1st Annex to the Media Council of Mongolia’s

Governing Board resolution No 2, 2015 

 

COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

 

One.  General provisions  

1.1. Anyone who believes that journalistic content published or broadcast by media organizations violates the “Mongolian Media Ethics Principles” [1] may submit a complaint /hereinafter complaint/ to the Media Council of Mongolia /hereinafter Council/.

1.2. The Council will only accept and process complaints regarding journalistic content disseminated by print, online, radio and television journalists.

1.3. The Council will make statistical information about complaints and decisions of complaint committees /hereinafter Committee/ available for the public on a quarterly basis.

Two. Receiving complaints

2.1. Complaints concerning content published or broadcast 90 days prior to submission of the complaint will be accepted in a written form.

2.2. The following documents must be attached along with a filed complaint. It includes:

       2.2.1. Date, time, and name of a media organization;

       2.2.2. Grounds for complaints, reasons, and descriptions;

       2.2.3. An article which is considered as violated;

       2.2.4. In case of print media, an original copy of a reporting where the published date and time are visible;

       2.2.5. In case of websites, a link or screenshot of a reporting shall be attached;

      2.2.6. In case of radio and television, the name of a radio or television, its logo, program name, duration of streaming, an audio or video copy;

2.3. General, unclear or anonymous complaints regarding media outlet’s operations, advertisement, personal qualities of journalists such as knowledge, education or personal behavior will not be accepted.

2.4. The Council shall not receive an anonymous complaint;

2.5. If a complainant requests to disclose his/her name, his/her request shall be considered during the complaint discussion process.

Three. Complaint scrutiny

3.1. Complaints will be received and registered by the Council’s Secretariat /hereinafter Secretariat/.

3.2. The Secretariat shall deliver a written description regarding the complaints, which are relevant ethical issues mentioned in article 2.3 of this Complaint Procedure.

3.3. A complainant [ST1] can re-file the complaint within ten days after receiving a written description mentioned in article 3.2 of this Complaint Procedure.

3.4. In case the complainant makes claim on the issue to the court before making complaint to the Council or after made complain before the meeting of the Committee, the complaint procedure can be post. New decision should be taken after first court-decision[2].

3.5. The Council shall inform an entity to which was addressed about a complaint is received. Media organizations shall reply in written form within 10 or 15 days, respectively, in case of a media organization in Ulaanbaatar or in local provinces after informing.

Four.  Preparation for committee hearings

4.1. The Secretariat shall prepare complaints for hearings in the order of their submission and set up the hearing date.

4.2. The complaint shall be considered as resolved if the complainant withdraws the complaint.[3]

4.3. On basis of taking proposal from members hearing date shall be fixed at the beginning of the year to conduct it not less than once a quarter, and hearing date shall be announced to members and public. The Committee hearing shall be reminded to Committee members at least 10 working days before the hearing in advance. The date of the hearing shall be announced publicly through the website of the Council.[4]

4.4. Secretariat shall notify proposal it is required to discuss forwarded complaint in irregular hearing to the chairman of Ethic Committees, to preside irregular hearing or not shall be settled by decision of the Chairman.[5]

4.5. The Secretariat shall make preparations for the Committee hearings. These preparations shall include following:

       4.5.1. The complaint and accompanying documents including the statements of the respondents shall be sent to Committee members 3 working days before the hearing.

       4.5.2. Preparation of technical facilities including rooms, equipment and documents.[6]     

4.6. Members must be physically present at hearings. Only members from rural areas will be allowed, if justified, send their votes/positions in writing prior to the hearing or on the phone during the hearing.[7]

4.7. A member affiliated with the respondent shall withdraw oneself from participation in the hearing on the ground of partiality.

4.8. Members can be challenged by other members on grounds of presumed partiality. In this case the application for rejection of participation in the hearing shall be decided based on the simple majority rule.

4.9. The hearings shall not, in any circumstances, be open to the public.

Five.  Committee hearing

5.1. Committee hearings shall take place at least once in a quarter, with no less than 60 percent of members attendance.[8]

5.2. The hearing shall be conducted by the Chairman or by the deputy chairman in case if the Chairman is absent. In this case in absence of deputy chairman, head of the committee or a member shall be proposed as a moderator of hearing, and adopted by decision of majority members in the hearing.[9]

5.3. A meeting shall decide to check or discuss a complaint

5.4. Committee members shall review and appraise the complaint and accompanying documents with regard to the “Media Ethics Code’ and make conclusions. To make conclusion, the response forwarded by the media outlet on the complaint shall be taken into consideration.[10]

5.5. Members shall clearly and concisely express their opinions on background of the conclusion, the complaint has ground or not and violates Code of Media Ethics within time duration no longer than 4 minutes.[11]

5.6. Independent researchers or experts may be invited to the hearing for advice and professional views on ethical issues in journalism.

5.7. At the end of the dispute the Chairman conducts an open poll. The final decision shall be approved by the majority of members.

5.8. The members shall maintain confidentiality concerning the discussions, individual statements and opinions, the decision making process and relevant documents.

5.9. A member of the Secretariat shall produce a record of the hearing to document the process. The records of the hearing can be confirmed online by members 5 working days. Absence of confirmation shall be taken as approval of the records.[12]

5.10. Complaints and accompanying documents, the hearing minutes and decisions shall be documented and archived.  

Six. Making a meeting resolution

6.1. A meeting shall define which articles of the Media Ethics Codes are violated and make a conclusion.  

6.2. In case of a defendant (media organization) published a correction or asked apologies before an Ethics Committee hold its meeting, the Committee shall consider it for making its decision. 

6.3. Based on the Committee's conclusion, the following types of the decision shall be made. It includes:

      6.3.1. A decision to inform that a media organization did not violate any Media Ethics Codes;

      6.3.2. A decision to inform that a media organization made a correction or asked apologies on their own will;

     6.3.3. A decision to inform a media organization’s violation of Media Ethics Codes and the Committee’s recommendation shall be announced if it is necessary;

     6.3.4. In the following cases /6.3.1 or 6.3.3/, media organizations’ names shall be disclosed to the public. In case of 6.3.2, a media organization’s name shall not be disclosed. A complainant’s name shall not be disclosed to the public.

6.4. A meeting decision shall be made in resolution form and affirmed by the signature of the Committee Chairman.

6.5. Committee decisions shall be reported to the public after notifying a complainant or defendant (media organization).

6.6. The Committee Chairman or the Secretariat shall inform the Committee decisions within seven working days to the public.  

6.7. A media organization to which a complaint was addressed or other media can publish the Committee decisions.

Seven. Re-discussing the Committee decisions

7.1. A complainant has a right to appeal to the Council within ten working days after receiving the Committee decision.

7.2. In such cases, the problem shall be re-discussed and resolved by a joint meeting of Ethics Committees.

7.3. The complaint shall be discussed in case that the Ethics Committee members' attendance is above 50 percent.

7.4. The joint meeting shall be presided by the Chairman of Committee, which is not discussing that complaint, or a deputy chairman in case of the Chairman’s absence.

7.5. A decision made by the joint meeting shall be a final decision. 

Eight. Election

8. During the election period, complaints related to media reporting or programs can be discussed immediately. Related further regulation shall be made separately.

 

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