parliament and the media

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MEDIA RIGHTS

PARLIAMENT AND THE MEDIAExamining Canada's self-gov erning m od el of

m edia accountabil ity

The Hon. Linda

Reid, MLA has

served as Speaker of th e

Legislative As sembly

of British Columbia since her election to the

position in June 2013.

Previously, she served

as Deput y Speaker

from 200 9 to 2013. Ms.

Reid serv ed as Minister

responsible for early

chi ldhood developm ent

and child care. First

elected as a Mem ber of

BC's Legislati ve As sembly

in 1991, Ms. Reid is British

Columbia's longest

serving current MLA.

Media coverage of the

Commonwealth Parliamentary

Association conference on

Parliament and the Media

included the following headline

in the Times of India newspaper:

Parliamentarians, media mus t

be acco untabl e for conduct.

The article repo rted that,

in the view o f delegates to

the conference, Members

of Parliament and the media

should be held accountable

for their condu ct and need to

work responsibly to ensure that

democratic institutions flourish.

This was indeed the

consensus we reached at this

significant CPA conference

tha t I was privileged to attend

in Andhra Pradesh, India from

8 to 10 April 2015. It is an

important statement. If our

parliamentary democracies are

to endure, we need to ensure

the accountability of both

Parliament and the media.

With the 800thanniversary

of the sealing o f the Magna

Carta this year, it is opportune to

reflect on what steps we can take

today to honour and preserve

our parliamentary democracies.

Most would agree that efforts

that would promote greater

accountability of Parliamentarians

and the media should be one of

those laudable steps.

Accountabili ty of Par li amen t

Accountability is the hallmark of a

parliamentary democracy. In any

free and democratic society, citizens

must have the ability to hold their

government to account In order

to do so, citizens must be informed.

As stated in the Statement of

Principles of one of Canada’s

leading newspapers, the Toronto

Star: “An informed public is essential

to fostering and preserving Canada's

democratic society".

A free press informs cit izens

by gathering and communicating

information to citizens about

public policy issues and actions

taken by government. It performs

this vital role withou t government

interference. The principle of

freedom of expression, and

freedom of the press in particular,

is essential to the working of a

parliamentary democracy.

The media are conduits for

information about the w ork of

Parliament as well as critics

of Pa rliament and individual

Parliamentarians. In recognition

of the role of the media, many

Parliaments provide facilities and

support within their precincts

to legislative press galleries.

Their independence is reflected

in the fa ct that legislative

press galleries determine

their own membership. The

work of members o f the

press gallery is integrated

into the daily operations of

the Legislature and working

relationships are m aintained

with Parliamentarians.

Transparency is an important

component of accountability.

Parliaments are taking new

measures to promote greater

transparency. In the British

Columbia Legislature, for

example, receipts for the

travel expenses of Members

are now posted on line on the

Legislatu re’s website.

Accountabil ity of th e Media

Media accountability is also

critical in a dem ocratic society.

In a 2009 decision of the

Supreme Court of Canada

involving a newspaper, the

Chief Justice discussed

freedom of expression and

stated that: “Freedom does not

negate responsibility. It is vital

that the media act responsibly

in reporting facts on matters

of public concern, holding

themselves to the highest

journa lis tic standards."

Given the imp ortance and

influence of the media, it is

essential that journalists be

accountable for how they

perform the ir role. News stories

and commentary must be

accurate, balanced and fair.

The damaging and far-

reaching harm to the reputations

of individuals that results from

unfair personal attacks is well

recognized. Damaging and far-

reaching harm to democratic

institutions also ensues from

unethical and irresponsible

reporting about their activities.

Defamation laws permit

individuals to bring a civil action

for damages for reputational

harm. Recourse to the courts

is always, however, a costly and

lengthy process.

A t the CPA conference,

delegates discussed alternative

ways in which the media can

be held accountable. We

considered regulatory models

in different jurisdictions and

leading practices.

In India, there is a statutory,

quasi-judicial national authority

that functions as a watchdog

of the press. It adjudica tes

complaints against and by the

press for violation of ethics and

for violation of the freedom of the



MEDIA RIGHTS

press. Another model that was

discussed is the self-governing

model that exists in Canada.

Canada’s self-governing model

of media accountabilityIndependent self-governing

bodies across Canada are

responsible for ensuring that the

newsprint media and journalists

are acting in the best interests o f

the public.

The British Columbia Press

Council is the self-governing

body of the press in my own

jurisdiction . It is one of five

regional regulatory bodies

governing the newspaperindustry in Canada.

It describes its Code of

Practice as follows:

Newspapers are a vital

and essential part o f a free

and democratic society, as

history has shown time and

again. That is why the Press

Council created the Code of

Practice - to encourage the

highest professional and ethical

standards of journalism, and in the belief that vigilant self

regulation is the hallmark of a

free and responsible press.

The Code of Practice includes

such duties as accuracy, to give

an opportunity to reply and to

balance an individual’s desire for

privacy with the requirements of

a free press.

The Press Council considers

unsatisfied complaints from

the public about the conductof member newspapers in the

gathering and publication of

news and opinion. The Council

Directors, which include both

members of the public and of

the profession, oversee the

mediation and adjudication

of complaints, with input

and response from both the

newspaper and the complainant.

Apart from press councils,

individual newspapers mayalso have their own codes of

conduct. For example, Canada’s

national newspaper, The Globe

and Mail, has a comprehensive

Editorial Code of Conduct which

is publicly available. It states

that it is “designed as a road map

to clarify the boundaries between

ethical and unethical journal ism1'

and that editorial staff “must

not only conduct themselves

honourably but must be seen to do so by the public. ”

Challenges and opportunities

At the CPA conference,

delegates expressed concerns

that the media has become less

responsible and more cynical

and prone to hastiness and

superficiality. One conference

delegate said that a crisis of

trust in traditional media is

growing by leaps and bounds.Some saw this as a result

of rapid technological change

where digital media has

sharpened the timeframes.

Information is shared globally in

an instant via the Internet. There

is an increasing use of social

media which may contribute to a

tendency to focus on transitory

and personality issues.

In the face o f this, is a self-

governing model effective enough? Perhaps regulatory

models need to be assessed on

a regular basis to see whether

they are meeting the challenges

of ensuring responsible

journalism in the digital age.

A major Journalism Research

Centre in Toronto recently

published a report entitled

‘Toward Press Council 2.0: An

international review of models of,

and alternatives to, the traditional press council'. The authors are

from a well-respected School

of Journalism at Ryerson

University.

The authors of the report

saw the need for some action

by the Canadian news industry

to be more accountable and

transparent about its ethics and

professional standards. Theycriticized Canada’s system of

media self-assessment as being

neither comprehensive, nor

consistently effective.

In Canada, there has been

some discussion of moving

towards a national press council

that has regional representation.

At a recent annual conference,

Newspapers Canada, which

represents more than 800 daily

and community newspapers,decided to pursue a proposal

put forward by the Ontario Press

Council to create a voluntary

national press council.

Presumably a national

press council would have more

resources and a larger profile

than its regional predecessors.

This would result in increased

awareness of its role and

function and, therefore,

greater transparency.I submit that these kinds of

reviews and considerations of

possible reforms of existing

structures are timely and should

be encouraged.

Given the breathtaking

changes in the media landscape,

there is an increasing need to

ensure that existing regulatory

models are effective and

transparent. They must keep

pace with the changes in how themedia is delivering information

to the public and what is being

delivered. Their complaints

processes must be accessible.

The media are key

accountability actors in modern

democracies. Both members of

the media and Parliamentarians

must be accountable for how they

carry out their role. For the sake

of our democratic institutions,

efforts to strengthen thataccountability must be a priority.

The CPA Parliament and Media

Law Conference was held in

Andhra Pradesh, India between

8 and 10 April 2015.

Th P l i t i 12015 I T 1107



C o p y r i g h t o f P a r l i a m e n t a r i a n i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f C o m m o n w e a l t h P a r l i a m e n t a r y A s s o c i a t i o n

a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t

t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r

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