Premier Ewart Brown took his controversial media council bill off the table yesterday, much to the delight of media outlets.

The Media Council Act 2010 caused media outlets to create their own self-regulating code of conduct when it was tabled in May.

The code is now scheduled to be in place in September.

Dr. Brown yesterday told the House of Assembly his bill would not be taken up by Government this parliamentary session.

And he congratulated Bermuda Sun editor Tony McWilliam, who he said headed the new code of conduct.

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. McWilliam's leadership in this regard has been exemplary and largely through his efforts a workable code of practice has been devised, 12 media outlets have subscribed to it and propose to be governed by its tenets," Dr. Brown said.

"Mr. Speaker, while I remain sceptical about the commitment of many in the media to practice what they now preach, the steps taken thus far are positive ones and must be encouraged.

"It is too soon to say that this bill is no longer required and as such while it may not be taken up in this session, it remains at the disposal of legislators in the next."

The Media Working Group, made up of Thaao Dill of Inter-Island Communications, Chris Lodge of VSB, Mr. McWilliam, Tracey Neale of Bermuda Broadcasting Company and Bill Zuill of The Royal Gazette, later released a statement.

"We're putting a lot of time and energy into establishing our own, voluntary media council and we see Government's decision as an endorsement of that effort," it read.

"Without question, we were prompted to act by Government but now that we have the ball rolling we're confident most people will see the benefits of independent regulation over legislation.

"We were given the opportunity to address Cabinet last month and it appears that Government is satisfied with our progress to date."

It continued: "The two biggest winners are freedom of expression and the Bermudian public. The Media Council of Bermuda will protect the former and serve the latter by helping to raise the standards by which information is disseminated in Bermuda.

"Work continues apace on assembling the media council and we plan to share more information in the coming weeks."

Dr. Brown said his Government was pleased to have "ignited the flame" of improved media standards.

"The business of accountability is not new to governments in Bermuda but it is unchartered territory for the media.

"In much the same manner as the affairs of government are enhanced by strict accountability measures and the vigilance of members of the public, the same is required of the media.

"In the absence of a statutory framework it is the responsibility of every citizen to demand accuracy, fairness and balance in the media's reporting."

He continued: "Ownership of the code of practice must now be fostered through ease of access and a committed PR campaign to ensure that the public is well informed of its rights."

Had it been approved the bill would have created a statutory watchdog with the power to ban publication or broadcast of material. It was denounced by global press freedom groups and local lawyers and journalists.