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There was a false alarm for the media last week, when the Premier said he would announce restrictions in next month’s Throne Speech.

His comment followed his tirade against the media, so the press drew a logical conclusion.

But a day or two later, the Premier made it clear he wasn’t planning to clamp down on ‘divisive language’ and not on the press.

Who knows what this means. The press didn’t stop to wonder. They just breathed a sigh of relief that there was no Government plan to control them with some kind of press council. But the press shouldn’t stop worrying. Instead, it should get to work creating its own press council, run by the press itself. It needs to create its own standards of behaviour, or at least borrow the codes of conduct widely used by media in other western countries. Then it should publicize these standards, and establish a system for the public (and politicians) to lodge complaints when they feel these standards have been violated.

In countries like Australia, which has this kind of system, the press council’s most powerful punishment is to require the offending newspaper, or TV or radio station, to prominently publicize the press council’s decisions.

It doesn’t give complainants the satisfaction of seeing their most hated columnist dragged off to jail, but if they want a day in court, they can go to a lawyer and file suit.

But I believe a press council like this would be a powerful way to resolve much of the friction and misunderstanding between the media and the public, and the media and public figures.

It’s also practical for a place like Bermuda.

Many large newspapers in the U.S. have their own independent ombudsman, who handles reader complaints and has his or her own column – in which he or she can describe complaints and investigations, and can praise or chastise the newspaper without interference from the paper’s editors.

It would be impossible for any Bermuda newspaper or TV station to afford that. But, working together, they could create a part time volunteer panel with the credibility to make a difference.

It would raise standards, improve professionalism, and reduce complaints. It would enhance media credibility by giving readers and viewers more confidence that their complaints would be dealt with in an impartial way.

But it would also be a way of educating the public, and public figures, on the challenges and hurdles faced by journalists in Bermuda. Despite the airwaves and barrels of ink at their disposal, journalists have done very little to explain to the rest of Bermuda who they are, how they go about their work, and what they are trying to accomplish. A joint press council would help educate the public on the role of the media as a watchdog and critic.

I know, for example, that journalists in Bermuda are frequently dumbfounded when local politicians complain that the media treats them harshly — it’s nothing compared to what politicians are subjected to in many other countries.

And journalists are often frustrated at how closed Bermuda is — and how closed-mouthed politicians and public servants are in general are — compared to normal practice in Europe and North America.

Few governments, when they run into difficulties, can resist blaming and attacking the media. Our current Government frequently withholds information, spins incredible self-serving versions of the truth, and claims it is savagely picked upon.

On the other hand, this same Government has created the first Government ombudsman’s position, and is developing Bermuda’s first freedom of information act — remarkable steps forward that no previous Bermuda Government has been brave enough to take.

I suspect that the real threat to press freedom in Bermuda comes from casual suspicion, poor co-operation and a lack of credibility rather than from Government legislation. It is painful to hear the Premier rail against the media, and blame it for all his woes. But if the Premier or anybody else genuinely feels the media has wronged them, what else are they supposed to do? Where are they supposed to go? The media would be smart to give them an answer. They should establish their own official set of standards, and a system to deal with complaints. If they don’t, somebody else might try to do it for them.[[In-content Ad]]

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