OVERALL SCORE FOR SECTOR 3: 3.6 (2006 = 3.5) Sector 4: The media practice high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The media follow voluntary codes of professional standards which are enforced by self-regulatory bodies. ANALYSIS: Print Media Print Media South Africa has set up a new self-regulatory mechanism in addition to the previous one-person body, the Press Ombudsman. In August 2007 the industry established a Press Council which adjudicates complaints from the public through the Ombudsman and the Press Appeals Panel. Participation is voluntary but nearly 700 publications subscribe to this system, including all major newspapers and magazines. The Press Council consists of six public and six media representatives. Media organisations nominate their representatives. An appointments panel comprising three council members and a judge appoints public representatives on the basis of nominations in response to advertisements in the press. The Ombudsman will deal with complaints in the first instance. If he cannot resolve the case, he will hold a hearing with two Appeals Panel members. Any of the parties may take the decisions at the Ombudsman’s level on appeal to the full Press Appeals Panel, headed by a retired judge. On average some 200 more serious cases are being handled per year. Findings are based on a code of conduct which was developed by media stakeholders. Given the inclusion of public representatives in the Council in 2007, it may be necessary to review this code in a process which ensures participation of the public at large. In addition to the common body, some newspapers such as the Mail & Guardian and the Saturday Star have set up their own in-house complaints mechanism or ombud. The ruling party ANC in December 2007 announced plans to look into the need for setting up a statutory body at parliamentary level, a Media Appeals Tribunal, which would deal with appeals against findings of the Press Council’s Appeals Panel. The concept is still very vague. Legal experts are of the view that the ANC’s plan will not fly because it goes directly against the constitution. The media are determined to fight it right up to the Constitutional Court, because any regulation from outside the media would limit freedom of expression. Broadcast Media So This Is Democracy? 2008 -216- Media Institute of Southern Africa