Subscriber Members.
Subscriber publications
Print and online publications and organisations that subscribe to the Constitution of the Press Council, the Press Code and the Complaints Procedures may be accepted as subscriber publications after completing an application form and paying an annual fee set by the Council. At its sole discretion, the Council may allow select publications to subscribe without paying a fee. Subscription confirms an obligation to clearly display the logo of the Council, publicise and adhere to the Complaints Procedures, promote the work of the Council, display the Press Code in newsrooms and online and ensure that all practising journalists are familiar with the Code and its application.
Individual subscribers
Individual journalists involved in the production of editorial content for non-subscriber publications/platforms may be accepted as subscriber members after completing an application form and paying an annual fee set by the Council, noting that at its sole discretion, the Council may allow select journalists to subscribe to the Press Code without paying a subscription fee.
Promoting press freedom.
Membership benefits
Any publication’s most valuable assets are its credibility and trust in the eyes of the public. Membership enhances your credibility, as you have become accountable to a body that endeavours to enhance ethical and responsible, FAIR journalism.
Membership also sensitises journalists to report in that manner.
Our members are exempted from Film and Publications Board (FPB) regulations in light of our expanded system of co-regulation that applies to online content. If you’re not a member, you will have to comply with regulations on internet content which, among other restrictions, require web users who wish to distribute films, games or certain publications to register with it or face criminal penalties.
Our exemption was negotiated together with the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau of South Africa (IABSA), and therefore applies to members of those bodies as well. SANEF and the IABSA are constituent members of the Press Council.
Monetary fines are not generally imposed as a penalty for the content of the press. However, monetary fines can be imposed on rare occasions according to a formula determined by the Press Council, included here in our Complaints Procedure, as sanction for a respondent’s failure to appear for adjudication hearings and repeated non-compliance with the rulings of the adjudicatory system.
If a publication is reinstated because it complied with the conditions, and then defaults again within 12 months, it will immediately be expelled from the system.
Member commitments
Subscription confirms an obligation to publicise and adhere to the Complaints Procedures, promote the work of the Council and ensure that journalists are familiar with the Press Code and its application.
The Press Council’s mechanism is based on two pillars: a commitment to freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, and to high standards in journalistic ethics and practice. Members subscribe to that mechanism.
Publications should display the logo of the Press Council in the publication, publicise the Complaints Procedures, display the Press Code in the newsroom and ensure that all practising journalists at the publication are familiar with the Press Code and its application.
The publications need to respond timeously to complaints, subject themselves to the decision made by the Press Ombud or the Chair of Appeals and pay their annual membership fee.
Defending free speech.
How to sign up
Please write to [email protected] for more information to become a subscriber member of the Press Council.