New form of associate membership for Press Council available

October 29 2014

New form of associate membership now available

A release was issued earlier today announcing that the New Zealand Press Council has amended its constitution to widen its membership to news and commentary-oriented digital media.

The council and its stakeholders have taken this step in recognition of the significant expansion and diversification of media platforms in New Zealand.

The Constitution may be seen at www.societies.govt.nz

Qualifying digital media will be accepted as associate members of the council. Enquiries should be directed to the Executive Director of the Press Council at info@presscouncil.org.nz. Applications for membership may be lodged using the application form at www.presscouncil.org.nz.

Applications will be considered by the council’s Executive Committee which includes senior editors and publishers, and the chairman of the Press Council, former High Court judge Sir John Hansen. Acceptance will be at the Executive Committee’s sole discretion.

In considering applications for associate membership, the Executive Committee will assess the likely ability of applicants to meet the standards required which are set out in the council’s Statement of Principles at www.presscouncil.org.nz. The principles include requirements relating to accuracy, fairness and balance; and independence and integrity.

Associate members will also be required to publish a brief note on their websites referring to the council and advising how readers should go about making a complaint. As is the case with all media which accept council jurisdiction, complainants must first raise their grievances with the editor or publisher of the media entity concerned. It the plaintiff is not satisfied with the publisher’s response, a complaint may then be lodged with the council.

Associate members will be required to give a written undertaking that they accept both the Statement of Principles and the complaints procedure. Full details of the complaints procedure are on the council’s website.

The following scale of annual fees will apply:

Small blog - up to 100,000 normal (unspiked) monthly traffic (visits/sessions) as measured by Sitemeter, Google Analytics or similar log measurement software: $100

Large blog – more than 100,000 normal (unspiked) monthly traffic (visits/sessions) as measured by Sitemeter, Google Analytics or similar log measurement software: $250

Online publisher – more than 500,000 normal (unspiked) monthly traffic (visits/sessions) as measured by Sitemeter, Google Analytics or similar log measurement software: $500

Commercial corporate content aggregator: By negotiation

ENDS

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