The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) said that they were planning to introduce a set of guidelines (Code of Ethics) for news websites that were currently operating in the country.
PCCSL English Complaints Officer, Sukumar Rockwood, speaking to Daily Mirror yesterday, said that discussions with editors and managers of several news websites concerning the introduction of a common set of guidelines for all the news websites operating in the country had been held. “The plan is still at an infant stage. During the initial round of discussions some of the editors and managers came up with the thought that the Code of Professional Practice (Code of Ethics) of the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka could also be applied to the web content, although it was not printed material that was being regulated,” Mr. Rockwood said.
moreHe said that therefore it was most likely there would be no requirement to introduce a separate code of ethics for the news websites, but certain regulatory measures to could be included in the code of ethics presently being followed. “In our work plan we are supposed to by and large try and get as many people to follow the guidelines set by the PCCSL, which is why we decided to incorporate news websites into the network as well,” he added.
As a next step, Mr. Rockwood said that they had scheduled another round of discussions between the PCCSL, news editors and managers, so that they could get their suggestions too before implementing what was discussed in the future.
By Lakna Paranamanna - Daily Mirror
