Members of the Seychelles Media Commission Board have reviewed the existing Code of Conduct in an extraordinary meeting held today. The code which was published in 2013, was put together following a series of consultation with members of the media and a number of stakeholders.
The Code has been used by media practitioners and non-practitioners alike. Whilst it had guided those working in the sector, the Code has been used to also justify complaints by members of the public and other bodies wishing to make complaints to the Commission. Six years into its existence, the Commission has noted a number of lacking in the Code and areas that require additional guidance for its users.
The exercise began early in April, when Commissioners discussed the content of the Code as part of their introductory process. As a way forward it was agreed that same areas of the code required revision. It was agreed that the process should begin with a research of international codes, so as to identify areas where the code can be revised in line with international standards and to identify areas of the code that can be improved upon, in line with the type of complaints being filed locally. This exercise took six months to complete and involved over one hundred international codes and forty five cases.
Section 13 (2.c) of the SMC Act requires that the Code is formulated in consultation with the Association of Media Practitioners (AMPS). Following the internal exercise, the Commission will be inviting the Association of Media Practitioners Seychelles (AMPS) to take the review through its second phase by discussing the proposed amendments and additions with its members.
At the end of the revision process, the Commission hopes to take the revised Code to Cabinet for approval and to have it become a regulation.