The Press Complaints Commission (PCCSL)
In the later part of the 1990s, the media in Sri Lanka was pushing for media law reforms. The move towards a voluntary self-regulation of the media was mooted at an international conference held in Colombo in 1998. As a result, The Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom & Social Responsibility was signed.
This led to the setting up of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka PCCSL, in October 2003. Its subscribers are the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association and the Free Media Movement. The main objective is to ensure a free and responsible press in Sri Lanka.
The PCCSL is a self-regulatory body for the print media of Sri Lanka. It is modelled on the lines of the British Press Complaints Commission and is influenced by the mechanism of the Press Ombudsman in Sweden and South Africa.