Cook Islands Media Council Charter

The Cook Islands Media Council

Complaints
Operations and Procedures
Chairman
Members
Charter

COMPLAINTS ABOUT COOK ISLANDS MEDIA

If talking with or writing to the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint, contact the Cook Islands Media Council.
The council is an independent body set up to examine complaints from the public about the conduct of the media in gathering and publishing or broadcasting news.

Written concerns, accompanied by documentation, should be sent to:
Address for complaints:

Cook Islands Media Council
PO Box 591
Rarotonga
Cook Islands
Email: contact@cimediacouncil.org

Operations and Procedures

1.     All complaints must first be directed to the media entity concerned.

2.      If the complainant is not satisfied with the response from the entity, the next step is to send to the Secretary of the Media
        Council a statement of the complaint in general terms, copies of any correspondence with the media entity concerned, and
        a copy (if available) of the offending item.

3.     Upon formal submission, the complainant is asked to pledge adherence to Council procedures and to forego recourse
        through the courts. Should the complainant wish to pursue action through the court system, the Council shall withdraw any        consideration of the complaint.Upon making a formal submission to the Council, the complainant is deemed to have waived        all or any right to take or continue legal proceedings against any media outlet, journalist or this Council. This is to avoid the        possibility of the Media Council adjudication being used as a “trial run” for the litigation. The waiver in relation to the Media        Council also ensures that the Council can act fully and freely in relation to any complaint. Bad faith on the part of the
       Council will avoid this indemnity.

4.     The Council retains the discretion to decline to receive or process any complaint if the relevant section of the public to which
        it was displayed or published was limited or the circumstances otherwise make the complaint inappropriate for resolution by
        the Council. Without committing itself to any final position, it is unlikely the Council will accept complaints in relation to
        publication on the internet which is not a re publication from a relevant media outlet.

5.      A copy of the file is then sent by the Council to the media entity, which would be asked to respond to the Council on the
        complaint. That response is copied to the complainant for any additional comment. From then on, the council may make
        any further investigations it thinks may be helpful. It may invite the complainant or the publisher/editor/broadcaster to give
        oral evidence.

6.     One council member is designated as a case leader for each complaint and presents the salient facts before general
        discussion. The complaint may be discussed between members of the Council in any manner that is convenient to them
        and such discussion is not limited to meetings formally convened.

7.     A draft adjudication is produced and then a final determination, a copy of which is sent to the media entity and the
       complainant.

8.     The final determination shall be agreed at a meeting of the Media Council conducted in terms of clauses 7 and 10 of the
        Constitution.

9.     The Media Council will be an ethical body and will not seek to recover debts or impose monetary recompense for
        complainants. It’s only sanction will be to require an offending media entity to publish/broadcast its findings in full if the
        decision goes against it. A shortened version may be released if the finding is in favour of the entity.

10.     The Council’s procedure will be free, non-legalistic and informal. Hearings will not be open to the public and legal counsel
         will not be heard. However, it would be in order for a written complaint to be submitted by counsel on behalf of a client.

11.     The Media Council will operate under the following principles:

         · Freedom of the media is the freedom of the people to be informed. This freedom, won over the centuries in democratic
         countries, includes the right of the media to publish what it reasonably considers to be news, without fear or favour, and to
         comment fairly upon it.

         · The media has no greater rights or freedoms than the normal citizen (other than as given by law), nor does it seek them;
         but it is ever alert to ensure that those rights and freedoms are not whittled away. Freedom does not mean license; and the
         Council, dealing with complaints, gives first consideration to what it perceives to be natural justice and the public interest.

         · The Council does not have a strict coded list of headings under which a complaint must be made. Nor has it formulated
         or issued a set of principles by which the media must govern themselves. Each complaint is considered on its                            own particular set of merits bearing in mind the law, precedent and established media practice.

        ·   Central to the success of this Council is the pledge of the various media organisations to abide by its rulings and for          complainants to adhere to these procedures.

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MEMBERS OF THE COOK ISLANDS MEDIA COUNCIL
Chairman
Justice Tom Weston was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of the Cook Islands in January 2006. He practices as a barrister in New Zealand. He was appointed to the rank of Queen’s Counsel in 1999. He has published a number of books of poetry in New Zealand with a new collection to be published soon. He and his wife Margaret Egan have jointly sponsored prizes at Te Maeva Nui over a five-year period.

Members
Ken Matheson is a retired secondary school teacher, lecturer and former secretary of education. He has a masters degree in science and a variety of diplomas and qualifications in education and management. He gained his own education in New Zealand and started his teaching career in NZ schools before joining Tereora College in 1986. His local posts have included head of science at Tereora, lecturer at Cook Islands Teachers College, director of policy, planning and finance at the Ministry of Education (1995-2000) and secretary of education (2000-2006). He has served on various government committees and boards, is chair of the Natural Heritage Trust Board and was a member of the 2007/2008 Government Budget Committee.

Lesley Katoa is the general manager for Asiaciti Trust Pacific Ltd, one of the trustee companies in the offshore finance industry. She was educated at local primary schools and Tereora National College with one year at Wellington Girls College before going to Auckland University where she graduated with a bachelors degree in commerce.
She has worked for two of the ‘big four’ accounting firms both in New Zealand and Rarotonga, as well as the telecommunications industry. She is a chartered accountant with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA), and a current serving member of the Cook Islands Public Expenditure Review Committee. She is married with one child.

Mona Matepi is manager of the Cook Islands office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She was a journalist during the ‘80s with the former Cook Islands Broadcasting & Newspaper Corporation and later with the then government-owned Cook Islands Television. She is a graduate of the UN Institute of Training and Research with a diploma in international environmental law and has represented NGOs on several national steering committees. She has five children and three grandchildren.

Lawrance Bailey is the sole media representative on the council. He is the owner/manager of Sokala Villas on Muri Beach. In 1981 he earned a diploma in journalism from the Port Moresby campus of the University of Papua New Guinea, and is a former editor of Cook Islands News while it was both a government-run and privatised newspaper. He is a director of Cook Islands News 2008 Limited. His interests include photography and internet publishing.

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CHARTER
The Cook Islands Media Council

We, the undersigned, agree to abide by this Charter in the administration of the regulatory framework for the Cook Islands' media industry.

1. Name

1.1 The name of the Council is the Cook Islands Media Council.

2. Definition

2.1 Under this Charter, the words shall have the following meaning:

"Council" means the Cook Islands Media Council
"Secretary" means the secretary of the council

3. Jurisdiction of the Council

3.1 The jurisdiction of the Council is the media industry in the Cook Islands, comprised of all publishers, broadcasters, journalists, writers, and producers of articles and items for public consumption (the Media).

3.2 The Council will endeavour to provide a full service to the public in regard to the Media (including their websites) regardless of whether a particular media outlet recognises the Council or not. The Council will nevertheless proceed to make a decision as best it can in the circumstances.

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4. Objectives

4.1 The objectives of the Council are to:

* Receive and consider complaints about the conduct of the media
* Receive and consider complaints by the media about the conduct of persons and organisations towards the media
* Facilitate the satisfactory settlement or withdrawal of complaints in an appropriate and timely manner
* Record the action(s) taken by the council
* Promote the freedom of the media in the Cook Islands
* Help maintain the Cook Islands media in accordance with the relevant codes, and highest professional standards

5. Membership of the Council

5.1 The Membership of the Council shall total five representatives.

5.2 Three members shall be appointed by an Appointments Panel comprised of the following:

* one nominee of the media industry
* one nominee of the Law Society, and the
* current Chair of the Council

5.3 The Chair of the Council shall be unconnected with the media either through business interest or kin, and shall be determined when required by way of consensus among the media industry and the existing members of the Council.

5.4 Three members (other than the Chair) shall represent the public's interests.

5.5 The fifth member shall represent the interests of the media industry, and shall be determined by consensus among the industry.

6. Tenure

6.1 The appointment of the Chair shall be for four years. The retiring Chair shall be eligible for re-appointment.

6.2 The appointment of the members representing the public shall be for three years. Retiring members shall be eligible for re-appointment.

6.3 The appointment of the member appointed by the media industry shall be for three years.

6.4 The appointment of any member of the Council (including the Chair) shall terminate forthwith if that member becomes bankrupt or becomes mentally incapable or if that member retires from office by notice in writing to the Secretary.

6.5 The appointment of a person to fill any vacancy on the Council shall be made in the same manner as the member being replaced and the term of the person so appointed shall terminate at the expiry of the term of the member being replaced.

7. Quorum

7.1 The quorum on the Council shall be four members. In the absence of the Chair, an Acting Chair shall be appointed by the members present at the meeting.

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8. Secretary

8.1 The Council is to appoint a Secretary from within its own members as and when necessary.

9. Procedure

9.1 The Council is empowered to determine and regulate its operations and procedures, consistent with the objectives noted above.

10. Meetings

10.1 The Council may meet on dates determined in advance by the Council. The Chair may call additional meetings at any time. The Secretary may call additional meetings upon the written request of two members.

10.2 Meetings can be convened and held either in person or by way of electronic or telephonic communication.

10.3 Subject to clause 7.1 above it will be sufficient compliance with clauses 9 and 10 if a resolution is circulated and approved electronically.

11. Minutes of Meeting

11.1 A copy of the minutes of the meetings of the Council shall be sent to all members by the Secretary.

12. Committees

12.1 The council may delegate all or any of its functions to committees (of its members), as may be determined at a meeting of the council.

13. Dissolution

13.1 The Council may be dissolved by a majority vote (three) of the current members, in which case the Council would then be subject to a process of re-appointment conducted under a consensus of the media industry.

14. Notices

14.1 Notices shall be sent to the members of the Council at the address provided by the respective members to the Secretary for such purpose.

Undersigned:
Pitt Media Group and Cook Islands News
26 November 2007

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