Legislation to allow for the creation of an independent council to govern the media is coming soon, MPs heard yesterday.

Premier Ewart Brown told the House of Assembly: "I am excited to announce the imminent presentation of the Media Council Bill.

"This bill was developed to create an independent media council which will promote fairness, accuracy, accountability and journalistic integrity in the content and presentation of media coverage, including news reports, comment, articles and pictures.

"This is an unprecedented step for Bermuda and as such, its aims are to establish standards of conduct for the media and a mechanism for dealing with complaints of breach of any of those standards; to respect the freedom of expression of the media and the freedom of the public to be informed; and to provide a forum through which the media will interact with the community."

Dr. Brown said the community had "suffered too long from the devastating impact of an imbalanced media".

He said there had been wide consultation with the media on the proposed law. "Much of the feedback received has been reflected in the drafting of the upcoming bill, which we anticipate will be tabled in the House of Assembly in this session," he added.

"It is my hope that the establishment of this council will level the playing field and result in a more wholesome and interactive relationship between the people of Bermuda and the media."

Plans for a self-regulating press council were first announced by Government in its February 2008 Throne Speech.

Many countries have independent press councils and in the UK almost all regional and national newspapers abide by the Press Complaints Commission's Editors' Code of Practice.

The Royal Gazette's code of practice is modelled on the British code and can be found at www.royalgazette.com.