of the SLPI have demanded from successive political leaders, the repeal of the draconian Press Council Law and call upon President Sirisena to rescind his ill-advised Executive decision to reactivate the Press Council, with immediate effect without dragging this country back into the abyss of a repressive, un-democratic state.
The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) is a body incorporated, constituted by the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka,  The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, the Free Media Movement and Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association with its Main Objects being “to assist, encourage and facilitate the Press to exercise and uphold its freedom and be responsible to the Public”.  The SLPI is the country’s leading institution that envisages development of media in Sri Lanka through professional training and upholding ethics.  It has two major divisions the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ) which handles the training of journalists and the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) that operates as a mediator between the public and the media.

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Know your Parliament – North Central Province Workshop –  Anuradhapura

Know your Parliament Youth workshop series on understanding the role of the parliament North Central Province Workshop -  Anuradhapura The third workshop of the "Know Your Parliament"...

Press Club Event – “The India Story: Reform | Perform | Transform”

The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) hosted the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, H. E. Santhosh Jha on the topic "The India...

Journalism in the Age of Disinformation: The Truth Toolkit for Journalists – Kegalla District Workshop

The Sri Lanka Press Institute is conducting a series of workshops for journalists and media professionals on 'Journalism in the Age of Disinformation: The...

Advanced data journalism training

The advanced data journalism training was successfully concluded with renowned expert Ms. Gurman Bhatia, Award-winning Data Journalist and Director of Revisual Labs, sharing her...

Recent Comments