ACM statement on Bermuda’s Media Council Bill, 2010

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) is concerned that the Media Council Bill 2010, introduced for debate in the parliament of Bermuda on May 7, 2010, seeks to impose a regime of prior censorship and direct political, non-editorial control over media conduct and content.

The ACM subscribes to the view that Media Councils that set standards, monitor and advise on the conduct of media are best operationalised through self-regulatory mechanisms introduced by the media industry itself.

This is the preferred approach in many modern democracies and has been the case since 1997 in Trinidad and Tobago, where there exists a Media Complaints Council guided by a Code of Media Practice voluntarily subscribed to by the media industry.