Jan 30, 2003. Estonia's new voluntary self-regulatory Press Council (Pressinõukogu)
decided at the end of December 2002 to agree to a request from internet
news portals to handle complaints regarding the journalistic content of
these sites.
As newspaper web sites are already within the bounds of the Press Council,
it was considered a logical next step to start accepting complaints from
the public also about news portals which are not linked to a traditional
newspaper.
So far, no complaint about an on-line item has been lodged with the Press
Council.
Three internet service providers, which operate news portals, informed
the Press Council that they recognize the Press Council as the self-regulatory
body to handle complaints from the public. They also said they recognize
the Estonian code of press ethics.
The news portals and newspaper online editions already have self-regulation
in place on the level of their own operation: notice and take down.
The Press Council was set up by the Estonian Newspaper Association in
August 2002 as a non-statutory body of press self-regulation to handle
complaints from the public about the printed press. The Press Council replaces
a previous self-regulatory body, Avaliku Sõna Nõukogu, which was hit by
a crisis after its chairman Urmas Loit was given a vote of no confidence
by the newspaper industry over his failure to tackle conflicts of interest
and ethics.
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