'Im glad this day has come'

Until last summer many in local media were slow to take accountability for their craft and form a body that helped protect the public from unethical and potentially malicious reporting.

In the absence of leadership on the issue, then-Premier Dr. Ewart Brown introduced a Bill that tried to legislate responsible reporting and police newsrooms.

There were audible screams of discontent throughout the industry and one of those voices was my own. I thought the Premier Brown-led Bill was flawed and I said so publicly. 

However, I thought it was equally important to point out that if media industry leaders had stepped up — as they were invited to do on more than one occasion — there would have been no need for the legislature to act.

Under the threat of legislative action media honchos moved, albeit belatedly. Once that finally happened in a tangible way, the Government put the media council legislation on the back burner — but left it on the stove as a reminder: “If you don’t police yourselves, we will do it for you.”

So the media moved and they did it with focus and determination over the past half-year. Today, the country’s first ever Media Council has been launched.

It is an important development.

A member of the public can make complaints to the Media Council if he or she believes the Council’s Code of Practice has been violated. An eight-member body of intelligent and reasonable people will investigate complaints and, where appropriate, resolve them. 

No doubt, ‘resolution’ in this context will be defined on a case-by-case basis.  And just as importantly, the Media Council will help protect freedom of expression for all of us.

I’m glad this day has come. I have studied and worked in media and communications fields for many years. And the quality of the journalism everywhere is better when the industry self-regulates, when it uproots its own bad actors, when colleagues challenge colleagues to do better. We desperately need this in Bermuda. Every democracy should have it.

When a media organization gets it wrong it should, at minimum, apologize and, when possible, tell the public what it intends to do to avoid repeating the mistake. Even more crucially, if one of us errs and doesn’t take accountability for it, our colleagues should call us out.

In a way, that’s exactly what I was trying to do last summer. Local media is filled with people I respect.  Some of them are my friends. But when they screamed like a victim last summer, I had to also remind them that their predicament was a result of their own inaction. If they were looking for someone to blame, they had to look in the mirror.

Over the past six months the media have examined their reflection and made some changes. I think it shows maturity. We’re all better off for it. Well done.

Media Council

• New era for the media
• Media Council explained: The complaints procedure
• How the Media Council was formed
• How the Media Council works
• Who sits on the Media Council?
• Frequently asked questions about the Media Council
• The Media Council's Code of Practice (abridged)
• 'Im glad this day has come'