A Senate Report on Media, released in 2006, gave the opinion that Press Councils are an important element of Canada’s news and information system and that they can make a significant contribution to the quality of journalism in Canada.

They also stated that, since Press Councils are not affiliated with a particular newspaper and where council members include representatives of the public, a citizen is more likely to feel that a complaint was judged impartially.

A previous Senate Committee report on media in 1970 suggested that Canada needed Press Councils and that government should have nothing to do with their organization and powers. It also felt that regional Press Councils could meet Canada’s diverse needs.

Many media observers have pointed out that provincial Press Councils are designed to be more receptive to community standards and to be less cumbersome than a government regulatory body with its slow process and change.

It has also been noted that it is appropriate that an industry that sees itself as the eyes and ears of the public should be examined by a council that includes well-informed and independent members of the public.

Self-regulation works because the newspaper industry, for the most part, is committed to it. Although funded by newspaper members, councils are independent bodies with their own objectives and by-laws. In a way, self-regulation is a moral force and it depends on an industry with the
maturity to sign up to independent and reasonable scrutiny by its peers and members of the public.

It costs nothing to complain to a Press Council. You do not need a lawyer or anyone else to represent you. And it means there is no burden on the taxpayer.